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Online delivery service Kozmo.com quietly, yet significantly, dropped the "dot-com" from its name recently, and announced it would mail out almost a half-million printed catalogs, complete with a good old-fashioned toll-free number to call for ordering. Although simple and straightforward, it ma...

By most accounts, last year's holiday season was an encouraging time for e-tailers, especially those Web sites that managed to make gift buying hassle-free. With the exception of online clothing merchants. For some reason, American consumers still can't see their way clear to buy clothes on the...

News about Orbitz, the multi-airline mega-site that promised to revolutionize the way Internet users make travel reservations, began to appear almost two years ago -- before the site even had a name. T2 (aka Travelocity Terminator) was the working title. Now it has a name, but no functionality. G...

When Internet incubator CMGI ended 2000 with the report of a US$636.6 million third-quarter loss, heads were spinning throughout the e-business industry. After all, wasn't CMGI the golden child of the new economy? Wasn't CMGI expected to carefully nurture more than 70 dot-coms toward profitab...

Finesse is in short supply in the world of online selling. Point-and-click somehow does not have the same humanity and gentle spirit as good body language, eye contact and a handshake, traditionally the essential ingredients closing an insurance sale. Maybe that's why the insurance industry has ...

For months, civic leaders, state legislators and selected naysayers have decried a tax-free Internet as the precursor of everything from municipal chaos to the end of garbage collection as we know it. Somehow, the chorus claimed, if the Internet continues to be lax about adding taxes to online purch...

If there is a single issue that threatens to stop e-commerce development in its tracks, it is the issue of which country has jurisdiction over disputes concerning cross-border electronic transactions. For example, consider an Internet user in Italy who has a complaint with the manner in which ...

Copyright law has some muscle in this country, enough to fend off even young Shawn Fanning and his highly innovative music file-sharing service. Emotions are running high regarding this issue, but when all is said and done, how will anyone really dispute Napster's defiance of copyright law? Th...

It seemed like the perfect solution for overworked, time-deprived 21st century consumers -- online grocers to the rescue. Even a year ago, the revolutionary prospect of selling perishables and food online held promise. But a year online is like a day in conventional time, and what a difference ...

Successful Old Economy players often say, "Be careful about the guy who says he's got so much business he can't take on any new clients." Internet consultants used to brag about their fortunes, both financial and in numbers of clients -- until the bottom fell out of their business. It was an adv...

Free delivery. Free samples. Buy one, get one free. Free ISPs. Free prizes. Such no-charge perks of online shopping have become staples of the Internet economy, even though we all know there's no such thing as a free lunch. What made us believe we could change that axiom with a few keystrokes? ...

E-commerce has hit a dangerous curve because the venture capitalists who were driving it have found the freeway off-ramp. According to the National Venture Capital Association, venture capitalists have decreased their investments across the U.S. a whopping 31 percent from the third quarter to ...

There appear to be parallels among the deceased dot-coms, including massive overspending and reckless capital management. And lest we forget, the best friend of business students: the "unique selling proposition." A USP is an idea or concept that sets a business apart from all of its competit...

There appear to be parallels among the deceased dot-coms, including massive overspending and reckless capital management. And lest we forget, the best friend of business students: the "unique selling proposition." A USP is an idea or concept that sets a business apart from all of its competit...

There appear to be parallels among the deceased dot-coms, including massive overspending and reckless capital management. And lest we forget, the best friend of business students: the "unique selling proposition." A USP is an idea or concept that sets a business apart from all of its competit...

The great thing about American industry is that it only takes one courageous, motivated individual to start a revolution. If you have several courageous, motivated individuals, so much the better. When employees of Etown.com, an electronics content site, decided to organize a vote for unionization,...

Of the traditions we're most proud of, identity theft and credit card theft will likely not make the cut. Still, it's getting to be a habit. Last year began with 2,500 credit card numbers being exposed at seven e-commerce sites. This year, before we could even turn one calendar page, online tr...

While other dot-com businesses falter and stall one by one, Web sites in the e-travel sector keep on flying. There are a number of reasons for the online travel triumph, but mostly it has to do with the fact that booking travel reservations was computerized long before being computerized was ...

Last summer, when now former U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN Act), it seemed we were about to scale the next digital mountain. Despite the great fanfare that accompanied the passage of the legislation, not much has been he...

Quick: What do toysellers and drugstores have in common? At the moment, if their last name happens to be "dot-com," the answer is financial challenges. Online toyseller eToys can't pay its bills and Drugstore.com is severely trimming the staff, just as its chief financial officer steps down. Wha...