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Online measurement firm comScore is out with its top 50 web properties report and Walmart.com must be doing something right judging from a surge in traffic. Walmart.com was ranked 24th on the top 50 list for May with 42.4 million unique visitors, a 9% increase from the prior month when comScore showed Walmart.com had 38.8 million unique visitors in April. The gain in web traffic over the same month the prior year is even more substantial as Walmart.com registered a 26.2% increase from a May 2011 unique visitor total of 33.6 million. As for Amazon.com, the company Walmart.com is

MOORESVILLE, N.C — Former Whirlpool executive, Kevin Summers, has been appointed chief information officer of Lowe's, effective July 9. Summers will report to chairman, president and CEO Robert Niblock. He replaces Michael Brown, who retired earlier this month. Summers brings to Lowe’s more than 20 years of experience in technology-related fields, having served most recently as SVP and global chief information officer for Whirlpool. During his career, Summers has worked with some of the country’s leading brands, including The Coca Cola Company, Bell South Technology Services and General Electric. “Lowe’s has made significant investments in technology to provide employees

Apple Inc.  is raising hourly pay for employees at its U.S. retail stores by as much as 25 percent, following an internal review period earlier this year. Apple employs the equivalent of 36,000 full-time staffers at its more than 350 retail stores around the globe. About two-thirds of the stores are in the U.S. Apple Store workers are typically paid about $9 to $15 an hour at the sales level, and up to about $30 an hour at its "Genius" tech support teams.

Amazon.com wants to deliver your shaving cream to you before you run out. Or before you even realize you need more. The U.S. Patent Office recently approved Amazon's automatic replenishment system that would estimate when you will run out of your shaving cream and send you a message asking if you'd like to order it again. Obviously this goes beyond shaving cream, and could be applied to anything customers would order over and over from Amazon.

Puget Sound Business Journal by , Staff Writer Greg Lamm Staff Writer How big is Amazon.com in the online shopping world? We already know about the company’s huge revenue spike. And now we learn that when it comes to shopping online, Amazon has the largest global audience of retail sites, beating out Wal-mart, Apple and eBay, as well as China e-commerce giant Alibaba.com. Amazon had 20 percent of the worldwide audience among retail and auction sites for June, according to the latest report from comScore, which said Amazon drew 282.2 million unique visitors in June. No 2 was eBay

Puget Sound Business Journal by , Staff Writer Eric Engleman Staff Writer The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is confirming Amazon.com's controversial 1-Click patent following a re-examination that lasted more than four years. Amazon's 1-Click has come under a lot of fire over the years from critics who question whether such a broad technology should be patented at all. It refers to the process by which online shoppers make purchases with a single click, having previously entered their payment and shipping information. The re-examination of Amazon's 1-Click patent was triggered back in 2006 when a New Zealand actor raised

Puget Sound Business Journal by , Staff Writer Drugstore CEO Dawn Lepore Drugstore.com is in shopping mode. The Bellevue-based company, which just acquired Salu, operator of the skinstore.com website for skin creams and cosmetics, is planning more acquisitions, according to CEO Dawn Lepore. Lepore told Bloomberg BusinessWeek the company is looking for other businesses in its core product areas of vitamins, vision and beauty products — specifically deals in the $40 million to $60 million range. “I want to take over businesses that are in our sweet spots,” Lepore said. "Acquisitions should be an ongoing part of our strategy.”

Puget Sound Business Journal by Here is some good news for Amazon.com and Rhapsody. Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Wal-mart buys Portland app developer Small SocietyMobile ad spending, why Übermind, Hipcricket drew suitorsRetailers enter mobile payments race Follow this company will shut down its digital music store at the end of August. The Bentonville, Ark., retailer revolutionized the business of selling everything from candy to groceries and guns in its superstores, but after eight years competing against Apple Inc.

Puget Sound Business Journal by , Contributing Writer Aislyn Greene Contributing Writer Here's some bright news on a financial dreary day: U.S. online spending hit $37.5 billion in the second quarter of this year, up 14 percent from the same quarter last year, reports comScore. The Internet marketing research company said the growth rate represents the seventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates. However, spending did dip slightly from $38 billion in the first quarter of the year. The report isn't a huge surprise for those tracking online retailers. Amazon said

Puget Sound Business Journal by , Staff Writer Eric Engleman Staff Writer Just days before Apple's iPad hits the market, Amazon.com is caving to more publishers on the pricing of electronic books. The online retail giant just cut deals with Simon & Schuster (owned by CBS) and HarperCollins (part of News Corp.), allowing the two publishing houses to set higher e-book prices, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the new terms, digital versions of most best-sellers will sell for $12.99 to $14.99, according to the Journal. Those are the same terms that Apple is offering publishers for e-books on