E-Commerce

Investors are giving a nod of approval to news Monday that RadioShack's chief financial officer has stepped down amid flagging sales. However, one analyst has an even more drastic solution to the consumer electronic chain's turnaround woes: a takeover by Amazon.com. 

eBay sellers woke up to more bad news on Sunday morning when they discovered the latest outage hitting eBay's global marketplaces. Buyers and sellers were unable to log in to their accounts all morning, and many were unable to even access the eBay homepage. Those trying to reach eBay customer service for assistance found that was also down. eBay experienced a similar outage on Sept. 3, and it experienced another outage in Europe last month. In early August, eBay denied there had been an outage in July after widespread accessibility issues, calling it a "minor technical issue." 

Amazon.com is the most talked about — and feared — company in retail today. You can argue that its success is simply because of low prices, but the truth is consumers also shop Amazon more frequently because of the company's consumer-centric approach.

Etsy, the online marketplace for homemade and vintage products and other "unique goods," announced on Tuesday that it was banning the Redskins name and logo from its site, effective immediately. "Like the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, we at Etsy find the opinion of the minority group itself to carry most weight in determining whether the mascot is disparaging," the company said in a statement posted on its blog. "Native American groups have consistently advocated and litigated that the term ‘redskin(s)’ is disparaging and damaging to Native Americans. Therefore, it will no longer be permitted in our marketplace."

Lindsay Lohan and her brother, Michael Jr., are being sued by Fima Potik for allegedly stealing the concept for a celebrity-meets-fashion e-commerce site. After getting out of rehab, Lohan and her brother collaborated with Potik on an e-commerce concept that allowed users to shop the "virtual closets" of friends and celebrities, with those involved receiving a cut of the profits. The concept, known as Spotted Friend, was mentioned by Lohan on Twitter in July 2013, and the website at one point stated that it was a "Fima Potik & Lindsay Lohan Production." 

Rakuten agreed to buy U.S. rebates website Ebates in Japan's largest e-commerce deal on record as the operator of the country's biggest online mall seeks overseas growth through acquisitions. Rakuten will pay about $1 billion for all of Ebates, it said in a regulatory filing. San Francisco-based Ebates offers cash rebates to customers who buy products from the website's retail partners. The deal comes after Rakuten has announced 18 acquisitions since the start of last year, and the cybermall operator said in June it's open to more large-scale buys following its bond debut. 

The Harris Tweed Authority (HTA) has settled a dispute with Crate and Barrel over its labeling of a design of chairs. Euromarket Designs Inc. offered for sale a Harris Tweed Chair and Harris Herringbone Chair on its Crate and Barrel website. The products however weren't made from Harris Tweed, a fabric hand-woven on the Western Isles and protected by U.K. law. The HTA said it has secured a "monetary settlement" and assurances the items wouldn't be marketed as Harris Tweed.

Ikea plans to extend online retailing to all its markets within the next few years as the world's largest furniture seller resumes expansion after a 12-month pause. Ikea hasn't added to the 13 countries in which it offers web shopping over the last year and still harbors an ambition to reach all 27 in which it has stores, the company said today after reporting a 3 percent gain in full-year sales. The focus over the past year has been on improving online offerings in existing markets, CEO Peter Agnefjaell said in a telephone interview. 

Our experts walk you through opportunities to not only cut shipping costs, but also improve shipping service to your customers.

Anyone with at least a decade of experience in B-to-B retail — listen up millennials — will tell you that e-commerce doesn't qualify as a new trend. It was the next big thing back when new episodes of "Seinfeld" regularly aired on NBC, when people used AOL, and even when NSYNC was on tour. So for me to say e-commerce is changing the face of business feels a lot like a Twitter feed riddled with Kim Kardashian's name — a little exhausted.