E-Commerce

eBay said Friday that it has no immediate plans to compensate its customers or offer them free credit monitoring after news surfaced that hackers had gained access to about 145 million of its users’ records earlier this month. eBay is being probed by at least three states for the incident. The announcement comes after New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman urged eBay to provide free credit-monitoring services to customers impacted by the breach.

Last week, Arcadia Group CEO Sir Philip Green announced that he had taken a 25 percent stake in Mysale.com, an Australian flash-sales site aiming to reach revenues of about $300 million this year. "[It's a] very, very interesting space. I like the business model, and the reverse season," Green told Women's Wear Daily. The site owns only

In the ongoing retail war of brick vs. click, subscription ordering is now a key part of the strategy to grow e-commerce sales. Few consumers enjoy shopping for basic household items such as laundry detergent, toothpaste and vitamins, but everyone has to do it, and do it regularly. Retailers of all kinds are hoping to seize the opportunity to make shopping for consumables more convenient — and win the consumer over and over and over again as a result.

eBay issued a notice on its websites asking users to change their passwords, but took down the message a short time later without explanation. The message, on its PayPal online payment unit's press and community website pages, didn't say why passwords needed to be changed. eBay and PayPal representatives weren't immediately available for comment on the notice issued at 1:30 a.m. ET, which was previously reported by tech blog Engadget. The message headline was "eBay Inc. To Ask All eBay Users To Change Passwords," but had no other information other than the words "place holder text."

Marc Jacobs Beauty has launched an e-commerce website featuring more than 150 products in the Marc Jacobs Beauty collection, as well as exclusive access to limited-edition products. The site was developed with responsive design, and showcases a modern center navigation, high-definition product shots with zoom capability and true-to-life product swatches. Users are encouraged to engage in the product ratings and reviews, while checking out content such as the how-to videos and sketches and notes from Jacobs himself, which reveal behind-the-scenes insight into the creative process behind product designs. The site also has shopping capability on desktop, tablet and mobile devices.

Hear answers to the most-asked Amazon questions; best practices for retailers selling on Amazon; and what NOT to do on Amazon.

For years, retailers have put most of their stock in Generation X, people in their mid-30s and mid-40s. But consumer demographics in America are changing rapidly, and major retailers are

If I had a dime for every time I heard the question, "Isn't e-commerce taking over retail?" it wouldn't make me wealthy, but I'd certainly have a few hundred dollars more than I do now. Nonetheless, it's a question that's unfortunately misguided and has permeated our zeitgeist. The truth is that yes, e-commerce is growing — but physical retail is far from doomed. Let me take the two parts of that last sentence and address them separately. First, e-commerce is growing. Forrester just released the latest five-year online retail forecast and, to no one's surprise, the numbers are big.

Michaels has enhanced its online presence with the launch of its new site that enables shoppers to make online purchases from any computer, tablet or smartphone. The new site goes beyond the typical online shopping experience, according to the company, with project ideas and one-click shopping lists for projects all in one place. It also features "Favorite Pins" — projects and products that are trending on Pinterest from Michaels.com.

Amazon.com's commitment to competitive pricing and its willingness to operate as a break-even business has clearly changed the retail game. Although its business model isn't for everyone, a careful examination of its approach offers retailers insight and opportunities to beat the giant at its own game. At Manhattan's Momentum 2014, Forrester Research's Sucharita Mulpuru provided a deep analysis of Amazon's business model and offered some rays of hope to retailers hoping to compete with the company.