
E-Commerce

When Groupon was gearing up for its IPO last year, there was a lot of talk about whether the company would be able to sustain its business on a diet that mainly consisted of daily deals. Today, a little sign of what Groupon might be cooking up for its next course. Groupon has launched a new site in Germany, Groupon Deals, which is an Amazon-like storefront that sells a range of goods, from boots to bodysuits.
This year's Valentine's Day flower-ordering rush didn't bring any bouquets for online florists. The second biggest day of the year for sending flowers disappointed U.S. customers who took to Facebook and Twitter in droves to voice their outrage at 1-800-Flowers.com, FTD and ProFlowers.
Consumers and retailers alike may still be recovering after a crazed holiday shopping season — and it's not over yet.
Multichannel retailer Dreams, which focuses on the licensed sports products industry, has partnered with Hibbett Sports to become its exclusive online provider for team merchandise in the licensed sports category.
Sears is dealing with its marketplace making things perhaps a little too hot for some to handle. The retailer has a marketplace allowing other companies to sell products — be it glasses, lingerie or otherwise. As such, the companies selling their products are able to use their own images within the product ads in the marketplace and, apparently, Sears hasn't been doing a very good job of monitoring those images.
iPerceptions, a provider of online voice-of-customer analytics based on actual visitor feedback, announced the release of its Retail Web Analytics Report for 2011. The report found that the use of more than one web analytics tool nearly doubled in the last year, from 33 percent in 2010 to 62 percent in 2011. The results suggest that retailers recognize the importance of evaluating and addressing the entire website visitor experience.
LoveSpoils announced today the launch of its online retail site, a first-of-its-kind romantic relationship-based shopping experience. The site provides couples the opportunity to generate reward points, called "LoveSpoils," by shopping at participating retailers. At LoveSpoils, when you purchase something for yourself, your significant other receives reward points, which he or she can apply toward discounted items.
Before brands come up with clever emails and identify the best Valentine's Day products, what are they doing to prepare themselves for the masses? They’re tending to their e-commerce sites, of course. It’s not too late for you to do the same.
Amazon.com is about to announce a web video deal with Viacom in what sources said was one of the last steps in a plan to launch a stand-alone subscription service to compete with Netflix. The online retailer will unveil the deal as soon as this week, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
comScore's U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimate for last year's fourth quarter showed that online retail spending reached $49.7 billion, up 14 percent vs. 2010. This represented the ninth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. U.S. retail e-commerce spending in 2011 reached a record $161.5 billion, marking a 13 percent increase from 2010.