E-Commerce

Wal-Mart competes with almost everyone in retail, but increasingly suppliers see the giant focused on a new and, to some, surprising rival: Amazon. Wal-Mart could use a bigger dose of what gave Amazon 44 percent top-line growth last quarter.

The vision for the SKLZ website, which receives more than 100,000 visitors a month, is to inspire athletes to develop their skills. To meet that vision, the retailer made a commitment to add videos to its site and drastically expand its library of training-related video content. SKLZ believed that if athletes could watch instructional videos that incorporate its products, then they'd be more likely to see SKLZ as a legitimate source for training.

Adidas closed down all its websites last week after what it called a “sophisticated and criminal cyber attack.” The company doesn’t believe that any consumer data was impacted, but plans to continue its investigation.

If an online shopper is using an iPad to browse retail sites, that shopper is likely to make more purchases and spend more money than someone using an Android device or a PC to shop online.

According to the Shop.org eHoliday Study, 43 percent of retailers cited product videos as a top investment in their holiday marketing budget. This investment in retail product videos not only signifies more retailers are accepting that consumers are influenced by product videos, but that they now expect to see video as part of the online shopping experience.

Groupon’s bid to expand into the Chinese market has hit a snag after discovering it had linked up with a company selling counterfeit luxury watches. The daily-deal giant has pledged to refund all customers who bought the Tissot watches after discovering they were fake.

Listen in as Jim McDonald and Sam Grossman, chief information officer and manager of operations, respectively, at Sharperimage.com, discuss how the online retailer has leveraged the "Want" button to increase its online conversion rate and average order value.

Online retail spending reached $36.3 billion for the third quarter, up 13 percent versus a year ago, according to comScore. This growth rate represented the eighth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates.

Currently offered for New York City only, but coming to 100 U.S. cities soon, Poorsquare takes foursquare's location and deals database to reveal the best offers by location. You can filter by free only, free with purchase or all discounts.

While shopping from home is convenient, online shopping lacks the interaction that in-store shopping provides. In order to bridge the gap between online shopping and live interaction, United Kingdom-based department store Marks & Spencer turned to online video.