E-Commerce

Target confirmed that its website crashed for the second time in six weeks on Oct. 25, going down at approximately 12:50 p.m. EDT and then coming back up two hours later. Target.com also crashed on Sept. 13, after the retailer’s online introduction of its new line of Missoni apparel and items.

Retailers are so desperate this holiday season that they're willing to lose money to get you to spend yours. Take online jeweler Stauer. It's offering a $249 amethyst necklace for free — provided customers pay the $24.95 it costs to ship it. Stauer will lose money on the deal, but it hopes to reel in new customers who will buy other jewelry.

Any digital-based business, whether it’s advertising, commerce or publishing, is still saddled with the burden of potential. Growth is expected to be exponential. Therefore, it surprised me that more than a few experts are throwing in the towel on some important growth markets.

Amazon-owned Soap.com has begun selling grocery goods. Unlike Amazon Fresh, which delivers a full range of groceries via an elaborate system of delivery trucks, Soap.com‘s selection is limited to approximately 10,000 nonperishable items such as cereal and coffee.

Bodymetrics, a London-based company with a thing for body scanning, has teamed up with PrimeSense to create a full, 3-D body scanner that could have a serious impact on online clothes shopping.

Sears announced that it's offering free shipping from Oct. 30 through Dec. 19 at Sears.com and Kmart.com. In addition, the company is offering free same-day store pickup.

Apple is giving customers a new option for receiving items that they order online. The company is slowly rolling out a new program called “Sherwood” that will allow orders from Apple’s website to be picked up at a local Apple retail store.

Mobile marketing is the hottest buzzword around these days. With consumers using their smartphones to do just about everything, putting your marketing message in their pocket is clearly a good idea. But any time you’re talking about mobile, privacy issues raise their heads. While consumers have clearly shown their passion for discounts and coupons, some of them have concerns about sharing their location in order to get location-based deals sent to their phones.

Daily-deal site BuyWithMe laid off half its staff on Oct. 19, raising questions about its future as market leader Groupon prepares for its initial public offering.

Barnes & Noble said it's expanded its BN.com Marketplace, adding over 1 million new products to the catalog. The retailer also announced online third-party partnerships with Wayfair.com, Right Start, UnbeatableSale.com, School Specialty, Abe’s of Maine, Delivery Agent and more.