E-Commerce

Jungle Smokes, a cigar company offering hand-rolled cigars from Honduras, has launched an internet store allowing consumers to buy cigars online. The new store was unveiled this summer by co-owners Pete McGough and Rory Johnson. They launched the website to offer the cigars online so that more people could enjoy the flavor and quality of 100 percent hand-rolled Honduran cigars.

The e-tailing group's inaugural luxury market mystery shopping study titled Champagne Tastes and Caviar Dreams: A Global Look at Luxury, provides an overview of how the luxury market is using the internet and mobile devices for branding and selling with guidelines to help merchants deliver a sophisticated digital experience that drives engagement.

The Container Store, retailer of storage and organization products, has introduced a gift registry which will allow consumers to easily create a registry online or in-store. According to the company, the gift registry's most unique feature is group gifting for Your Dream elfa Space.

Shoe Carnival announced the launch of its e-commerce website at ShoeCarnival.com. Shoe Carnival customers can now shop online for more than 1,500 styles of footwear and accessories from leading brands including Nike, adidas, PUMA, SKECHERS and Sperry.

More than 10,00 California-based affiliates of Amazon.com have been welcomed back into the fold. Jettisoned by the Seattle online retailing giant earlier in the year as it battled California authorities over collection of sales taxes, their reinstatement marks the final piece of an epic compromise.

Shopping.com, a comparison shopping and consumer review website that eBay acquired in 2005, has entered into a partnership with Microsoft's Bing Shopping. Merchants who send their product feed to Shopping.com will receive targeted featured placements across Bing Shopping beginning early this month, including in Bing Shopping search result and product pages.

Online music service Rhapsody announced that it's purchased Napster from Best Buy. Rhapsody didn't disclose the price it paid for Napster, which Best Buy acquired in 2008 for $121 million in a bid to break into the online music subscription space.

The competitive shopping marketplace is really changing with the advent of Google Product Search, which encourages consumers to make split-second decisions based on price. Are shoppers changing the way they make purchasing decisions based on search shopping feeds like Google Product Search? What are some practices around how to reach shoppers in this new environment?

MyHabit.com, a new designer flash-sale site from the folks at Amazon.com, kicked off Real by MyHabit, a series of plus-size fashion flash sales. 

In an effort to help its retail partners create an ideal shopping experience on behalf of Philip Stein, the brand is halting all online watch sales on its website. “A positive retail experience is a vital part of the Philip Stein mission to make their customers their number one priority”, says Will Stein, president of Philip Stein watches. “The best way to do that is by providing the service and attention that only a retail environment can provide.”