E-Commerce

It's no surprise that the majority of cross-channel retailers are focusing their attention online when analyzing the future growth of their companies. Consumers spent $165.4 billion online last year, an increase of 14.8 percent compared to 2009, according to the U.S. Commerce Dept. While certainly eye-catching numbers, that $165.4 billion accounted for less than 5 percent (4.2 percent to be exact) of total retail spending. So you can see why there's such excitement over the future of the e-commerce space — retailers have barely scratched the surface when it comes to the medium.

Online sales of luxury goods may climb 20 percent a year by 2015 as producers build networks of potential customers on social media websites such as Facebook, according to a study published today.

Patagonia, a designer and distributor of technical outdoor clothing, has announced the appointment of Dmitri Siegel as the company's new vice president of global e-commerce. As vice president of e-commerce, Siegel will provide strategic vision, leadership and operational expertise in directing Patagonia's e-commerce strategies both domestically and abroad, the company reported.

While dozens of e-commerce firms have recently sprung up to capitalize on India's growing internet use, they have a problem. Indians are not yet comfortable with shopping on the web, while many of them remain unwilling to use credit cards online. Therefore the Indian retailers have gone to great lengths to gain customers. Customers may pay in cash on delivery, and the company fields delivery squads to ensure shipments get to customers quickly.

Columbia Sportswear has been in existence since 1938, but by 2008 execs at the company were afraid that growth had stagnated. Worse, there was fear that Columbia wasn’t a brand that tapped into young consumers. Can a brand be “middle-aged”?

Ever since Amazon launched its toy store and opened it to third-party sellers in July 2006 after Toys"R"Us exited the platform, it's restricted third-party sales in its toys and games category to preapproved sellers during the holiday shopping season. Third-party sellers on Amazon received their notices this week.

More than 20,000 Missoni for Target items have been posted for sale on eBay less than 24 hours since becoming available. Some of the most expensive items to turn up on the internet auction site were the Missoni bike, a tea set, and a comforter/sham set.

Now that California and Amazon have called a truce of sorts in their tax fight, what will become of the 10,000 affiliates caught in the middle that were unceremoniously booted from online marketing affiliate programs? Chances are they should be making a comeback.

Bill Bass, president and CEO of Direct at women's apparel retailer Charming Shoppes, took a step back yesterday at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Boston to reflect on five lessons he's learned from the 15 years he's spent in the retail industry, including stints at Lands’ End and Fair Indigo.

The deal-a-day company Groupon has seen better days. It's trying to go public into a stock market that can't quite figure out what it's doing. Its profit loss calculations have been called unreliable.