E-Commerce

What do Solo Cup, Kellogg’s, 3M, and Ecover have in common? They're the latest of more than 100 companies to use online storefronts that incorporate Facebook from Alice.com, an online marketplace for household essentials and e-commerce platform.

EcommerceBytes has launched a new ratings and reviews feature on its website to help merchants evaluate services — from online marketplaces, to online payment services, to storefront solutions and shopping carts. Along with ratings and reviews, merchants can view general information about each service and marketplace, including information about fees and a link to the service to learn more.

Dick's Sporting Goods will be expanding in both brick-and-mortar and online stores after seeing positive results in the fiscal second quarter of 2011. In Q2, e-commerce sales increased 31.9 percent compared to the same period last year, and the company plans to increase its store count by 8 percent in 2011.

Gilt Groupe has announced the launch of its Facebook store. Supporting sales across the women's, men's, home and children's categories, the online store will offer products and partnerships unique to Facebook, as well as allow Facebook users to shop select sales before they are available on-site. 

Old Navy made a small mistake that has some grammar sticklers speaking out. The retailer produced a new line of college and NFL team tees called "Superfan Nation," with almost every shirt unfortunately reading "Lets go!!" No apostrophe.

Stipple launched an ad platform that turns still images into e-commerce storefronts. The platform allows consumers to mouse over any product in a tagged photograph in online magazines or publisher websites to reveal brand name, pricing and links to save or make purchases.

At a time when the fashion world is increasingly moving online, Style.com is going in the other direction with the launch of a glossy print magazine. Style.com Magazine is a reverse publishing move by Fairchild Fashion Media. It’s also a foray into e-commerce. Set for release right after spring 2012 runway shows end Oct. 5, the first issue will aim at the fashion-obsessed by featuring items from six designers that will be available for purchase on Style.com.

Williams-Sonoma said its second-quarter profit climbed 28 percent and narrowly trumped Wall Street's outlook as its newly launched global online shipping websites helped catapult e-commerce sales.

The Webreep project found a direct relationship between trusting intentions and the attractiveness of websites. When we contemplate the reasons why, we see many similarities to the mechanisms shaping trust towards other humans. Websites may be viewed as an extension of a person, with a personality and other associations that go beyond objective evaluations.

Sephora is enhancing the shopping experience and broadening its mobile reach with a new Google Catalogs application for tablet devices. Google Catalogs is a free app that lets users browse catalogs from Macy’s, Brooks Brothers, Pottery Barn and others via the iPad. Users can also interact with videos and additional content for a rich user experience.