E-Commerce

EA Sports announced today that it’s kicking off a new online service that will put its latest video football game, Madden 12, in the hands of die-hard fans early — for a fee, of course. The move is part of EA Sports’ search for the holy grail of video games — a way of using the digital advances to boost revenues both online and at retail outlets.

Google has bought The Dealmap, expanding further into a potentially lucrative daily-deals market now dominated by the likes of Groupon and LivingSocial. Terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed.

With the growth of F-commerce, commerceonfacebook.com has officially launched a free business directory enabling vendors of Facebook stores and third-party service companies to list their businesses.

It's not surprising that tech-savvy consumers are likely to spend more time on social networking sites compared to other consumer demographics. This is a big reason why Incipio, a cross-channel retailer of mobile device accessories, decided to bring its online store to its customers rather than vice versa. Incipio launched a Facebook store in January with the help of on-demand e-commerce solution provider ShopVisible.

Although Amazon’s critics have identified a real problem, their solution is a mistake. They want an Amazon tax that replaces one type of unfairness with others and imposes costs on the economy out of proportion with any revenue it might generate. There’s a better solution, although not one that proponents of the Amazon tax like.

Here's a checklist of some of the most important things you should do with your website to get ready for the upcoming holiday season

Groupon has fired back in the latest lawsuit against it, saying claims that its daily deals are in violation of consumer protection laws are “manufactured" and "not real.” Attorney Robert Foote filed a lawsuit in March on behalf of Adam Dremak, arguing that Groupon’s daily deals are in violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, which prohibits expiration dates of less than 5 years on gift certificates.

At the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in San Diego this past June, I stumbled upon a new iPad app that’s contributing to the mobile shopping craze. The app is called Coffee Table, and it’s revolutionizing and re-energizing the catalog industry in a very green way.

There are lots of reasons shoppers research purchases online and then buy at a brick-and-mortar store. What’s important for retailers to recognize, however, is that having an online presence is becoming more and more important to overall sales.

How much would you pay to look like the real Casey Anthony for Halloween? How about nearly $1 million? A latex rubber mask bearing a striking resemblance to Anthony drew a winning bid of $999,900. The mask, offered for sale from Los Angeles, received 105 total bids after it was listed July 24 at a starting price of $25.