E-Commerce

Wildlife Works announced the launch of a new retail model that uses the power of Facebook to enable consumers to offset their travel, home use and personal lifestyle events that contribute to global warming. The Milyoni-powered Wildlife Works Facebook storefront allows consumers to easily offset their carbon footprints as well as purchase carbon neutral apparel without leaving the 750 million-strong social network.

Forrester Research Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru was on hand at the Retail Email Exchange symposium in San Diego last month to offer best practices for four current trends in the e-commerce space. Looking to debunk conventional wisdom, Mulpuru advised that things often turn out to be different than they initially appear. With that in mind, here are the four trends that Mulpuru addressed:

If you're tired of buying brand new clothes for your kids only to have them outgrow them, as children do, or ruin them, as children also do, then subscription-based clothing website Plum is your answer. Founder Caroline O'Connor describes her website as "Netflix for baby clothes," because you know, giving your kids hand-me-downs would be today's embarassing equivalent of renting at Blockbuster.

While daily deals have become increasingly popular with consumers, there's conflicting information about whether such offers are worth it for businesses. For some, the payoff doesn't justify the payout even though others enjoy profits and new customers from the venture.

Daily-deal site LevelUp has enabled its users to pay for their purchases via mobile app. After customer payment information is entered into their LevelUp account, a customer-specific QR code is generated and that code can be displayed to pay for a LevelUp deal at any participating vendor, according to the company's blog.

A new survey by TagMan reveals that a majority of respondents (81 percent) are concerned or very concerned about page load speeds on their sites. At the same time, nearly 60 percent say they've taken some steps to improve site speed but feel they could do more.

Local business-focused e-commerce company Zappedy announced it's been acquired by Groupon. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Besides a message posted on Zappedy’s website and a small note on the site of one of its investors, Innovation Endeavors, there has been no official announcement of the acquisition.

Seven years after launching a third-party auction marketplace designed to rival eBay, Overstock.com is shutting it down. The company posted a message on its website, but gave no reason for the closure. Overstock.com Spokesperson Roger Johnson told EcommerceBytes the company preferred not to comment on the matter.

Groupon and LivingSocial challenger BuyWithMe has acquired Edhance, which operates one of the largest student rewards programs in the U.S. Terms of the deal, which will be announced some time this morning, weren't disclosed.

Groupon’s practice of selling group-discount coupons with expiration dates is being reviewed by Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen for possible state law violations. Groupon's coupons may fall under the definition of gift certificates under Connecticut law, which prohibits gift certificates from being subjected to expiration dates.