E-Commerce

WaterSkis.com announced it's launched Wakeboards.com, officially allowing both new and experienced wakeboarders the opportunity to order top quality equipment and start catching big air.

For a company best known at its inception as the "Netflix of textbooks," online textbook rental company Chegg has spent the last four years building relationships with college-aged consumers through an ever-expanding array of services. 

For consumers who use smartphones or tablets to manage their daily lives, they expect a certain level of interaction. Images and content are expected to be dynamic and able to be expanded or manipulated at will. This desire contrasts sharply to the model of online advertising that remains a flat and static image combined with text. Interactive online ads are a dynamic alternative that are improving in quality at a rapid pace, moving towards custom-produced commercials that give consumers access to the right product in less time.

Potentially helping Groupon break free of email inboxes, the deal giant is reportedly in partnership talks with location-based leader Foursquare. The arrangement is likely to see Groupon deals targeted to Foursquare users' check-ins, according to multiple sources cited by All Things D.

Overstock.com today announced that it will award free Club O accounts ($20 value) preloaded with $10 in Club O Reward dollars to top customers in Connecticut, where the company canceled ad contracts because of the recently passed sales tax law.

Glenn Beck may not be the first name that jumps to mind when you think of discount deals on expensive chocolate ... yet. Beck and company announced that they're getting into the e-commerce discount business with a new website called Markdown.com.

Newegg Inc., the largest tech-focused pure-play online retailer, announced the official opening of its first-ever "Will-Call" pickup location. Customers of Newegg.com and NeweggBusiness in the Los Angeles area now have the opportunity to save time and money by ordering online and then picking up their orders directly from the Newegg warehouse.

Gilt Groupe is expanding its e-commerce offerings by launching Gilt Taste, a culinary e-magazine and specialty food market. Gilt Groupe Chairman Susan Lyne and Ruth Reichl, Gilt taste advisor, weigh in.

Not only is layaway again being embraced by brick-and-mortar retailers, online merchants are also getting into the act, and everything from computers to cruises are now only a mouse click away.

GameStop reported record sales and earnings for the first quarter ended April 30. Total sales for the first quarter of 2011 increased 9.5 percent to $2.28 billion, in comparison to $2.08 billion in the prior year quarter.