E-Commerce

By the time NBC's new reality series "Fashion Star" airs, the garments featured on TV will be available online from Saks, Macy's and even H&M, which doesn't currently have an e-commerce platform in the U.S. but will offer online shopping specifically for the items it's produced for the show.

Retail e-commerce sales continued to skyrocket in 2011. While seemingly great news for retailers, it does create additional inefficiencies in a fulfillment system and drive up operational costs. To prevent those costs from cutting into revenue, retailers need to make sure they're running as efficiently as possible. One way to improve fulfillment efficiency is through accurate contact data.

Most retailers would agree that the more customer data you have, the better. While this can be true for larger analytical efforts, it's important you focus on collecting the right data and use it sensibly to execute effective email, mobile and social marketing campaigns. The following are some vital tactics for data collection and usage that will help you acquire more subscribers, increase engagement and drive revenue.

Just as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and other celebs did for Twitter, the world of daily deals is getting some of its own glam factor, as NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady is the latest athlete-turned-entrepreneur to launch his own online business, in the form of a quasi-Groupon for sports.

One King's Lane is becoming the latest e-commerce site to expand from its flash-sale roots. The furniture and home goods site plans to launch an eBay-like marketplace called Vintage and Market Finds. It will let third-party designers post antique and vintage products on the site, but unlike eBay, all the items will be at fixed prices and will be vetted by a One King's Lane team.

Big changes are coming to Twitter's brand pages. Launched in December, the pages show the brand's Twitter feed and images, but Twitter plans to add experiences, including e-commerce, contests and sweepstakes.

With the launch of the third generation iPad, current owners will be tempted to trade in their old generation iPads for the newer model. eBay announced a promotion in which consumers can lock in top-dollar values for tablet trade-ins, including up to $475 for the iPad 2.

The economics of internet commerce have changed so much that Alex Zhardanovsky is now taking on the once seemingly impossible challenge of selling pet food online. Zhardanovsky co-founded PetFlow.com, a Manhattan startup that's raised $10 million in venture capital and now ships 1 million pounds of pet food a month, in 2010.

American Express card holders can use the Twitter online messaging service to get exclusive discounts and other deals from more than a dozen retailers under a partnership announced yesterday.

Amazon.com is migrating sellers to a new discussion board platform, but something is missing. Sellers noticed right away that the new Amazon Seller Discussion Forums don't include a section from the old boards called Seller Soapbox, an area where sellers could chat about everything from online selling to politics.