E-Commerce

Apple plans to introduce services that would let customers use its iPhone and iPad computer to make purchases, said Richard Doherty, director of consulting firm Envisioneering Group.

A secretive Seattle startup, Decide.com, is looking to transform online shopping. That's a bold mission. But CEO Mike Fridgen is confident that Decide.com can deliver — even though he's not sharing too many details about the company's approach at the moment.

At a time when the U.S. Postal Service is fighting to survive, along comes news of the latest disruptive model: BareDeal.com, which calls itself "Groupon meets Netflix."

A new free home-delivery service Amazon has been testing for months could ensure you never have to leave your house to shop again. AmazonTote is a program that delivers items to your home at a scheduled time each week, free of charge. The items, which include any good weighing 50 pounds or less that Amazon sells and ships, are left in "a sealed, weather-resistant tote bag up to twice a week," according to Amazon.

The security of online payment has been put under the spotlight with the news that the Lush.co.uk e-commerce website has been taken down following attacks by hackers. Experts say it seems the site was "riddled with vulnerabilities."

Online retail sales in Europe are set to rise 18 percent to more than $271 billion this year, outpacing growth at traditional shops as well as internet sales in the U.S.

Using a multi-store e-commerce strategy can significantly increase customer acquisition, loyalty and conversion rates. Leading online retailers are currently benefiting from an effective multi-store ecommerce strategy, now is the time to learn how.

Google is getting into the online deal-a-day game with a program of its own, a move that may cause Groupon to break a little sweat.

Over the past several years eBay has focused on improving the shopping experience buyers and sellers have on its main eBay.com site in hopes of ramping up growth in its online marketplaces business, which is its largest unit. One of these efforts came last year in the form of eBay Bucks, a shopping reward program eBay rolled out to all U.S. users in August.

The new year creates an opportunity to review product and retail strategies with a view toward continuous improvement. Nowhere is this more relevant or important than in merchandising strategies. To take a closer look at these strategies, SymphonyIRI Group released its current issue of Times & Trends, "Merchandising Trends: Achieving Differentiation with a Shopper-Centric Approach," which explores current and emerging merchandising trends that CPG marketers have embraced during the last few years in an ongoing effort to satisfy shoppers’ rapidly changing definition of value.