Amazon.com

New companies are gaining ground on retail giants like Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy, according to Stores Magazines Favorite 50 Online Retailers survey. Conducted by BIGresearch, the survey found Macys, Forever 21, Aeropostale and Nordstrom each gained ground with online shoppers this year. Amazon.com, Walmart.com, eBay.com, BestBuy.com and JCPenney.com maintained the top five spots. Macys.com joined the top 10 for the first time, in part because of its new exclusive private labels. Tween and teen apparel retailers Forever21.com and Aeropostale.com both significantly improved their position from last year's ranking, performing above expectations. Nordstrom.com and GameStop.com both made the list

When it comes to avoiding the requirement of collecting sales tax from its consumers, Amazon isn't afraid to open its wallet. More than nine months before a proposed June 2012 referendum asking that California’s new internet sales tax law be overturned, Amazon has already spent $5.25 million, state records show, more than any company has spent in California this far from a vote in at least a decade.

Online retailers like Amazon and eBay may see their sales growth cut if the economy goes into another recession, but they won't suffer as much as they did in the last one, an analyst wrote.

Amazon.com has launched a local deals site in New York in its latest effort to compete with Groupon. Amazon, which launched its AmazonLocal service in Boise, Idaho, said the deals services are now available in 30 locations.

eBay has already begun implementing some of the changes announced in July as part of what it calls the Fall Seller Updates, and more of them go into effect this week. International sellers are now required to specify shipping information (carrier and cost) on items they make available to Australia, Canada and the UK, and eBay is implementing numerous category and item specifics changes. eBay Allows Sellers to Add Products to Catalog Electronics sellers are now required to list with the catalog in additional categories (Apple Laptops & Notebooks; iPads & Tablets and eBook Readers; Apple Desktops; Televisions; Routers;

The oppressive heat waves across the country have ended. Summer camps are coming to a close and children are scrambling to finish the reading lists they've ignored all summer. This can only mean one thing — the first day of school is just around the corner.

Amazon was the most visited retail site in June, according to new data out from comScore. Compared with all other online retailers, Amazon.com grabbed more than 282 million visitors in June, reaching 20.4 percent of the entire internet population around the world.

Amazon sites reached the largest global audience of selected global retail and auction sites in June, with more than 282 million visitors, according to ComScore research. That was 20.4 percent of the worldwide Internet population. Other top brands in the study included eBay, which reached 16.2 percent of global Internet visitors, China's Alibaba.com Corporation (11.3 percent reach), Apple.com worldwide sites (9.7 percent reach) and Japan's Rakuten Inc. (4.2 percent reach). Amazon and Apple.com worldwide sites showed more globally distributed audiences compared to most other brands in the study. Amazon sites attracted 35.4 percent of its audience from North America,

Amazon.com said that it's adding hundreds of jobs to a central Pennsylvania distribution center. The company said it would add an unspecified number of full-time jobs at the warehouse in Carlisle. Amazon officials say hourly jobs in packing and shipping will be available, along with management positions.

Personalization is hot in ecommerce, and online marketplace Bonanza will be rolling out its own personalization algorithm soon. If you've browsed and shopped on big retail sites like Amazon.com, you've most likely encountered personalization features, such as recommended products based on your past shopping behavior. But how would Bonanza, which offers diverse and unique items, be able to offer shoppers a personalized experience? The company explained the challenge in a blog post on Thursday: "The good news is that it means we have millions of items you can't find anywhere else. The bad news is that we usually only