What is the State of Your E-Commerce System?

Recently I’ve been involved with a project researching what leading B-to-B and B-to-C catalogers are doing in the area of e-commerce systems. Specifically, I’m exploring what, if any, systems they’re using to conduct search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) programs, as well as to operate e-mail and online ordering programs. The project has been a real eye-opener because there doesn’t appear to be any established best practice.