e-commerce

What 'Groupon clones' can learn from YouTube

If, as seems to be likely to happen, Google acquires daily-deals site Groupon at a multibillion-dollar valuation, it'll leave a very different market for this new and trendy form of e-commerce.

There are hundreds of other sites that do more or less the same thing; some are big, some are small. But under Google ownership, Groupon would have access to significantly better strategic resources, not to mention the Google text ads for which other companies have to shell out cash. It's already the market leader. Conceivably, Google could help it get even bigger.

So what might happen to … Read more

Amazon adds Wikipedia to book-shopping pages

Last month, e-commerce marketplace Amazon.com launched a relatively unnoticed new feature that brings content from Wikipedia pages to its own servers in a shadowy new project that appears to be called "Shopping Enabled Wikipedia Pages." Hosted on the Amazon.com domain, they replicate Wikipedia's content but have added links to where a book can be purchased on Amazon.

"Shopping-enabled Wikipedia pages are a new introduction on Amazon.com," Amazon spokeswoman Anya Waring told CNET when asked via e-mail. "As of November, we have rolled [the feature] out in the books category; however, [it] … Read more

Groupon acquires development firm Ludic Labs

Amid rumors that it's about to be acquired by Google for an arguably ridiculous valuation, daily-deals company Groupon announced today the expansion of a Silicon Valley office and the acquisition of an advertising and commerce company called Ludic Labs. A price was not disclosed; always one for mocking the Valley rumor mill, Groupon CEO Andrew Mason put a "no comment" statement in his company's own press release and called the whole thing "rumors and speculation."

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based office has currently been housing some 25 employees who work on data and mobile … Read more

With Groupon, Google could go beyond engineers

What happens when you throw a bunch of Chicago comedians into a complex of Silicon Valley engineers? Hilarity, maybe. Or one of the more unusual M&A gossip yarns of the past few years.

There's loads of talk right now about whether group-buying coupon service Groupon will sell to a big buyer or will hold out as an independent company in the hopes that it may become the world's leading name in local-business advertising. The barrage of rumors over Groupon is an interesting one--Yahoo wants it! Yahoo loses it! Google may be willing to fork over $4 … Read more

Visa, Mastercard fail Web shoppers again

commentary Internet shoppers once again have reason to question whether Visa and MasterCard are the best means for buying online.

People have taken to Twitter and online forums to express shock about a compelling expose published in The New York Times on Friday. The story focused on an online retailer with a dubious history of customer service that included responding to complaints from unhappy patrons by allegedly threatening their lives. The newspaper reported that Vitaly Borker, a resident of New York, had generated so many complaints from selling eyewear on his site, DecorMyEyes.com, that all the negative comments had … Read more

Black Friday sees online spending rise

Online spending on Black Friday increased nearly 16 percent compared with last year, with social-networking sites gaining momentum as a source for shopping tips and mobile devices playing an increasingly important role.

According to numbers from Coremetrics, which culled data from the sites of more than 500 U.S. retailers, including Bloomingdale's, Macy's, and Petco, online sales were up 15.9 percent, with the average order value rising about $20, from $170.19 to $190.80.

The researcher said that though the percentage of shoppers arriving at retail sites from social-networking sites was still relatively small, the phenomenon … Read more

ComScore: Holiday spending to be 'highest on record'

So far this year, online holiday shopping is up. And market research firm ComScore believes that trend will continue.

According to ComScore, consumers spent $9.01 billion during the first three weeks of November, representing a 13 percent gain over the $7.95 billion spent during the same period last year.

For the months of November and December combined, ComScore is forecasting $32.4 billion in online spending. Last year, consumers spent $29.1 billion during that two-month holiday shopping period. ComScore also said that from January through October, online consumers spent $109.9 billion, representing a 9 percent gain … Read more

Yipit responds to new Yahoo competition

One of the new products that Yahoo introduced at this week's Web 2.0 Summit conference as part of its ongoing attempt to turn its brand around was Yahoo Local Deals, an aggregator of discount-distribution sites like Groupon and LivingSocial that have fast become one of the hottest new ways for local businesses to advertise.

It's not quite clear how Yahoo's product will be structured. But they're certainly veering into the territory of start-ups like Yipit, which already offer similar services and say they can do it better. "I was surprised they are only working … Read more

Google launches Boutiques.com shopping search

Google is launching a product peppered with plenty of fashion labels--but hardly a Google logo itself. Enter Boutiques.com, a search site for fashion, accessories, and eventually other kinds of "soft goods" that Google claims can't be assessed by the text descriptions and basic product comparisons that fuel its Product Search engine.

It comes primarily from Google's acquisition of the technology and product team behind Like.com, a visual search engine. Munjal Shah, co-founder and CEO of Like, helped to push Boutiques.com out the door based largely on technology that Like.com was already developing … Read more