ECOMMERCE
SITES
allECommerce
Electronic commerce news, resources, and business strategies. Includes links to articles on ecommerce from around the web.
Managing the Digital Enterprise
"An online guide to the literature about e-commerce," developed in conjunction with a graduate-level course at North Carolina State University.
shop.org - Where Online Retailers Meet
A trade association focusing on Internet retailing, shop.org releases reports on e-tailing trends.
Shopping Cart Software
Links to a variety of shopping cart solutions; some commercial, some free. Some hosted remotely, some downloadable programs.
United States Government Electronic Commerce Policy
An overview of the U.S. Government's policy on e-commerce. Includes government views on where the Internet has been, and where it's going to.
Web Review: Storefronts
Articles on ecommerce from Web Review magazine.
WebReference: E-commerce
Articles and resources on ecommerce from WebReference.com.
ARTICLES
AmEx to Offer "Disposable" Credit Card Numbers
In an attempt to reduce cardholders' concerns about credit card fraud, American Express plans to offer customers disposable credit card numbers, which they will be able to use for one transaction before it's invalidated. (9/7/2000 at News.com)
As the Web Turns From Free to Fee
As online companies find advertising revenue isn't enough to stay afloat, some are successfully charging users for content and services. (3/13/2001 at MSNBC)
Building a Large-scale E-commerce Site with Apache and mod_perl
A long, detailed explanation of how to build a large e-commerce site with Apache and mod_perl, covering load balancing, security, and more. (10/17/2001 at Perl.com)
Building Web Sites With Depth
How to make a good, usable commerce-driven website. Provide good search functions; allow good side-by-side comparisons of products; and provide ways of filtering out products the consumer won't want. (1/10/2001 at Web Techniques)
Christmas Bells Jingle Online
An industry survey says 1999 holiday sales will reach $12-$15 billion. (11/9/1999 at CNNfn)
Consumers' Purchase-Decision Criteria
The main factors in consumers' purchase decisions: how well a product meets their needs, and how important those needs are. (4/24/2001 at ClickZ Network)
A Credit Card Solution For Low-cost Content Sales
Third-party credit card transaction aggregators like MicroCreditCard offer publishers the ability to sell low-cost digital content (under a dollar) for very low transaction fees; they may make micropayment for archived newspaper articles feasible. (9/13/2000 at Editor & Publisher Interactive)
Design For Buyers
Designing your site to appeal to three different types of buyers: browsers (not sure what they want), evaluators (wants detailed information), and transactors (wants security and privacy). (4/20/2001 at ZDNet Developer)
Did You Say List Price?
Reporters at various newspapers offer different takes on the customer service scandal hitting Priceline and the dynamic pricing scandal hitting Amazon. (10/2/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Don't Launch Your ECommerce Site Yet!
Advice on standing out from the ecommerce crowd, especially when another site is already cornering the market in your sales niche. (10/15/1999 at Webdeveloper.com)
E-commerce Systems Examined
A look at the pros and cons of several high-end ecommerce platforms, covering packages from Blue Martini, BroadVision, IBM, iPlanet, and Microsoft. (12/19/2000 at CNET.com)
E-Mail Money Gains Currency
PayPal, the online money system, now has 4 million customers; whether it can sustain its low charges and $5 bonus to new customers, as well as ward off deep-pocketed competition, remains to be seen. (10/5/2000 at The Washington Post)
Europe Passes Stiff E-Commerce Law
The "Brussels I regulation", passed by European justice ministers, states that when a European consumer sues a European ecommerce site, the case will be tried in the consumer's country. (12/1/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Future Bright for Digital Cash - Report
This report from the Aberdeen Group suggests that micropayments - payments of digital cash under $10 - will pick up significantly in the next few years. (11/5/1999 at Aberdeen Group)
Good Stuff Cheap
A look at how Bright Station bought the technology developed by failed ecommerce site Boo.com for pennies on the dollar, and turned the potentially disastrous purchase into a worthwhile deal. (11/1/2000 at CIO.com)
Grandma Now Accepts Credit Cards
X.com and PayPal, which have developed person-to-person payment systems, are merging just as Wells Fargo is teaming with eBay to allow the auction site's users to accept credit card payments from each other. (3/1/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Hear No E-Shoppers, See No E-Shoppers
Successful etailers should listen to what customers are saying: they're afraid of poor online security, want close-up product images, want consumer reviews of products, and want to be able to call a customer service agent. (3/16/2001 at ECommerce Times)
I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday
PayPal, a system with which 3.3 million online consumers are already making small monetary transactions, may have already won the Internet payment system war. (8/31/2000 at PBS)
Keep the Customer Dissatisfied
Many ecommerce companies are failing because they don't make things easy for consumers, are end-played by old-economy competitors, or forget about making profits. (10/20/2000 at Salon.com)
Let's Cough up the Cash for Web Content
Film critic Roger Ebert does the math on micropayments. (11/15/2000 at ZDNet)
The Longest Mile
"The real challenge for ecommerce is... figuring out a home-delivery method that makes both dollars and sense." The author presents a series of possible scenarios for making home delivery of online purchases - of tangible or intangible goods - profitable. (12/8/1999 at Business 2.0)
Magazines Finally Find Successful Web Model
Magazines are increasingly turning to retail sales, rather than advertising, to turn their websites profitable. (10/15/1999 at ECommerce Times)
Make Money From Your Personal Home Page
How to make money through your web page - using affiliate programs, banner exchanges, simple stores, etc. - even if you're not a professional. (9/28/1999 at ZDNet)
Metering and Accounting for Web Services
A model for pricing commercial web services automatically, based on type and amount of data served to a customer. (7/17/2001 at IBM)
Mistakes Could Cost E-tailers $6 Billion This Holiday Season
A recent ecommerce report makes a bold claim: during the 1998 holiday season, a dollar spent on advertising yielded $5 in revenue for online stores, while a dollar spent on improving the customer experience yielded more than $60. (10/8/1999 at ECommerce Times)
New Standards Could Help Development of Micropayments
The W3C is close to finalizing standards for micropayments; whether or not they will catch on, and save various small-payment corporations, remains to be seen. (11/30/1999 at News.com)
No Need to Reinvent
Building your own e-commerce solution seems like the "in thing" these days, but buying a single comprehensive solution can be much less time-consuming and costly. (10/5/2000 at Upside)
Novell's digitalme Aims to Give Users One Net Profile
Novell has unveiled a P3P- and Microsoft Passport-like technology that is supposed to help users carry around their information easily from commerce site to commerce site. (10/5/1999 at InfoWorld)
On the Internet, Speed Kills
In the wake of the fake Emulex press release which sent the company's stock plunging, the question to ask is: "Just because we have the ability to move at the speed of light, should we?" (9/5/2000 at ECommerce Times)
The Online Auction World is a Risky Area
An examination of some things that can go wrong with online personal auctions, and what auction sites should do to fix things. (10/19/1999 at ZDNet)
Online e-Commerce Issues w/ PayPal?
Slashdot discussion of the problems that can occur using PayPal, or other online payment systems: poor customer service, frozen accounts, etc. (12/10/2001 at Slashdot.org)
Online Prices Not Created Equal
Amazon.com's "experiment" with offering different prices on the same goods to different consumers is angering customers. (9/7/2000 at Wired News)
Online Retail Revenue Up 300 Percent - Survey - Update
A shop.org survey says holiday-season online sales this year increased 300% over last year. The original report is available at shop.org. (12/29/1999 at CNNfn)
PayPal no Friend to Scam Victims
Dozens of online auction participants have discovered, after being cheated in an auction for nonexistent goods, that payment systems like PayPal don't give them the same fraud protection as credit card companies do. (7/18/2000 at MSNBC)
A Penny-Ante Business Worth Billions
In 1998, Nicholas Negroponte predicted an explosion in micropayment systems; DoCoMo, the Japanese wireless system, appears to be the only business to successfully implement micropayments so far. (4/23/2001 at Business Week)
Requiem for a Bright Idea
The first round of companies developing online payment systems failed, unable to excite either vendors or consumers. The next round - some headed by the same old players - hopes to make inroads with micropayments rather than large purchases. (10/20/1999 at Forbes)
Running Lean and Mean To Survive in E-Business
Advice on succeeding with ecommerce: have good gross margins; concentrate on retaining, rather than obtaining, customers; be customer friendly; etc. (3/2/2001 at ECommerce Times)
Spare Change Agents
iPIN is the latest company that hopes to simplify micropayments online. Given the problems sites have had getting revenue through advertising, their time may have come. (10/6/1999 at Business 2.0)
Study Finds Consumers Want Basics
According to a study by Information Resources Inc., customers want plain retail websites that allow them to rate products and get free samples and coupons. (4/20/2001 at MSNBC)
Surviving the Tech Wreck
10 rules to help your high-tech company survive and thrive, despite the volatility of the tech market. (10/20/2000 at eCommerceBase)
A Taxing Decision on Internet Bill for Gov. Davis
The California Legislature has passed a bill to close a tax loophole that benefits retailers with stores in California but Internet operations based elsewhere. (9/11/2000 at Los Angeles Times)
The Throwaway Credit Card
Like American Express, MBNA will offer its customers one-purchase-only/disposable credit cards; but will also allow customers to put a spending limit on the disposables. (10/18/2000 at The Industry Standard)
Toward Successful E-Fulfillment
An overview of how all the players, processes, and mechanisms interact to allow a customer to order a product online, the online store to send the order to a fulfillment house, and the fulfillment house to determine what to ship. (1/1/2000 at Web Techniques)
Trading Net Privacy At E-Checkout
Recent events indicate that though consumers are concerned about their privacy online, they are quite willing to give their information to be able to buy the products they want. (9/11/2000 at ZDNet)
The Truth About Shopping Online
A look at how online retailers did in 1999 - in terms of customer satisfaction, as well as sales. (2/2/2000 at CNET.com)
Visa Sets Net Security Measures
VISA is setting 10 security rules for Internet-based transactions by its member institutions and their merchant partners, aimed at reducing online credit card fraud. (8/9/2000 at Wired News)
Wall Street Fed Up With E-Commerce Losses
A Forrester Research report predicts that in 2000, Wall Street will punish those stocks which continue to "bleed red ink." (1/31/2000 at ECommerce Times)
The Web Will Rise Again: Give It Time
Why aren't people using the Web to do those things that are sometimes easier and cheaper online? Maybe they just haven't thought about it. Or maybe other online experiences have turned them off. (4/25/2001 at ClickZ Network)
What Can The Porn Industry Teach Dot-Coms?
At the iHollywood Forum, members of the online porn industry gave mainstream web publishers advice on making a profit. (1/19/2001 at NewsBytes)
Why Doc Searls Doesn't Sell Anything
Why would switching from Amazon to an independent online bookstore stop people from buying books through your website? (8/6/2000 at UseIt)
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