commerce

It's a challenge for anybody selling a wide range of anything online: how do you get the right products in front of the right customers?

Shutterstock, which sells stock-art photos and videos to customers such as ad agencies and PowerPoint presenters, has the matchmaking problem in spades. With 550,000 active customers and more than 23.7 million images, pairing the right buyer with the right photo isn't easy.

Which is why the New York-based company, which went public last October, is retooling how it presents its products to better compete with iStockphoto and other rivals.

Shutterstock has … Read more

Newegg last week won an important ruling that could have a profound impact on e-commerce.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last week ruled (PDF) that Newegg has not violated patents held by a company called Soverain related to the function of shopping carts and other e-commerce technologies. The court found that Soverain's claims -- that Newegg was violating its patents through its online shopping cart -- were "invalid for obviousness."

Ars Technica was first to report on the judgement.

Soverain doesn't actually make use of its patents in an e-commerce business. … Read more

It was one year ago today that an unprecedented outcry against the Stop Online Piracy Act proved to Washington officialdom that sufficiently irritated Internet users are a potent political force. After Wikipedia, Google, Craigslist and other major sites asked their users to contact their representatives, the deluge of traffic knocked some Senate Web sites offline, and votes on both bills were indefinitely postponed.

The massive public outcry that, by some counts, involved more than 10 million Internet users concerned about the proposals' impact on free expression has turned the protests into a cautionary tale on Capitol Hill. Aides now worry … Read more

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has announced that he will step down from his company's chief executive post.

Ma sent an e-mail to employees today, saying that it was a "difficult decision," according to Reuters, which obtained a copy of the note. He said that while he will be stepping down as CEO, he will stay on at Alibaba as chairman of the company's board of directors.

Ma and Alibaba have yet to name a successor, though Ma said his replacement would be announced May 10. It seems likely, given the tone of the 48-year-old Ma's … Read more

This is a rerun of a deal I posted last year. It was sweet then, and it's equally sweet now.

Is 2013 the year you make it big on the Web? Only if you have a home for your Web site. It's easy to find hosting packages for less than $10 per month, but 10 bucks for a whole year? Nice.

For the next 48 hours, Web Hosting Hub is offering your first year of Web hosting for just $10. That's $50 off the usual price.

Update: Sorry, folks, someone forgot to flip the switch: The deal … Read more

The phrase "shop by phone" took on new meaning in 2012, with U.S. consumer spending via mobile devices nearly doubling over 2011 levels.

Shoppers used their smartphones and tablets to make $25 billion in purchases last year, an increase of 81 percent over the previous year, according to data released today by market research firm eMarketer.

The researcher estimates that mobile devices accounted for 11 percent of e-commerce sales last year and expects that number to increase to 15 percent in 2013.

eMarketer expects consumers to make nearly $87 billion in mobile purchases by 2016, more than … Read more

Growing fears of an impending economic crisis in the new year apparently led to weaker-than-expected U.S. online holiday sales results.

Consumers spent $42.3 billion online during the November-December holiday shopping season, a 14 percent increase over 2011, according to data released today by ComScore. While online shopping set some spending records, overall growth was largely flat, the market analyst concluded.

"This year's growth rate is essentially on a par with last year's," ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement. "But despite many positives for the online sector, this year's season did … Read more

Before there was Pinterest, there was Polyvore.

The commerce site, which lets users curate and share virtual fashion and beauty collections, released some new numbers today, boasting a record year for revenue and user growth.

The site, which is about three years older than Pinterest, said today that it has 20 million users, roughly five million shy of Pinterest's last reported user base. But, while Pinterest was making headlines gaining users at lightning speed this year, Polyvore been bolstering its brand among the fashionistas and, the company said today, pulling in big retail dollars.

Polyvore users create visual collections, … Read more

Holiday cybershoppers in the United States have opened up their wallets to the tune of $21.4 billion so far, a 14 percent gain over last year, according to ComScore.

Measuring from November 1 through December 2 -- the first 32 days of the 2012 holiday-shopping season -- ComScore found that more people are buying online. Stats showed a 9 percent rise in the number of buyers to 128.7 million.

People are also freer with their hard-earned dollars. The average online consumer has so far spent $159.90, a gain of 5 percent from last year. Specifically, the amount … Read more