E-commerce

Sandberg turned down job as LinkedIn CEO in 2006

In the summer of 2006, Sheryl Sandberg, then an accomplished senior Google executive, received a call from LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. LinkedIn was searching for a new chief executive. Was she interested?

No.

"I thought it was a great opportunity, and after five years in the same position at Google I was ready for a new challenge," she said. "But the timing was tricky. I was 37 years old and wanted to have a second child. I told Reid the truth: regrettably, I had to pass...."

A few years later, Mark Zuckerberg came knocking; the rest … Read more

Amazon patents way for you to sell your digital items

Online consumers may one day be able to sell or trade their digital items to other users, at least if a new Amazon patent comes to fruition.

Granted to the retail giant on January 29, the patent dubbed "Secondary market for digital objects" describes an electronic marketplace for swapping digital items.

You'd start off by housing your purchased music, videos, apps, and e-books in your own online storage space, just as many of us do today. When you get tired of listening to the same songs or reading the same books, you can move those items to … Read more

Google to nab e-commerce firm Channel Intelligence for $125M

Google has signed a deal to acquire e-commerce-solutions company Channel Intelligence for $125 million in cash.

Channel's parent company, ICG, announced the deal today.

Channel's technologies are designed to boost the sale of products online. The company offers a Facebook platform, product search engines, and other services created for companies looking to improve product sales. Channel, based near Orlando, Fla., claims that it "drives $2 billion in sales annually in referred sales online in computing products, home improvement products, appliances, consumer electronics, toys and a variety of other consumer packaged goods."

Google is obviously no stranger … Read more

Zillow's new Digs app offers remodeling ideas, advice

Online real estate listing aggregator Zillow launched an app today that aims to help home shoppers and home buyers with their home improvement projects.

Available for the iPad and the Web, Zillow Digs is a free app designed to offer inspiration as well as information about remodeling projects. The free app lets users browse thousands of photos of bathroom, kitchen, and outdoor projects, as well as get estimates on the cost of the actual project based on the user's location.

Similar to Houzz, an online home improvement community that launched a design, decorating, and remodeling app in 2010, Digs … Read more

E-commerce spending hits $1 trillion for first time

For the first time ever, worldwide e-commerce sales exceeded $1 trillion, according to new data from research firm eMarketer.

The first $1 trillion mark was reached in 2012, with sales up 21.1 percent from the previous year, according to eMarketer. The company said that it expects e-commerce sales to grow this year by 18.3 percent to end 2013 at $1.3 trillion in worldwide sales.

In addition, the company expects North America to lose its position as the leading e-commerce market to the Asia-Pacific region. Last year, Asia-Pacific's share of total e-commerce spending was 30.5 percent, … Read more

Amazon to mint virtual coins for Kindle Fire users

Come May, Kindle Fires users can pocket virtual coins to spend on their favorite apps.

Announced today, Amazon Coins is a new type of virtual currency developed by the retail giant. The coins will be used to purchase Kindle Fire games, apps, and in-app items from the Amazon Appstore.

To kick off the currency in May, Amazon will offer shoppers tens of millions of dollars of free Amazon Coins to spend on Kindle Fire apps. The company will also let customers buy more coins directly through their Amazon accounts.

Amazon sees the currency as a boon for developers, as it … Read more

Amazon to begin collecting sales tax in Connecticut this year

Another state will soon be reaping revenue from Amazon as the Internet retail giant has agreed to begin collecting sales tax from consumers in Connecticut.

Amazon will begin collecting the state's 6.35 percent sales tax on items bought on the site from within the state in November, state officials announced today. Kevin Sullivan, Connecticut's commissioner of Revenue Services, told the Associated Press that Amazon's tax collection will add $8 million to state coffers the first year, with $13 million to $15 million in the second year.

Amazon has also agreed to invest $50 million in Connecticut … Read more

Study: People don't use or understand digital wallets

The digital wallet has been anointed by many as the future of payments. In the present, however, virtual-pay apps remain largely untouched and misunderstood.

Only 51 percent of U.S. consumers are even aware of digital payment providers other than PayPal, and a teeny-tiny percentage of people -- 12 percent spanning all brands -- have actually used applications such as Google Wallet, MasterCard PayPass Wallet, or Square Wallet, according to a new study from analytics firm ComScore.

ComScore analyzed data from a panel of 1 million U.S. consumers and two separate surveys of U.S. Internet users in November … Read more

Amazon scores exclusive rights to stream 'Downton Abbey'

Sorry, Netflix and Hulu. Starting in June, Amazon Prime will be the only place to stream the latest episodes of popular TV series "Downton Abbey."

The online retail giant announced today that it secured a licensing agreement to exclusively stream season 3 of the award-winning series that airs on PBS in the U.S., starting on June 18. The agreement also covers season 4 and, if it's produced, season 5.

"The series is consistently in our top most watched TV shows each week, making it the most popular TV series with Prime Instant Video customers, ever,&… Read more

Amazon Studios OKs production on pilots for kids' shows

Amazon Studios will produce pilots for five original children's shows that are expected to make their debuts on Amazon's Web-streaming services, the company announced today.

The new pilots, which include series from the creators of "Blue's Clues" and "Sid the Science Kid," add to the six Amazon Studios pilots -- original comedies announced in December -- that are already in production.

The children's series are "Creative Galaxy," an arts and music show from "Blue's Clues" creator Angela Santomero; "Oz Adventures," a problem-solving program featuring the … Read more