E-commerce

Amazon continues to reign as the most popular online store for customer satisfaction, according to a report out today from ForeSee.

Measuring the top online retailers for the holiday shopping season, ForeSee awarded Amazon a score of 88 out of 100, matching the company's top grade from last year. Amazon has scooped up the highest scores in the index for eight straight years, in large part because of the appeal and variety of its products, ForeSee said.

"At this point, Amazon has been dominant for so long and has such a history of focusing on the customer, its … Read more

Amazon, the e-commerce juggernaut, will likely keep steamrolling every category it can possibly deem relevant to its business strategy. These are my top five predictions for next year.

1. Reaping what's sown Amazon has been building up its services in the last few years: opening more fulfillment centers, adding hardware as a way to spread its content, and investing in production studios to release original content. Although the company had some disappointing earnings this year, it will start to see its investment in these projects return in 2013. It's a typical cycle for Amazon: spend lots of money … Read more

Amazon spent another year invading everyone's territory and pushing the limits of its business strategy.

The e-commerce company continued to dabble in book publishing and Web site hosting and tried its hand at video-gaming development. Anything slightly related to its business -- Amazon jumped on it.

That's not surprising given Amazon's history with identifying and mimicking both services and products to strengthen its bottom line. Here are the five biggest Amazon stories of 2012:

1. Go big on hardware or go home

Amazon beefed up its hardware selection this year, releasing three new devices to add to … Read more

A new patent from Apple provides loads of information on Passbook and hints at the possibility of using near-field communications with the app.

Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent, dubbed "Integrated Coupon Storage, Discovery, And Redemption System," goes into great detail about a system that lets you manage and redeem electronic coupons on a mobile device.

As described in the patent, such a system could trigger an alert on your phone when you're near a store where a saved coupon can be used. It could also alert you when you're … Read more

Online spending hit $35 billion over the first 46 days of the holiday season , according to data out yesterday from ComScore.

From November 1 through December 16, sales jumped 13 percent jump over the same period last year. Last week set a record with spending surpassing $7 billion for the first time ever.

Green Monday (a term coined by eBay to refer to the second Monday in December) saw sales of $1.275 billion, while three other days for the season accounted for more than $1 billion in online spending.

However, the 13 percent rise is lower than expected, according … Read more

Google Play is on a growth spurt, but Apple is still tops in app sales.

Over the past four months, Google's app store saw its daily sales jump by 43 percent across the 20 countries measured by analytics provider Distimo in a report out today.

At the same time, sales growth for Apple's App Store rose just by 21 percent on a daily basis. That's slowed considerably since January, when the App Store's daily sales growth was 51 percent.

As Distimo points out, however, the daily revenue values in the App Store were already much higher … 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 shoppers looking for a gift for their favorite Apple fan can save $10 on an iTunes gift card via Walmart.

The retail company is now offering a $50 electronic iTunes gift card for $40. That seems to be the only deal since Walmart is selling all other iTunes gift cards at their regular prices.

Buyers who opt for the deal receive an initial confirmation e-mail from Walmart and then a second e-mail with access to a PIN. After receiving the PIN, you can then send the card as a gift to your recipient. The turnaround seems to vary, however. … Read more

Fast-growing e-commerce site Fab plans to expand its focus on India after taking a "seven-figure investment" from Times Internet, the digital arm of the Times of India Group.

The specific financial terms were not revealed, but the investment will include a partnership between the two companies "to explore and execute on our India market strategy in the coming years," Fab founder and CEO Jason Goldberg wrote today in a blog post.

The investment and collaboration come a little more than a month after the design-focused shopping site acquired India-based True Sparrow, a tech venture company that … Read more