E-commerce

Aiming for more retail deals, Square adds partnerships VP

For a mobile payments platform whose future success is tied to its ability to be accepted by as many retailers as possible, a company like Square has to have someone leading the charge toward such deals.

That's why Square -- the San Francisco startup founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey -- has just hired its first vice president of partnerships. It said today that it has tapped Alex Petrov, former PayPal vice president of retail marketing, for the job. Petrov also previously held the position of vice president of consumer brands at supermarket giant Safeway.

It will be Petrov'… Read more

Uber taxi-hailing service returns to NYC streets, without payments

After an eight-month absence punctuated by legal battles, Uber taxi's service is returning to the streets of New York City.

Uber launched its taxi-hailing pilot program on Tuesday night, just days after a State Supreme Court judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to put a stop to the program. Passengers will be able to hail a cab with a smartphone app, but the app won't accept payments, at least initially.

"The way New Yorkers hail yellow cabs fundamentally transforms today, and we're proud that it's Uber who gave the Big Apple this option," Uber … Read more

eBay, retail partner to open NY shop with touch-screen window

NEW YORK--eBay is working with Kate Spade on a pop-up shop in New York that will feature a digital touch-screen storefront window, the e-commerce and digital payments giant said Tuesday.

CEO John Donahoe, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York earlier today, said the store will launch this summer and will allow eBay to reach consumers away from its traditional Web site. Donahoe at the time did not name the retailer.

An eBay spokesperson later told CNET that Kate Spade Saturday will be the partner for the pop-up shop. The spokesperson didn't provide other details about the … Read more

Fab redesigns site, acquires German furniture maker

Fab says it's changing direction again and this time it's to fully cement itself as a design-focused online retailer with new Fab-exclusive products and the acquisition of a German startup that sells custom-made furniture.

"This time, we would do it gradually -- over 16 months it turns out, and with 600 amazing teammates alongside us -- but methodically, from our start as this interesting flash sales website for design to The World's #1 Design Store," CEO Jason Goldberg wrote in a blog post Tuesday. "We planned this pivot and mapped out how to do … Read more

Foursquare CEO: Yes, actually, we are generating revenue

NEW YORK -- Foursquare's CEO wants to dismiss worries that the startup isn't growing, saying that all important metrics are rising about 10 percent to 30 percent from month to month.

Dennis Crowley, who also is a co-founder of the check-in and local search app, noted that Foursquare "doesn't talk about growth numbers that much," but the company pays attention to the number of active users, signups, check-ins, people using search and other metrics. All are rising, he said.

"There's a little perception we're not growing, which is false," Crowley said … Read more

Benchmark's Gurley: Uber is our fastest-growing company ever

NEW YORK -- Uber is growing pretty fast -- so fast that it may be Benchmark Capital's fastest-growing company ever, one of the VC firm's general partners said Monday.

Bill Gurley, speaking with TechCrunch's Michael Arrington at the blog's Disrupt conference here, said Uber, the taxi-booking service, is "probably the highest, fastest-growing company we've ever worked with," even more than eBay, an earlier Benchmark investment.

Uber is a taxi-hailing app that helps potential passengers locate a ride in real time. They simply put their location into an app, which is then sent to … Read more

Square Register update could help quick-serve restaurants

Quick-serve restaurants could start benefiting from Square's mobile payments service thanks to an update to its Square Register service.

According to Square, the update is aimed at helping restaurant managers better serve customers -- and process orders more quickly and efficiently -- with a set of tools created just for them. Square said that the new features allow for quickly customizing orders with order modifiers, even as a line keeps moving. And the service helps with more accurate recording or orders, as well as easier communication between servers and the kitchen, the San Francisco startup said.

Among the new … Read more

Amazon's slim profits beat analyst expectations

Even as Amazon keeps spending to expand operations, its first quarter results, announced Monday, beat analysts' earnings expectations.

Net income dropped 37 percent to $82 million, or 18 cents a share. That still topped analyst expectations of 9 cents a share. Sales climbed 22 percent to $16.1 billion just a smidgen below consensus expectations of $16.2 billion.

The online retail giant is seemingly always in investment mode, and this quarter was no exception. The company acquired Goodreads, a social network for people who love books. It inked new deals for its Prime Instant Video service with A+E … Read more

Amazon to release set-top box for Internet video, report says

Amazon plans to release a set-top box this fall that streams Internet-based video into consumers' homes, Bloomberg reported, making the e-commerce giant the latest company to target the TV market.

The device will plug into TVs and will give users access to Amazon's video catalog, including its Video on Demand store and Instant Video service, Bloomberg said, citing sources. Amazon's Lab126 division, based in Cupertino, Calif., is developing the product, the news service said, with Malachy Moynihan running the project. Moynihan is a former vice president of emerging products at Cisco as well as a former Apple employee. … Read more