E-Commerce Blog

Mobile commerce opportunities have been largely overlooked by retailers in North America with sound reason. The current shopping experience on mobile phones is just plain awful. Nevertheless, mobile communication devices are a widely used resource — ready and able to bridge stores with the site and call center. This offers huge potential to drive offline growth with online assets with minimal investment. Several retailers have piloted mobile applications. Most are aimed at capturing orders via mobile phone. Polo Ralph Lauren, Barnes & Noble and Amazon are recent examples.

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A Holiday Wish List for Mobile Commerce

Networking giant Cisco Systems will shut down most of its American and Canadian offices from Dec. 29 to Jan. 2 in a move the San Jose, Calif.-based company says will save it about $1 billion. Cisco’s announcement is just the latest signal that technology companies are making efforts to cut costs as demand for new computing equipment slows down and a recession looms. Cisco’s stock was trading up nearly 4 percent to $16.02 per share in mid-day trading on Wednesday.

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Cisco to Go Dark for 5 Days in Cost-Savings Move

From its beginnings in 2006, when the online video advertising industry had little revenue, to an estimated revenue of over $900 million this year, the industry has exploded. Amir Ashkenazi, CEO of Adap.TV, a San Mateo, Calif.-based online video advertising platform provider, shares those thoughts in an exclusive interview with ECT News Network. He reports that the online video ad spend is projected to grow to about $3.9 billion to $4 billion by the year 2012. And he expects the continued movement of traditional TV advertising to the online space.

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The Survivors Will Be Stronger: Q&A With Adap.tv CEO Amir Ashkenazi

I have in my hot little hand a two-page handout that I got at the recently concluded Dreamforce 2008 event in San Francisco. With all the excitement about the election and the economy, as well as this day job I have, I had not really taken the time to peruse it. A quick glance a couple of weeks ago told me that the company had added a new color — blue — to its logo, but closer inspection reveals that it isn’t just the color, there’s another logo all together. The title of this document is “Salesforce.com New Branding at a Glance October 2008.”

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Branding a Force

Talks to put The Beatles’ catalog on Apple’s iTunes online music store have stalled, former Fab Four member Paul McCartney told the BBC. The Beatles is one of the few big acts left whose music is not available on iTunes, but the settlement of a trademark dispute between Apple and The Beatles’ company Apple Corps last year was seen as finally clearing the way. “We’d like to do it,” McCartney was quoted as telling the BBC on its Web site on Tuesday. “We are very for it, we’ve been pushing it. But there are a couple of sticking points, I understand.

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McCartney: EMI ‘Sticking Points’ Keeping Beatles From iTunes