E-Commerce Blog

Miva Merchant is among the most prominent ecommerce brands. The company was launched in 1995 as HTMLScript Corporation, and it’s one of the early day shopping cart providers. It rose, and then fell, with the first dotcom boom and bust. In 2005, the company sold to Findwhat.com, a publicly-traded, pioneering online advertising network, which then changed its name to Miva. The new Miva later sold the shopping cart division, called Miva Merchant, to private investors in 2007.

Observers of Miva Merchant have long believed that its business model, selling software licenses to hosting companies for as little as $50 apiece, is flawed. The model provided a small, one-time revenue injection, but left the company saddled with ongoing expenses,…

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Interview: Miva Merchant CEO, EVP on Moving to a SAAS Business Model

The recent decline in worldwide consumer activity seems to have reached bottom or at least slowed its decline.

“Consumers worldwide appear to be in a holding pattern and we see evidence that consumer spending might be positioned to turn around,” said James Russo, vice president global consumer insights for The Nielsen Company, a worldwide data analysis and marketing agency. “There is no doubt that conditions remain tough for global consumers, with continuing widespread areas of weakness, but levels of decline seem to be moderating.”

February Worse for Just One Country

According to The Nielsen Economic Current scorecard of consumer behavior, only one major GDP nation (Germany) saw worsening consumer activity in February 2009 compared t…

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Chart of the Week: The Global Recession May Have Bottomed Out In February

Print advertising is a waning media vehicle. It has become less effective in the post-interruption era. However, in spite of this decline, printed display advertising and classifieds can still provide a solid return on investment (ROI) for some ecommerce merchants willing and able to measure and optimize their print campaigns.

I must confess a certain affinity for printed media. As someone who spends many hours each day working and reading on a computer, I find a sort of nostalgic comfort in flipping through the glossy pages of a magazine, or in feeling the inky lightness of newsprint. Yet I also understand that it has become increasing difficult to be heard in a marketplace where print advertisers tout seemingly unending tag lines to w…

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Ecommerce Know-How: Four Ways to Measure Print Advertising Effectiveness

Last week, eBay announced first quarter 2009 revenue of $2.02 billion, a $171.6 million year-over-year decrease. While PayPal, Classifieds and Skype performed well, according to eBay, delivering year-over-year revenue growth, and text and graphical advertising revenues were flat compared to Q1 2008. Marketplace revenues fell sharply. All told eBay’s net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 reached $357.1 million or $0.28 per diluted share.

eBay sees strength for PayPal, expecting the online payment processor to more than double its revenue in the next few years. eBay also strengthened its core auction business by announcing plans to purchase one of Korea’s largest online marketplaces.

“We delivered solid results in the first qua…

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eBay Earnings Release Not Entirely Good News

Event and movie tickets earned average orders of $252.14 in March 2009, topping a list of online retail categories, according to a new report.

The report from Nielsen Online via MarketingCharts.com showed that the ticket category outpaced its closest competitor category, computer hardware, by more than $63 per average order. Automotive-related products and consumer electronics each generated slightly more than $120 on a typical order, while child and baby care items, sporting goods, home and garden products, office supplies, and food products all hovered near $75 in revenue for a customary order.

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Chart of the Week: Top Online Retail Categories for March 2009