Retail - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

uBid, the US-based online marketplace for discounted products, is preparing to enter the UK in the coming months following a reorganisation of its business.

The company joins rival Overstock in targeting Europe for the first time this year as US merchants look to get their hands on more foreign currency. It will also provide more competition for the likes of eBay and Amazon in the battle to attract buyers of cheap goods.

uBid CEO Jeffrey D. Hoffman told E-consultancy: “We are looking to acquire both buyers and sellers in European markets and are setting up an office in Europe. It will likely be in the UK.”

Selling on the web is quickly becoming lessabout marketers’ supply meeting up with customers’ demand, and more about customers themselves actively bringing their demand toward supply. 

In fact, they're creating supply in many cases. And successful marketers are creating experiences for customers -- not merely selling to them.

The Wall Street Journal carried an article last week about the problems consumer electronics etailers are having with returns.

Only 5% of returns were due to defective products and etailers spent $13.8m (£7bn) reselling returned products, so how best to deal with what is clearly a major issue? 

US-based consumer electronics retailer Dyscern is a great case study of how to make serious money on online marketplaces like eBay.

The company, which started up only five years ago, is now sixth in Inc. Magazine’s list of America's fastest growing retailers and is reportedly the most rapidly expanding eBay Powerseller on the other side of the pond.

We spoke to Dyscern COO Bill Frischling about the pros and cons of eBay as an e-commerce channel for merchants, and how the firm is looking to ramp up its European sales.

Here, we ask Dominic Yacoubian, MD of 247electrical , about the continuing problem of online fraud, how his company is affected by it and what he feels needs to be done to better combat the problem.

No matter how successful an e-commerce site is, there are often ways in which a site can be improved to maintain its appeal to customers and maximise conversions.

We have looked at M&S, Amazon and Tesco already, now we take a look at Next to see what improvements could be made to their website...

There are a number of ways for etailers to handle the problem of unavailable items, from not displaying the products at all, or offering customers alternatives.

In last year's Online Retail 2007: Checkout Special report, we advised that customers should not be allowed to begin to purchase items that are out of stock, as this can frustate customers.

I've been looking for a new laptop lately and have been doing my research online at a number of sites.

Two of the best known are PC World and Comet, so how do they measure up?

Chris Shimojima was brought in to steer the online business of Nike in 2006 – a position in which he oversees the direct-to-consumer digital sales of Nike and its sister brands, such as Converse and Hurley.

He recently spoke at ChannelAdvisor’s Catalyst event about how the company was generating business online through its Nike+ community and Nike iD, its system that allows shoppers to create customised trainers online and in store.

After his speech, we asked Chris a few questions about Nike’s e-commerce strategy, internal structure and future social media plans. And why its website is 100% Flash.

Reserve and collect services are all the rage at the moment as retailers integrate their online and offline businesses. But few – if any – have developed an equivalent offering for marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.

One company that is looking to do so, however, is footwear chain Schuh; one of the most prolific sellers on eBay UK.