Spotlight Features

Not a day goes by without yet another report of massive high-tech layoffs and lowered financial expectations -- not to mention the economic slowdown, stock prices in steep decline and the ongoing series of dot-com closures. But underneath most radar screens, a group of e-commerce sites are get...

Already reeling from the plummet in online advertising revenue, the major Internet portals are busy answering another question posed by their Web merchant partners: Are portals still able to turn Web surfers into Web shoppers? A study released this month by Consumer Reports Online found that p...

The Web sites are fancy, and the merchandise is nicely arranged with descriptions telling you exactly what your hard-earned money will buy, but these e-tailers aren't selling books or blenders. They're virtual brothels, offering sex for sale. "Online prostitution has proven to be a highly profit...

With the deadline for filing U.S. tax returns barely a month away, Intuit and H&R Block have shown no sign of abandoning their dominant status in the online tax preparation and filing sector. However, despite battling to a certain extent for control of the same consumers in a specialized m...

They say that for the one-year anniversary, paper is the appropriate gift. For the one-year anniversary of the Nasdaq Composite Index's all-time high, the almost unavoidable choice is a loss on paper. On March 10, 2000 the Nasdaq hit its all-time high of 5,132.52 -- an 88 percent increase from O...

There's only one directive that seems to hold true across the e-commerce landscape these days: to survive, literally, at all costs. While some e-tailers are desperately seeking new revenue sources and better gross margins to stave off hostile investors, others are completely reinventing them...

As the dot-com shakeout nears the one-year mark, many companies might have a bad case of the E-Commerce Blues. Some analysts say that overspending and over-expansion, at the expense of monitoring cash flow and focusing on profitability, have doomed many e-tailers before they really ever began. Can...

Georgia and Texas are among the U.S. states grappling with the issue of Internet alcohol sales, after a federal law went into effect last month giving states more control over alcoholic shipments to consumers in their states. Girding up on one side of the debate are those who believe that allow...

Analysts disagree on whether Tuesday's downbeat economic news, including a reported drop in consumer confidence to its lowest level in nearly five years, is likely to drag down e-commerce spending levels. Forrester analyst Christopher Kelley told the E-Commerce Times not only that "consumers are de...

Layoffs. Consolidations. Tumbling stock prices. When will the madness end? According to industry analysts, the dot-com shakeout is going to get much worse before it gets better -- and it won't be getting better anytime soon. More shutdowns and layoffs lie in wait for the online world. "If you lo...