ToC

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AOL Subscriber Spending
America Online Inc., the world's largest Internet service, said its subscribers spent $3.9 billion online during the first quarter, more than the $2.5 billion they spent during the 1999 holiday season.

• LA Times
• http://www.latimes.com/business/cutting/20000420/t000037231.html 

CompUSA's Paid Support Goes Online
Dial-a-Tech's chat and e-mail functions not as helpful as phone support.

• PC World
• http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0%2C1510%2C16289%2C00.html 

E-tailers: Only One Chance to Survive
AC Nielsen reports that e-tailers only have one chance to survive. One bad experience almost guarantees a customer won't return for more. Not so for bricks-and-mortar businesses, which can sometimes get away with bad service repeatedly without losing a customer.

• ClickZ
• http://www.clickz.com/cgi-bin/gt/wi/bm/bm.html?article=1576 

Few in online auctions use escrow services
Despite the rise in online auction fraud, few users are taking advantage of the one sure-fire way to protect themselves: escrow services.

• CNET
• http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1639332.html?tag=st.ne.1430735.1007-200-1639332 

Fill Your Own Communication Gap
Over the last year, a bunch of consumer product review sites have sprung up to fulfill a need that had long been felt by consumers... and ignored by online retailers. Sites like ePinions.com, ConsumerReview.com and Shopserve.com all enable consumers to post raves and rants about their experiences at stores, both on- and offline. Clearly customers have a lot to say. Isn't it time you gave those customers an opportunity to speak where their voices will be valued the most?

• ClickZ
• http://clickz.com/cgi-bin/gt/cz/cz.html?article=1551 

Go configure
Configurators such as Calico Commerce try to make buying complex products easier.

• Upside
• http://www.upside.com/Ebiz/38ea69410.html 

Internet Customer Service Lessons
Last month, Priceline.com scaled back expansion plans for its WebHouse Club grocery shopping service because it was too busy digging out from an avalanche of unexpected customers. Like Priceline.com, many e-commerce sites are finding too much success -- enjoying exponential Web growth, and growing pains.

• New York Times
• http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/cyber/articles/12price.html 

It's Feeling A Lot Like Christmas
Toysrus.com bombed in a big way during the last holiday season because it couldn't fulfill orders. The company is hard at work making sure it won't happen again.

• Wired News
• http://www.wired.com/news/business/0%2C1367%2C35565%2C00.html 

Online Automobile Shopping Increasing
Use of the Internet by potential and actual automobile consumers has increased significantly from the 1998 to 1999 model year, according to the findings of a study released by The Polk Company.

• Computer User
• http://www.currents.net/news/00/04/20/news13.html 

Online Shoppers Go For Big-Ticket Items
Online shoppers are spending more on big-ticket items, according to new research.

• TechWeb
• http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000420S0004 

Rushing the buy
E-tailers need to rethink the online buying process.

• Upside
• http://www.upside.com/Opinion/38f3750e0.html 

Site Brings Comparison Shopping To Shipping
GoShip.com on Wednesday rolled out a new service that lets Internet merchants gather and distribute package shipping information.

• TechWeb
• http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000405S0012 

Spree.com is the Shopper's Shopper
According to exclusive data from Nielsen//NetRatings, more people are turning to spree.com than other surrogate shopping sites.

• AnchorDesk
• http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_4689.html 

Staples integrates catalogs with electronic procurement software
Staples.com today announced that its online contract customers can access their personalized catalogues and pricing at the StaplesLink.com e-commerce site via several major vendors' electronic procurement systems.

• Computer World
• http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000403D19A 

Study peeks into worldwide wallets
E-commerce may be spreading across the globe, but Americans are still highly overrepresented among online shoppers, according to a new study.

• Computer World
• http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000411D45E 

Survey Says: Net Shopping is Convenient and Cheap
A report due to be published later this month says that more than nine out of 10 UK customers who have purchased on the Net find it more convenient than buying in a store, while 75 percent found it cheaper.

• Computer User
• http://www.currents.net/newstoday/00/04/10/news7.html 

The Better You Know Me.
If you really want to build a long-term relationship with me, you may want to add another layer to your knowledge of who I really am.

• ClickZ
• http://gt.clickz.com/cgi-bin/gt/g2/sboa/sboa.html?article=1525