ecommerce

Since the middle of this week, the buzz about Apple hasn't been so much its record earnings as disclosures of the working conditions its overseas workers endure, as detailed in a recent report, which touched on worker deaths, inhumane working conditions, disregard for workers' health, the use of underage workers, suggestions that Cupertino cares only about cutting costs and maintaining product quality, and allegations of infighting among senior management at Apple over these issues.

Facebook and Washington state filed federal lawsuits on Thursday against Adscend Media for "clickjacking," a form of spamming that fools users into visiting advertising sites and divulging personal information. "Likejacking" is similar. Users believe links to spam sites are being sent to them by friends. Facebook and Attorney General Rob McKenna filed similar but separate lawsuits against Adscend, alleging the advertising company has profited by collecting money from clients for every Facebook user misdirected to an advertisement or subscription offer.

However, its profits fell nearly 7%.

The company says it will add two more e-retail sites to its celebrity-backed subscription sites.

Eight Congressmen sent a written inquiry to Google seeking information about the company’s revised privacy policy that the search giant announced this week.

More consumers are seeking help through online communities.

Intel is buying about 190 patents, 170 patent applications, and next-generation video codec software from RealNetworks. The terms of the sale will allow RealNetworks to retain certain rights to continue using the patents in current and future products. In addition to the sale, RealNetworks and Intel signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development of the video codec software and related products. RealNetworks will be able to monetize these assets, generating additional capital for investment in new businesses and markets, said President and CEO Thomas Nielsen.

The suits say Adscend Media tricks Facebook users into sharing personal information.

The biggest e-retailers changed prices nearly 30 times more often than smaller rivals during holiday season, a study says.

A Facebook Like campaign nearly doubles sales for one IRCE speaker.

As far as exclusive interviews go, you could do a lot worse than getting Herman Cain, and a lot worse than getting him on Nov. 28. That was, after all, the day that a woman unleashed accusations of a 13-year affair with Cain, the third racy allegation levied against Cain in a matter of weeks. And those charges were but part of the Cain saga. There was also the Nov. 15 Libya gaffe, when Cain seemed to forget not only what had happened in Libya, but also whether or not he agreed with Barack Obama's handling of the situation.

At the National Retail Federation's annual convention,Retail's BIG Show 2012, Epicor debuted its latest mobile offering: the Epicor Retail Clienteling application. It is an add-on for Epicor's existing CRM app, said Dave Burto, product director of CRM services -- meaning a retailer has to be an Epicor customer to use it. However, the app comes with a few additional features designed for the tablet form factor. "The current version we have introduced is optimized specifically for the iPad, but this can run on any tablet," Burto said.

Apple surprised Wall Street Wednesday when it revealed it was sitting on cash reserves of nearly $100 billion. Now the question is, what will the company do with it? Apple's successful product lines, which include the iPhone and iPad, have been gushing bucks for months. That's allowed it to build a sizable war chest. Eighteen months ago, Apple already had a large sum locked up in cash -- $43 billion -- and some optimistic analysts predicted those reserves would reach $65 billion by the end of 2011.

Non-store trading, which includes ecommerce, was the only part of UK retail to grow in January, according to the latest CBI Distributive Trades Survey, which covers the first two weeks of the month. It found shoppers were holding back on spending, except online. However the growth seen there was not as strong as that seen in December.

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Maximising the web purchasing performance of good customers requires deep analysis of real behaviour and that's something that won’t come out at a focus group, explains Wayne Morris, UK general manager at Maxymiser.

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Delivery of music and merchandise for more than 70 Universal Music artists are to be managed by arvato UK & Ireland under a new outsourcing contract. The deal will see stocks of CDs, DVDs, clothing and vinyl records sold through online stores for Take That, Lady Gaga and The Rolling Stones managed by arvato, which will also be responsible for related customer service enquiries.

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1. Music sites go down as ecommerce supplier goes bust
2. House of Fraser signs £33.7m multi-channel deal with DHL
3. Jacques Vert invests in ecommerce improvements

Netflix shares rose sharply after the company reported that it added 610,000 customers and that profit margins in the streaming business this quarter could widen to 11 percent. That said, there was plenty in the earnings report to worry investors and analysts -- the company's profit fell 14 percent from the same period last year and its DVD business lost nearly 3 million subscribers. Still, given the dire straits Netflix was in last summer, the moderately good news about its customers and quarterly forecast was enough for many investors to shake off doubts.

But a study also points to the many challenges e-retailers will face.

Losing possession of a phone ranks high, a survey finds.

Conversion rate went up immediately when SortingWithStyle.com reduced shipping charges.