ecommerce

Publishers mull tech tactics after legal defeat over imports

March 21, 2013 12:42 am by April Dembosky

Publishers may take a cue from the software industry as they regroup from a decisive loss in the US Supreme Court over copyright rules.

After failing to persuade the justices to protect their foreign-made titles from resale in the US in the Kirtsaeng v Wiley case, publishers must instead rethink their international business practices.

While traditional publishers of books, music, and film have generally viewed the computer industry as a foe in various policy battles, it could find a saviour in borrowing its concept of software licensing agreements and applying them to physical goods. Read more

Tags: ecommerce, publishing
Posted in Commerce | Permalink

FT ebook Q&A: The Amazon Economy

December 5, 2012 6:38 pm by Financial Times

The FT’s latest ebook is about Amazon and its voracious expansion from online book retailer into technological giant.

Is the company a force for good? Can it justify its current stock price? Why does Amazon compete with the companies it provides services to? Will Amazon agree to pay more tax in the UK as Starbucks just agreed to do?

Thanks to everyone who took part in the Q&A. If you have further questions, please post them to Twitter using #FTAmazon. Barney Jopson, the FT’s US retail correspondent, and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, global media editor, will answer them here as soon as possible. Read more

Tags: Amazon, apple, cloud computing, Digital media, ebooks, ecommerce, Facebook, microsoft, retail, Tax
Posted in Consumer Electronics, Digital media, Internet, Tech, Tech Finance | Permalink

Walmart fires up the innovation engines

December 1, 2011 3:00 am by Richard Waters

Six months after setting up its cutely-named @WalmartLabs offshoot in Silicon Valley, the world’s biggest retailer is ready to launch its first experiment in social commerce: a gift-recommender that taps into the Facebook social graph. Read more

Tags: ecommerce, Walmart
Posted in Tech | Permalink

From FT.com September 12, 2011

The new Russian internet front: e-commerce

Last week saw the biggest venture-capital fundraising yet in Russia’s fast-growing e-commerce market.

But even with $100m in its coffers, how long can Ozon.ru – the “Amazon.com of Russia” – fend off Amazon itself? Russian idiosyncrasies in payments, deliveries and culture suggest that domestic online retailers such as KupiVIP, Molotok and Avito may be able to repel the foreign invaders looking to capture a share of what will soon become Europe’s largest internet market. Read more

Tags: BRICs, ecommerce, Russia
Posted in Commerce, Europe, Internet, Tech | Permalink

Ozon positions for Russian e-commerce boom with $100m funding

September 8, 2011 12:02 pm by Tim Bradshaw

Russia’s booming internet market has received another huge injection of growth funding. Ozon.ru, the largest Russian online retailer, has raised $100m in new venture-capital funding.

The investment in the self-styled “Russian Amazon” is the largest in the country’s e-commerce market after KupiVIP, a private buying club with big ambitions, raised $55m in April. Ozon’s round follows the stock-market debuts of Mail.ru and Yandex at eye-popping valuations. Read more

Tags: ecommerce, ozon, Russia
Posted in Commerce, Europe, Internet, Tech | Permalink

Google’s Android to add physical payment system

November 16, 2010 12:20 am by Joseph Menn

The version of Google’s Android operating system for smartphones due out in a few weeks can be used with specialised chips to authenticate the precise location of the mobile devices, paving the way for secure payments at physical stores, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said Monday.

Because the Near-Field Communication chips can store and exchange precise data about the phones, well beyond ordinary GPS, their adoption will allow phone owners to tap their gadgets against a physical surface to confirm their presence and identity, Mr Schmidt said. Read more