E-commerce News & Articles

Content management and e-commerce firm Bridgeline (news, site) is going for growth via the shopping spree route.

More news from the land of Web Engagement Management, where EPiServer (news, site) has been creating some WEM magic. As initially promised in late 2009, they released an e-Commerce product that includes product catalog management, multi-language stores, customer management, reporting and a slew of other features -- all in the name of better online engagement with customers.

With Amazon's success on the brain, SDL Tridion (news, site) added a new leg to its Web CMS last week: SDL SmartTarget. The integrated tool is a profile-based marketing and e-commerce solution with a particular focus on the personalization segment of Web engagement.  

Only a few months after they consolidated their business divisions under the SDL (news, site) brand, another major announcement is coming from the global info management organization: a new General Manager is set to lead the North American operations for their Web Content Management Solutions division, formerly known as Tridion.

Maybe it’s because of the growing popularity of SaaS, but Virtual Moment, LLC has announced that it is changing its ‘Doing Business As. . ‘(DBA) name from Spitfire Photo Pro to WebDAM, and said it will concentrate its resources on SaaS digital asset management (DAM).

2009 separated the companies with solid business models from those whistling in the wind. SDL (news, site) showed it is on the right track with impressive results.

For dotCMS (news, site), eCommerce + Web CMS seems like a match made in heaven. Reason #1: Everyone wants to do eCommerce nowadays. Reason #2: Java+Java == Eternal love in the marriage of two Java-based software companies: KonaKart (eCommerce vendor) and dotCMS (open source Web CMS provider).

SDL Tridion (news, site) has spread its Web Content Management wings right on over to the Land of the Rising Sun, thanks to partnerships with Japan based companies Nihon Unisys and TAKT Systems.

The Nihon Unisys Group has been a provider of IT solutions since 1958. In 2008, the company started building their Internet Data Center (iDC) for hosting, ASP and SaaS businesses. Tricked out with SDL Tridion, the model offers Nihon Unisys’s customers a central Web CMS as well as the high quality maintenance and services Nihon Unisys postulates.

TAKT Systems will also be standing by with SDL Tridion, ready to work with consulting and content creation agencies for website implementation.

On a beeline for global domination, SDL Tridion also recently acquired European eCommerce company, Fredhopper. The significance of getting hands-on with a Dutch eCommerce provider like Friedhopper lies not only in the expansion to new territories, but the obvious move in a new direction as well.

With a hold on Global Information Management, and what looks like a promising dip into the online shopping pool, we’re going to guess that it would be wise to keep an eye on these guys.

SDL (news, site) adds online retailing to its list of skills via the acquisition of European eCommerce company Fredhopper.

EPiServer (news, site) is on the way to boost its existing Web CMS and Relate+ community platform product offerings with an eCommerce integration via a partnership with Mediachase. The new “trifecta” is aimed at companies with online presence in the retail and B2B verticals.

The eCommerce integration is based on Mediachase’s eCommerce Framework (ECF), which is built in ASP.NET and complements EPiServer’s technology stack. Being able to tap into the ECF .NET API should allow EPiServer customers and developers to build online stores that also utilize integrated CMS and community features.

Mediachase calls the ECF the “No. 1 Alternative to Microsoft Commerce Server” and touts its “adaptable architecture and extensibility model.” Some of the capabilities of the ECF include catalog management, order management, customer management, merchandising and promotions.

Mediachase sells ECF under a variety of licensing models from source code to production deployment. The EPiServer deal seems to fall under the “OEM and Other Licensing” type.

One of previous integrations of ECF with a Web CMS was with Sitecore CMS, but that appears to be a single case for now. Open source DotNetNuke CMS is also in the mix of third-party plug-in/add-on ecosystem. On the community side, Mediachase also integrates with Telligent Community Server.

The EPiServer integrated eCommerce platform is expected in 1H 2010. Until then, the two products are available separately.

Well guys, it’s safe to say that we’re finally in the clear.

For awhile there things looked pretty bad for Skype (news, site), as eBay and the platform’s original co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis battled it out over legal issues.

The whole sitch started looking up a couple weeks ago when the opposing sides finally came to an agreement, granting Skype ownership of critical software. The settlement opened up some doors, and last Thursday eBay sold a 70 percent stake in the company for somewhere around US$ 1.9 billion up front with another US$ 125 million on the way. The remaining 30 percent stays with eBay. 

Zennstrom and Friis now have a substantial hold on their creation through Joltid, part of the investor group that purchased the large chunk from the auction king. 

Among the relieved is Skype CEO Josh Silverman, who says, “You’ll see Skype become a lot more ubiquitous in a lot more places, both mobile devices as well as embedded devices,” he says, adding “expect to see us on a lot more platforms.”

Follow them here, and let's see how things fare in 2010. 

While it’s mildly annoying to have a flock of sales associates approach you the second you step into a store, but apparently consumers don’t mind the special attention when they’re shopping on the Internet.

This is especially important to note when you consider numbers like 74, which, according to a recent survey from SDL Tridion (news, site), is the percentage of people who actually like it when businesses mine their personal shopping information.

In what appears to be a continued effort to differentiate themselves from the rest of the web content management marketplace, Bridgeline (news, site) offers a new solution to support the management of eCommerce enabled websites.

concrete5 CMS (news, site) recently announced GA of their first eCommerce add-on -- coreCommerce.

With SMBs in mind, concrete5 is putting this low-priced offer on the market and giving folks yet another option of selling their goodies online.

Asbru (news, site), friend to both tech and the technically challenged, is out with version 7.1 of their simple yet flexible Web content management system.

Aside from improved import capabilities, added editing modes and new features for online stores, v7.1 is exciting because it enables organizations to deliver content that's been reformed to fit different devices such as mobile phones.