ToC

• Europe e-commerce initiative
• Customers aren't keen on eBay-Keen.com deal
• Unhappy customers sue online auctioneer uBid
• MP3 player "sale" exposes Amazon's flexible prices
• Report: Dot.com Delays Equal Instant Customer Turn-Off
• The upside of a recession
• Kellogg Launches Internet-Based Loyalty Program
• Luxury E-tailers Face Pressures, Win Loyalty
• Breakaway pushes build-your-own marketplaces
• Commerce One to Establish B2B Site in Middle East
• Verizon to offer wireless Web price comparisons to shoppers
• Nymex launching online commodities exchange
• Lands' End Brings Virtual Swimsuits to the Net
• Barnes & Noble.com Makes Mobile Commerce Play
• Deja.com Takes Comparison Shopping Wireless
• Ecount Takes Webcertificate.com into Real World

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The European Commission has launched a network of online helpdesks aimed at helping consumers solve cross-border e-commerce disputes.

BBC News
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_737000/737797.stm> 

eBay members aren't so keen on a new service being advertised by the leading auction site.

CNET
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1813162.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni> 

A group of disgruntled bidders has filed a lawsuit against uBid, charging that the online auctioneer defrauded them by canceling their low-dollar bids on high-end computers.

CNET
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1841243.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni> 

Customers are upset that Amazon.com has been offering random discounts on a popular MP3 player, revealing a little-known marketing practice that is gaining popularity among e-tailers known as "dynamic pricing."

CNET
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1889854.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni> 

A study just published warns that potentially lucrative online customers are being turned off by businesses that fail to provide adequate customer support and expect them to hang around and wait for service.

Computer User
<http://www.currents.net/news/00/05/17/news22.html> 

Maybe a recession would be a good thing, especially for consumers who want better e-tailer service.

Digital Mass
<http://www.digitalmass.com/columns/ecommerce/0511.html> 

Cereal-maker Kellogg Co. launched what it called "the industry's first Internet-based loyalty program" at www.EETandERN.com.

Internet News
<http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0%2C2171%2C4_352391%2C00.html> 

Online retailers selling high-priced or luxury goods face special challenges in establishing relationships with shoppers and suppliers, but enjoy strong loyalty after cementing the bond, industry analysts and retail executives said Friday.

TechWeb
<http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/reuters-finance/REU20000519S0010> 

Hoping to win a piece of the business e-commerce boom, Web consulting firm Breakaway Solutions launched a program today to help companies build their online marketplaces.

CNET
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1879110.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni> 

Commerce One Inc., a builder of Internet marketplaces where business suppliers and buyers conduct commerce, said on Wednesday it reached agreement with a group of Middle Eastern investors to expand into the region.

Reuters
<http://news.excite.com/news/r/000503/12/net-tech-commerceone> 

Bell Atlantic/Vodafone cellular joint venture inks a deal to provide its customers with access to a database of product and pricing information developed by BarPoint.com.

Computer World
<http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000501DB02> 

The New York Mercantile Exchange plans to support Internet-based trading of contracts for physical commodities such as crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas and electricity.

Computer World
<http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000504DBD2> 

Catalog-and-click retailer Lands' End has introduced a virtual spin to this year's bathing suit shopping season by making its interactive "Personal Model" available to online shoppers who want to see what different swimsuits would look like on their body type.

E-Commerce Times
<http://www.ecommercetimes.com/news/articles2000/000524-1.shtml> 

Barnes & Noble.com Tuesday leapt into the mobile commerce fray with the expansion of its B&N.com On the Go program, giving customers the ability to shop with mobile phones and handheld computers.

Internet News
<http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0%2C2171%2C4_352531%2C00.html> 

Comparison shopping company Deja.com Inc. launched a wireless application of its Precision Buying Service, an online resource for researching and buying products.

Internet News
<http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0%2C2171%2C4_356661%2C00.html> 

Online gift certificate and personal Web account company Ecount launched the Webcertificate shopping card good at any brick-and-mortar merchant that accepts credit cards.

Internet News
<http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0%2C2171%2C4_357761%2C00.html>