Other Commerce-Related Articles

Essays in this ecommerce series:

The links below point to articles about electronic commerce that I've found of interest. These references are in no particular order. All of these links are exit links; thanks for visiting!

Keeping up with the Jonesness by Justin Holloway, SALON: Excerpt: The corporate mania for brand essence" is getting just a little out of control.
Peter Merholtz' e-Commerce Best Practices: Excerpt: The "order tunnel" can be a long and windy road. It's nice to provide a context so that users know how many more screens they'll need to fill out, and when, exactly, the money changes hand.
40% of Online Retail Revenues to be Funneled Through Virtual Malls: Excerpt: The implications for retailers are obvious. Most, forced to play the game, will "partner" with intermediary sites lest they miss out on the huge traffic -- and potential customers -- that hubs attract. Others, with large marketing budgets and superior designed websites, will have a chance at making it on their own. The remainder will be left to curse the day the net was ever invented.
Asia's culture hampers Net commerce By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY: Excerpt: While U.S. consumers are familiar with catalog shopping and buying goods over the telephone with a credit card, Asians aren't. Worries about Net security are exacerbated by the fact that many Asian governments have yet to pass laws to secure online credit card transactions.
Four Key Rules of Commerce by Robert Hertzberg, Internet World: Excerpt: Audience size is king. It turns out that success in Internet retailing depends on a company's ability to sell in volume. I doubt this comes as a shock to anyone except those who briefly started up unsuccessful Net ventures in 1994, when "targeted marketing" was the catchphrase.
The Broadcast Mentality: Why Commercial Websites Still Imitate Television by Glenn Kurtz, ahref.com: Excerpt: The decisive question for web producers is this: Do you see your audience as receivers of your information, or as producers of their own? The answer to this question separates network-savvy design from the broadcast mentality.
The Confidence Game by J.D. Lasica, The Industry Standard: Excerpt: How do you know whether you're dealing with a reputable Web merchant or a fly-by-night operator? And even if you're certain a site is legitimate, how can you be sure it's reliable?
Factors and Principles Affecting the Usability of Four E-commerce Sites by: Excerpt: Designers have only recently begun learning how to create effective e-information web sites--web sites that present information about products and services. Now designers are increasingly being called upon for a new challenge--e-commerce. Most of the principles designers have learned and used to create e-information sites will apply to e-commerce as well, but e-commerce introduces some new issues and challenges that designers need to be aware of.