Articles by Rachelle Crum

E-tailers are taking a new look at personalization these days as they hunt for more ways to cross-sell, upsell and encourage repeat business. E-commerce solutions providers and research firms are advocating the integration of personalization into online strategies as one way companies can optimize cross-channel marketing and keep pace with the industry's changing dynamics...

Borders officially cut its ties with Amazon.com on Tuesday, with the rollout of its long-planned solo e-commerce site. The book retailer announced last March that it would go it alone online after teaming with Amazon for six years. Borders is now striving to differentiate itself from its online competitors -- namely, Amazon and Barnes & Noble -- w...

In a move to amplify its online exposure and capitalize on the burgeoning Internet advertising market, CBS has agreed to purchase Cnet Networks for approximately US$1.8 billion. The television and radio giant will combine Cnet's assets with its national and local interactive businesses, enlarging its user base to about 200 million. That will place...

Loopt has taken mobile mapping to a new level. The startup's application not only allows users to see where their friends are on a map, but also lets them text each other within the app and share photos. Since Loopt's beginnings, the company has been proactive in setting high standards for user privacy. For instance, Loopt is a closed network and ...

It's all about image in the fashion world. An apparel or accessory designer's brick-and-mortar stores must appear ever so alluring to the passerby, and its magazine ads should leave readers pining for the latest fashions. Then there's its online store, which visitors expect to be faultless and continually impress them with eye-catching design, an endless inventory and top-notch security...

The privacy requirements of Internet users can vary widely. Some divulge the most personal details of their lives on blogs and social networking sites; others want to remain as anonymous as possible Users know they have control over what they push onto the Web -- but what about data that portals and other online giants retain on the back end? Onlin...

Tucked away down a dim hallway in the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel isa ballroom where participants in day two of theTech PolicySummit are airing their pressing concerns about technology innovation and adoption The recently concludedFederal Communications Commission 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction is generating considerable buzz, as is today's shoc...

That's it. Dim the lights and start counting your pennies -- if you haven't already begun. We're officially in a recession, according to Warren Buffett, or headed into one, as everyone and their mothers seem to be saying E-tailers shouldn't panic when conducting business during slower economic periods, caution PayPal andJupiterResearch, which are h...

Wii enthusiasts across the U.S. -- and I count myself among them -- are rejoicing over Nintendo's latest announcement: Wii Fit is on its way. The new program, which comes with the weight-and-motion-sensing Wii Balance Board, launches May 19. Nintendo officially announced Wii Fit last summer, and it has sold more than 1.4 million units in Japan since the December release there. It's European launch is set for April 25...

I couldn't help but feel a bit of deja vu this morning as I enteredthe Desert Springs resort in Palm Desert, Calif., to attend eTail2008. After all, I reported on the event last year in the same venue,and the hotel's atmosphere is as oasis-like as I remember it This year's event is indeed similar to the 2007 gathering: Thesetup looks familiar, and ...

If you haven't already heard, the U.S. government is going digital Exhibit A: President Bush submitted his 2009 budget proposal to Congress electronically, and he held up a tablet PC for the photogs to illustrate just how tech-savvy he is. (Whoa! Slow down there, you tech-savvier-than-thou leader of the free world looking to save the planet with PD...

Common threads often create a trust that is virtually unbreakable. Whether based on race, sex, alumni group, hometown or affliction, the more specific these ties are, the stronger the bonds between people often become In a sea of news sites casting wide nets to capture as many viewers as possible, as well as social networking sites attracting milli...

All of the anxiety-producing statements that drove tech and telecom stocks up and down last week have me feeling like Chicken Little -- and I'm a mere mutual fund investor On Tuesday, AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson scared the bejesus out of investors when he said "We're really experiencing some softness on the consumer side -- from the ec...

If you lived under a rock throughout 2007 and recently surfaced to catch up on technology news, you likely will not recognize Google Sure, the company still dominates the search market, its logo looks the same, and it continues to offer Gmail and other Web-based products. However, the "don't-be-evil" empire has vastly evolved and expanded over the ...

As mobile video gains popularity, new content providers are cropping up all over the place to compete for the attention of consumers -- and their recreational dollars GoTV, a made-for-mobile television network, has a horse in this race. The company, based in Sherman Oaks, Calif., creates its own mobile programming and distributes content for other ...

Two-year-oldMeebo uses widgets to allow its users to send instant messages from any computer and chat with buddies on any IM system -- includingAOL Instant Messenger,Yahoo Messenger,MSN Web Messenger,Google Talk,ICQ andJabber -- without downloading or installing software. The site also lets users create an embeddable IM window, or widget, that they can add to personal Web pages. Meebo opened its platform to third-party developers in October...

As the Web video craze continues to escalate, the market for this content is evolving. Advertisers are trying to cash in on clips by both amateurs and production companies; new Web sites catering to the trend are popping up; and video is gaining in popularity on additional platforms, notably mobile Accordingly, wireless carriers, handset makers and...

In the shadow of the towering Hollywood sign, executives in the film, TV, music, telecom, Internet and technology industries are convening this week to compare notes on a new starlet: the tech-savvy consumer -- one who wants an all-access to pass to any and all content online More than 2,200Digital Hollywood conference attendees are crowding the ha...

It's an e-tailer's nightmare: In the constant struggle to keep up with online shopping trends and technology, a company relaunches its Web site with all the bells and whistles. However, it soon learns that the site's upload time is at a crawl, or its checkout is too slow. Sure, the firm did its homework in most departments, like design, but it neglected to measure its Web site efficiency from a user's perspective...

As e-commerce continues to thrive, online retailers keep raising the bar higher for each other. Meanwhile, consumers these days don't just want lightning-fast online checkouts -- they expect flawless and customized shopping experiences too At last week's eTail Palm Desert, Cliff Conneighton, senior vice president of e-commerce platform providerArt ...