Beth Cox

Request4bid.com launched as a reverse auction site designed to create a marketplace for corporate IT hardware procurement. Buyers of mid-range and high-end server hardware may post their needs on the auction site so vendors may bid. Vendors include VARs, resellers, brokers, leasing companies and distributors. “Transaction costs for corporate purchasing, including the time and effort […]

Online comparison shopping service DealTime.com launched a new site offering German shoppers access to deals offered by local merchants on the Web in Germany, including shopping catalogs, which are popular with shoppers there. The site lets German users search the Web to find the products they want at the prices they are willing to pay […]

BitTime.com, a developer of online incentive and loyalty solutions for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking audiences, launched a rewards network for Latin America. The network is designed to build and strengthen e-merchant’s business-to-consumer and business-to-business relationships, the company said. “While various inefficiencies in the region have doomed loyalty and incentive programs in the past, the growth of […]

Cornerstone Internet Solutions, a B2B services provider, said that its B2Bgalaxy.com subsidiary agreed to license its packaged e-commerce solution to Pet Assure Inc. and create VETgalaxy.com, an online marketplace for the veterinary industry. B2Bgalaxy.com will function as an operational and support partner for the new company by managing and hosting the VETgalaxy.com Web site, providing […]

B2B Internet solutions provider and ASP Asera Inc. launched the Asera eService, an outsourced e-commerce solution offered on a pay-as-you-go basis. The service enables B2B companies “to rapidly activate their Net market site, build market liquidity and generate sustainable competitive advantage,” the company said. “The eService enables corporations of any size to achieve time-to-market advantages, […]

Internet incubator company Iron Street Labs added professional services firm Ernst & Young to its roster of affiliate partners. Ernst & Young will provide “on-call” consulting to Iron Street Labs stable of early-stage Internet companies. Ernst & Young will provide expertise in e-business management, accounting, taxation and human resources consulting. Additionally, “Ernst & Young is […]

A new survey of larger corporations finds that global businesses are lagging on the e-commerce front, with 79 percent of the companies surveyed reporting that e-business accounts for less than 5 percent of revenues. The E-Business Outlook survey, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Conference Board, was designed to find out how global businesses are actually […]

Real world department store chain and long-time Sears rival Wards hired iXL Enterprises to move the retail brand into e-commerce. iXL will drive the development of Wards’ Internet strategy, deploying the retailer’s first ever e-commerce offerings, including a jewelry site expected to be introduced mid-year, followed by a network of additional consumer goods Web properties. […]

b2bScene.com, a division of Open Text Corp., said it has partnered with Wilbanks Technologies and will launch an e-marketplace for the engineering industry allowing for collaboration between engineers, architects, contractors and suppliers. The b2bScene marketplace will enable members to share ideas, documents and drawings over the Web in a secure collaborative environment. “For the first […]

Consumer Reports gave the online auto sales business a major black eye, issuing a press release that starts out by saying: “Don’t plan on buying a car on the Web anytime soon.” The non-profit product and service evaluation company said that its research shows that “only 35 percent of potential car-buyers received a price-quote back […]

Demand Ventures Ltd. in Canada, operator of a “knowledge auction site” called Knexa.com, reached an agreement with Futurizer AS of Denmark to work together to establish Knexa Europe. Futurizer AS is an Internet business accelerator headed by Bjvrn Wolrath, former chief executive officer of global insurance operation Skandia AB. Knexa.com allows anyone to make money […]

Online retail sales in 1999 increased fourfold from 1998, totaling an estimated $16.2 billion, up from $4.5 billion the previous year, according to a new industry report. And online buyers placed more than 176 million retail orders — almost a 300 percent increase over 1998, according to BizRate.com’s fourth quarter Consumer Online Report. The figures […]