InternetNews Staff

E-tailers received some encouraging news Wednesday. Online sales have doubled during the past two years, with 53 percent of U.S. Web users saying they have made interactive purchases so far this year. According to the third annual CyberShopper Survey, in 1997, only 26 percent of those surveyed had bought goods online. In addition, the report […]

Sterling Commerce Inc., a provider of B-to-B electronic commerce software and services, said it has increased the number of shares of common stock that may be acquired through its stock repurchase program from 5 million shares to 15 million. Since program began on March 1, the company has repurchased approximately 4.6 million shares of its […]

Webentrepreneurs.com has launch a new membership-based Web site for Internet entrepreneurs offering information, resources and networking. “The rapid growth of the Internet as a niche marketing tool for businesses of all sizes has created a demand for an online community where people can access information, stay current on industry trends and network with other vendors […]

Comercis, formerly BusinessWeb Inc., said that XOOM.com has selected Comercis to empower ComFind’s 600,000 business subscribers with business-to-business Web site development services. ComFind, a business directory offered by XOOM.com that attracts approximately 40,000 new business subscribers per month, will utilize Comercis’ capabilities to offer its members a professional, cost-effective solution to create an online presence. […]

Software.com, Inc. this week introduced WebEdge Mail and Calendar, Web-based tools designed specifically for small to medium sized Internet service providers. Using these tools, ISPs can provide their customers with customized, branded e-mail and calendaring options that can then be accessed from any Web browser, the company said. Some of the features supported in WebEdge […]

A new initiative, the Standard for Internet Commerce, was launched Monday by a coalition of more than 200 e-commerce industry leaders and publisher Ziff-Davis in an effort to establish a set of merchant practices and policies. The group’s charter aims to garner high levels of customer satisfaction, service, security and privacy, as well as increase […]

E-commerce logistics company From2.com launched a service that allows Internet merchants to serve international customers by overcoming international shipping and delivery cost obstacles and foreign customs issues. The technology, called the Global Delivered Cost Calculator (GDC Calculator), can be linked directly into a merchant’s Web site to calculates all freight, insurance, duties, taxes, customs clearance […]

In a move that again reinforces the power of e-commerce, Rock Financial Corp. said it would take a $3.5 million to $4.5 million charge in the third quarter as it closes most of its branches and focuses on its online direct mortgage business. Rock said it will close and consolidate 12 of its remaining 15 […]

Preliminary findings by the Singapore government show that there is very good potential for growth in the e-commerce sector, with revenues expected to hit a 34 percent increase to S$359 million (US$211 million) in 1999. The comment was made by Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo at a parliament sitting last week, based on figures […]

Ayna, Arabic for “where”, has succeeded in establishing itself as the premier portal and search engine in the Arabic language. Ayna has grown over the years to offer a range of services tailored to the Arabic Internet user. Ayna, founded in 1997, is a division of EGS Inc., a developer of Arabic-specific technologies which enable […]

Worlds Inc. signed its second definitive agreement within a 30-day period, this one to become the official and exclusive 2D, or HTML, Internet chat content provider on the UK’s Freeserve ISP service. The first agreement announced on June 16 called for Worlds to be the official 3D Internet broadband chat content provider on Freeserve, including […]

LivePerson signed agreements with Internet market research company Harris Interactive, Tickets.com, PC Flowers&Gifts.com and NextCard. The deal with Harris is a partnership to provide turnkey sales and customer service solutions to other Web sites. Harris Interactive has licensed LivePerson’s technology and will provide 24×7 operator support enabling Web sites to completely outsource their Web customer […]