Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Fall Short in Online Sales Conversions
If you're a brick-and-mortar or catalog retailer trying to break into the online channel, chances are your online sales conversion rates are below those of your competitiors that are focused on e-commerce, according to a new study released by Nielsen/NetRatings. The study found that among the top 10 online retailers ranked by conversion rates in February, only Coldwater Creek has a significant brick-and-mortar presence. Kudos to Coldwater -- that must be why Sears decided to keep it. While the average sales conversion rate on e-commerce sites is 4.9%, QVC led the pack, converting over 16% of site shoppers into purchasers. Land's End was close behind, and Amazon, Yahoo Shopping and eBay also made the top 10.
Skype, Warner Music Team Up on Ringtones (NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - VoIP provider Skype has inked a deal with Warner Music Group to bring ringtones to its Internet phone service. Skype, which is owned by eBay, will sell song selections in much the same way that other phone providers like T-Mobile do: as replacements for traditional phone sounds that can be downloaded for a per-song charge.
Building SOA Solutions with Service Component Architecture
In the previous article (part 1 in WebSphere Journal vol: 3. iss: 4) we began to build an SCA project in WebSphere Process Server. Here in part 2 we pick up the discussion. To see the associated images, please view the article online at www.ibm.com/developerWorks/websphere.
Five Microsoft .NET Development Tools I Wish I Had
I've been doing a lot of coding lately. This has been a bit of a departure from my usual work as a technology evangelist or a development manager, but - as you might imagine - it has been quite a lot of fun! Having said this, the process of actually sitting down and coding for 12 hours a day over the past few months has left me wishing that Visual Studio .NET shipped with a handful of additional capabilities in the box.
Target Group Chooses .Net Framework for Its 1,400 Retail Stores Throughout the United States
Microsoft Corp. today announced that Target Corp., the nation's second-largest discount general merchandise retailer, will adopt Microsoft .NET Framework-based technologies within its 1,400 stores in 47 U.S. states. Target will migrate its systems within each store to the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
.NET Supporter Macrovision Attains Microsoft Gold Status
Macrovision has worked closely with Microsoft on several initiatives, announcing products that support and extend the latest Microsoft technology, including FLEXnet InstallShield 11.5, which features complete integration with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and support for the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0., FLEXnet AdminStudio SMS edition, and support for Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. Macrovision is also a Visual Studio Industry Partner, Windows Embedded Partner and High Performance Computing Partner. 'This achievement is a testament to the close relationship we have developed with Microsoft over the last several years,' said Fred Amoroso, Macrovision CEO. 'Reaching Microsoft Gold Partner status underscores our commitment to providing highly functional Software Value Management solutions to customers and partners that easily integrate with and support other market leading products.'
More Evidence of the Death of Film Photography
This just in: Nikon is deep-sixing most of its remaining film camera models, keeping just one high-end SLR and one low-end one. It's also discontinuing its manual lenses. (I don't see any film-based point-and-shoots on Nikon's Web site; looks like...
Cover Story: Google Maps and ASP.NET
I am sure that most of you have heard about or have had a chance to use Google Maps. It's a great service and I was really impressed by the responsiveness of the application and the ease with which users could drag and zoom maps from a Web browser. It has in many ways heralded the arrival of AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), which I am sure will revitalize Web development in the days to come.
New Open-Xchange 'OXtender' Enables Replacement of Windows Server
giving customers the option to fully replace Microsoft Exchange as well as Microsoft Windows Server.
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