ecommerce posts

Avoid pesky shipping costs with Free Shipping On

by Brad Linder Mar 4th 2008

Has this ever happened to you? You run out of ink, paper, good books to read, or something else, so you go online to order replacement as soon as humanly possible. You find what you need for a good price, add it to your cart, and then when you hit the checkout button the shipping charges hit you like a 2 ton heavy thing. The truth is while many sites like Amazon promise free shipping on orders over a certain price, it's not always easy to tell if an item qualifies for free shipping.

Free Shipping On is a new service that makes it easier to find free shipping deals. First, the site has a huge database of deals and coupon codes you can use to get free shipping from stores like Newegg, Circuit City, Staples, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Apple. The site is sort of like CouponMountain, Techbargains, or xpBargains, except it focuses specifically on free shipping deals.

But you can also use the service to search Amazon and eBay only for items that can be shipped for free. No more surprises in the checkout aisle... or cart.

[via AppScout]

Tags: amazon, bargains, commerce, coupons, ebay, ecommerce, free-shipping, free-shipping-on, shipping

Filed under: Internet, Security, Social Software

Who can you trust? Find out with Trustplus' PeopleResearch

by Grant Robertson Nov 13th 2007

Not sure who to trust in this crazy world? TrustPlus, a browser plug-in, looks to solve your trust issues with some social networking mojo. The plug-in, available for both IE and Firefox, adds an overlay to sites where trust can be an important decision factor, like Craigslist, eBay, Backpage, Gumtree or Facebook. The overlay reports trust information contained within a users' "trustcircle".

But, what if you don't have a trustcircle? Or if the person you're looking to do business with hasn't ever heard of TrustPlus? That's where TrustPlus' new component PeopleResearch comes in. According to TrustPlus, PeopleResearch "allows users to retrieve business information on any individual" through on-the-fly access to a database of background information on nearly 40 million people.

Useful? Certainly. You'll pardon us, however, if we're a little leery of even further expanded access to the amazing amounts of personal data lying around in public databases. Sure, we'd use TrustPlus but, we probably wouldn't like ourselves for using it.

Tags: ecommerce, reputation services, ReputationServices, social networking, SocialNetworking, Trustplus

Filed under: Business, Blogging, Social Software

Social Networking and Ecommerce

by Sue Polinsky May 30th 2007

Does your business have a Facebook page? MySpace? Chances are you have heard about each but chances are also that if you're a small business owner, you haven't had time to figure out how to get yours or worse, what to do with it. Heck, you don't even have a blog yet, do you?

You're way out of the loop and I won't even mention Twitter or Jaiku. (Not yet.) But they're coming.

Social Networking Meets Ecommerce

The 2008 Presidential primary is an investigation of who's using the Internet more (although who's using it creatively would be a better benchmark). Every major candidate has a space on the social networking sites and each wants an "I'm-first-to-do-this" feature. Sure, they pay Internet consultants for this edge, so take advantage of their investment and borrow the best from the brightest for your business.

As ecommerce sites invest R&D into social features (like e-notifications, RSVP systems, unique hyperlinks, photo albums, message books, and registry systems you can put on your own site), you can see how ecommerce is seeping into social networking. For starters, we use office product sites that remember (for free) what we bought last time.

IT'S TIME TO GET YOUR SPACE – Log into the well-known social networking sites and claim your business name's space. It's a good idea to get a Web-email address to use (free Web-mail from Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, and others) to control likely spam. If you have teenagers handy, they can help make the process understandable. You don't have to build it up yet; just get your name branded there and think about offering something to download. If a number of people want it, create an email list.

DON'T BLOG. MICROBLOG

Tags: ecommerce, social networking, SocialNetworking, widgets

Filed under: Business, Web services, Google

$10 free from Google Checkout - which stores are participating?

by Jordan Running Jan 19th 2007

Awhile back we reported that Google is really trying to push its Google Checkout payment processing service by offering a $10 coupon to everyone who signs up. They're still offering the coupon, and they've even dropped the if-you-spend-$30-or-more requirement, and today I decided to bite the bullet and grab my sweet, sweet coupon. But I was a little annoyed that Google doesn't tell you up front, before you sign up, exactly which stores are participating in the promotion. The promotion page just lists fifteen of them, and says "And many more!"

Where am I going with all this? Well, since I did bite the bullet, I thought I'd satisfy everyone's curiosity and list all of the web stores that are participating in Google Checkout's $10 coupon promotion (Google Checkout has many more stores under its umbrella, but not all of them are participating in the promo).

In case you're wondering, I found the whole Google Checkout process really streamlined and painless--much easier than PayPal, far easier than most stores' built-in checkout system. Now that I've finally signed up, I'll be using it whenever it's available.

Anyway, see the full list--234 stores by my count--after the jump!

Tags: checkout, coupon, discount, ecommerce, google, google checkout, GoogleCheckout, payments, promotion, shopping

Filed under: Business, Developer, Internet, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial

Try Microsoft Commerce Server 2006 Beta

by Victor Agreda, Jr. Feb 21st 2006

Feel the need to custom code your own e-commerce site to rival giant Amazon? Well maybe you can try it out using Microsoft's "free" Commerce Server 2006. Of course, it isn't free, it's a beta version you can test and help MS at the same time. As usual, you'll have to be approved before you can participate, but if you've ever considered working in the "big leagues," this is a great platform to get familiar with. Take a look at the technical overview and see if this sort of gigantic weapon is right for your arsenal. And if you get to try it, let us know what you think.

Tags: ecommerce

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Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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