A Look at Walmart’s Plans for Making Commerce High-Tech (Video)

Walmart is typically associated with its everyday low prices, not with technology. But the mega-retailer is trying to change that by building a tech center just south of San Francisco.
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News Byte

An Online Marketplace for Everyday Household Items Snags $3.6 Million

Alice.com, an online marketplace for household goods ranging from diapers to dog food to toothpaste, has raised $3.6 million in funding. A bit like Amazon-owned Diapers.com, the Middleton, Wis.-based company allows big brands to use the platform to connect with consumers and offer coupons. The round, coming from a group of Spanish investors, closely follows Alice’s expansion to Europe through Alice.es. The company has raised $18.2 million to date.

Online Commerce Trend: More Spending, Smaller Purchases

The average checkout size is shrinking, even though more people spent more money online. Why? Here are three reasons.
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eBay Reports Better Than Expected Revenues for Holiday Quarter

EBay, the e-commerce and digital payments giant, exceeded analyst expectations in the fourth-quarter with revenues totaling $3.4 billion, or 35 percent higher than the year ago period.
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Did Kindle Gift Cards Outsell iTunes Gift Cards This Holiday?

It’s possible Kindle gift cards outperformed iTunes gift cards this holiday — if what people were searching for is any indication.
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The Best Retail Ads of the Holiday Season Get the Ugly Sweater Treatment

Here are some of the best retail spots of the holiday season, the ones that motivated throngs of people to shop and spend record amounts online.
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Can We Say Damage Control? Amazon Talks Up Its Role in the Success of Independent Businesses.

Amazon is not all about squashing the little guy, or at least that is what it wants you to believe this holiday season.
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Holy Cow, You Spent $35.3 Billion Online This Holiday Season

Online spending this holiday season is 15 percent higher than last year, says comScore.
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Best Buy Apologizes for Web Sales Blunder

Best Buy Co. is scrambling to stem the public-relations damage after it was forced to tell some customers in recent days that it couldn’t deliver the merchandise they ordered online last month.

Apps for Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers

Here are 10 mobile shopping apps for the holiday procrastinators out there.
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