Stories about: Gomez Advisors

Hotel distribution network Pegasus Solutions Inc. is nearing completion of an XML-based network designed to replace the technology that has formed the core of its business: ASCII.

Two computer reservation systems (CRS) firms are increasing their per-ticket reservation charges by 6 percent or more next year so they can build next-generation Internet systems. But analysts said the increases indicate the companies are doing too much business as usual.

Looking to avoid last year's holiday-season mistakes, online toy retailers are busily beefing up their supply-chain capabilities in an effort to make this Christmas a merrier one from a business standpoint.

Amid fierce competition, American Floral Services (AFS) is striving hard to keep pace with an ever-changing wire service market to produce more blooms for its IT investment buck.

Online retail sales are projected to surpass the $US9 billion mark this holiday season, but almost half of all Web shoppers could abandon their virtual shopping carts at the checkout counter if Web stores fail to simplify the online buying process.

Auction house Sotheby's Holdings Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Wednesday said they are shutting their 16-month-old co-branded site, Sothebys.Amazon.com, which sells art, collectibles and antiques.

Online bill payments, wireless banking capabilities and other new Internet-based technologies already give financial institutions jockeying for position online plenty to worry about. Now, FleetBoston Financial Corp. is raising the bar another notch when it comes to online banking services by adding a new feature: virtual safe-deposit boxes.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. closed its Web store for remodeling last Monday night. Visit Walmart.com in the next few weeks and all you'll see is a letter from the company's CEO telling you to come back once the dust has settled. This is, of course, not The Way It's Supposed to Be Done. One e-retailing analyst promptly pronounced the shutdown "an insanely bad idea." Another pundit sarcastically smirked, "A wonderful stroke of genius."

'Tis the season to be jolly, especially for online retailers. Sales from the online retail market are expected to rise to US$11.4 billion this holiday season, almost double the revenue for the same time last year.

William Shatner's offbeat commercials for Priceline.com took the site where no online auctioneer had gone before, but the company's stock has fallen from a high of $165 to less than $6 per share - a cautionary tale for would-be electronic retailers, say analysts.