EBay, the online marketplace where shoppers can find anything from toys to cars to designer handbags, has launched a digital magazine. 
    
The magazine, www.theinsidesource.com, is geared to “inspired shoppers” and features stories based on what eBay’s millions of users are looking for, according to the publication.

It will feature articles, analysis and opinions from eBay shoppers and journalists. The site will also point to eBay’s most-watched and most-searched items.
 
“The Inside Source content will reflect what inspires us on eBay, from a profile of an art dealer discovering museum-quality pieces to a breakdown of the hottest trends in handbags,” said Managing Editor Meredith Barnett.
    
Perusal of the site revealed postings on a variety of topics, from Kim Kardashian’s style and cocktail rings for under $30 to Jane Birkin’s kitchen and items made of hemp.     
    
The magazine is part of the company’s recent marketing efforts to reenergize its marketplaces business, which competes with a host of e-commerce rivals, including Amazon.com.

(Photo: Screenshot of www.theinsidesource.com)

Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos puts his quirky on in an online introduction geared to employees of Web shoe retailer Zappos.com.

The chief executive of the world’s largest online retailer, in an 8 minute YouTube video posted on Zappos’ website, told folks he “gets all weak-kneed when I see a customer-obsessed company.”

Bezos, wearing a purple-red button-down shirt and standing in a very non-corporate-looking garden under natural light — which gives the spot a quasi-online video dating feel — enthuses about Zappos and his excitement over acquiring the zany online shoe company. Amazon announced on Wednesday the approximately $928 million deal, mostly in stock.

The video was included in an online letter posted by Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh to employees, in which he assures staff that the acquisition is amicable and  suggests a headline for the deal as “Zappos and Amazon sitting in a tree.” Readers will remember the next line of that juvenile rhyme is “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” Online video dating moves fast.

Using an easel and a large pad of white paper (uh-oh, vaguely corporate feeling is invading the garden) Bezos explains what he calls the short list of things he learned running Amazon for the past 15 years — “obsess over customers”; “invent”; and “think long term.”

He tells war stories about the early days of his company, some of which are admittedly endearing – as when he admits that Amazon’s first customers were the employees’ mothers, or describes a software snafu.

“Customers could order a negative quantity of books and we would credit their credit card with the price,” Bezos sheepishly explains. “We fixed that one. It’s fixed.”

Bezos says he’s “totally excited over what can happen over time” with Zappos and reminds employees that “It’s always Day 1.”

Check out efforts to get serious back-to-school shopping underway.

Wal-Mart announced plans to start selling on Sunday a Compaq Presario laptop for $298.

Gary Severson, Wal-Mart U.S.’s senior vice president of home entertainment, told Reuters he thought the deal represented a “screaming value.”

The retailer also plans to cut the price of an Acer laptop with an 8-hour battery by $50 to $548. The computer has 3 gigabytes of memory, a 320 gigabyte hard drive and qualifies for a free upgrade to the Windows 7 operating system when it is released.

Retailers ranging from Wal-Mart, to Target, to J.C. Penney have outlined their plans to lure back-to-school shoppers. Penney is using a special website, jcp.com/teen, to reach web-savvy teenagers who shop for themselves in the back-to-school period but may have less money to do so this year.

But retailers are confronting cash strapped shoppers, who are watching their pennies as the unemployment rate rises and the housing market remains depressed.

Asked for his view of the back-to-school season, the Chief Executive of UPS, Scott Davis, said on a conference call it was too early to tell.

“We’ve not seen a lot of signs yet based on the air freight market and ocean freight market,” he said.

But he said Wal-Mart’s plans to increase its selection of laptop computers was a good sign and perhaps the back-to-school season would be better — a hope likely held by the entire retail industry.

Also in the basket:

Amazon.com buying shoe seller Zappos for $928 million

Kimberly-Clark 2nd-quarter profit falls

McDonald’s quarterly profit falls

Safeway cuts view after tax matter aides profit

P.F. Chang’s, Chipotle, Domino’s top Street

(Photo\Reuters)

Amazon.com reports second-quarter results this week and the online retailer is likely hoping projected market share gains take the focus off of two embarrassing Kindle blunders last week.  

 On Friday, Amazon acknowledged that it had deleted certain purchased e-books from the Kindles of an undisclosed number of owners. Why? Turns out that Amazon never had the rights in the first place to sell digital copies of the works. Poof! They went away.
    
As one blogger on Gizmodo wrote: “If you can’t be sure that you own something after you pay for it, what’s the point?”     
 
Amazon later acknowledged that it should have alerted its customers.
 
“These books were added to our catalog using our self-service platform by a third-party who did not have the rights to the books.  When we were notified of this by the rights holder, we removed the illegal copies from our systems and from customers’ devices, and refunded customers,” said a spokesman. 

Ironically, the books at issue were George Orwell’s totalitarianism-themed classics “1984″ and “Animal Farm.”
 
The vanishing book episode was the second public relations snafu in a week for the Seattle-based company, whose $299 Kindle or $489 Kindle DX are touted as the future of reading. On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed in Seattle by a Kindle owner claiming its protective cover, which is sold separately, actually can end up damaging the device. The lawsuit is seeking class action status.
 
Kindle users download books, magazines and newspapers from the Kindle Store, and are billed accordingly.
 
Amazon watchers aren’t sure just how profitable the device and its downloaded content are for the company, and a host of variables from competition to the economics of publishing complicate the discussion.

But today, Credit Suisse estimated the company will gain about $420 million in total Kindle revenue - devices and content - in 2009, growing potentially to $3.9 billion by 2014.
 
Analyst Spencer Wang estimates a gross profit per unit of $69 for the Kindle, based on an estimated cost of goods of $230. That’s a 23 percent gross margin, which could rise north of the 30s as cost of goods decline, he wrote.
 
Wang acknowledged that “growth in the Kindle is likely to cannibalize to some extent Amazon’s core business of selling printed books” and said the Kindle should not be viewed as a “material driver to Amazon’s fundamentals in the medium term.”

(Photo: Reuters)

Check out the ten largest U.S. retailers.

The National Retail Federation’s STORES magazine is out with its annual ranking of the top 100 retailers.

The list shows that U.S. consumers have been focused on bargains and basic necessities, such as food and medicine.  Wal-Mart tops the lineup, followed by Kroger and Costco.  Home Depot fell from No. 2 in 2007 to the fourth spot in 2008 as many shoppers decided to cut back on costly home-improvement projects.

Home Depot, Lowe’s and Sears Holdings were the only members of the top 10 to see their revenue fall in 2008.

Some other rankings that may interest you: Amazon.com is the 19th largest retailer, ranking higher than well-known chains such as J.C. Penney, 7-Eleven and Gap.  Apple’s stores and iTunes combined hold the 40th spot, topping chains such as Nordstrom, Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble.

The companies were listed by annual revenue, which may include estimates for private or closely-held companies.  Revenue from major non-retail operations were excluded when possible.

Also in the basket:

General Mills profit tops view, outlook strong

Constellation Brands earnings beat expectations

Goldman raises Yum Brands to buy

Turf War at the Hot Dog Cart (New York Times)

(Reuters photo)

Ah, youth. How free and easy it all seems. Especially after the launch of a new payments system, BillMyParents.

The system geared to teens and tweens — who ideally have good relationships with their hopefully indulgent parents — allows parents to approve purchases coveted by their kids and foot the bill.

The idea of the youth payment system is to capture some of the $40 billion spent by kids who end up shopping at traditional retailers only because without a credit card, they have no way to pay for stuff online, says the company’s chief executive, Jim Collas. Collas is the former chief technology officer for PC maker Gateway.

Whereas consumers have a host of options in online payments systems, including eBay’s PayPal, Google Checkout and Checkout with Amazon, Collas says his system is the most convenient for parents and teens.
    
Parents pay 50 cents per total transaction after they approve and pay for their kids’ shopping lists that are automatically sent to them via email or text, and merchants pay a percentage to BillMyParents.
    
Currently, BillMyParents is powered by Amazon.com with Amazon’s shopping cart integrated into the website. Kids can access the entire inventory of the global online retailer.

BillMyParents, which is owned by Socialwise Inc, plans to have up to a dozen more retailers participating within nine months and the ultimate goal is for the BillMyParents payment button to be integrated into the online retailers’ websites.

Besides the retail angle, Collas sees a huge opportunity in the gaming world, which allows kids to buy virtual goods online — a market estimated at over $1 billion — as they play their favorite video games.
    
Through partnerships with online gaming sites like Artix Entertainment and social networks, young users will be able to share information, showing off what they’ve ordered and seeing what their friends’ nice parents just bought them. An opt-out is available.
    
Collas’ goal, he said, is to become “the de facto standard” for youth payment systems. He added: “We do expect to gain momentum very quickly.”

(Photo: BillMyParents)

Check out the sales surge at Amazon.

The online retailer beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue as lowered prices lured more shoppers online. It also benefited as sales of its Kindle electronic reader gained momentum.

The company increased revenue an unexpectedly strong 18 percent as cash-strapped consumers went shopping online, and Amazon’s own discount shipping program spurred purchases. 

Promotions and cost-consciousness — as customers eschewed a trip to the mall in favor of browsing for free online — helped it post a 21 percent sales gain in North America. 

“It tells you how well they’re executing and winning business with customers and increasing share of wallet with their consumers,” said Steve Weinstein at Pacific Crest Securities.

He noted that Amazon’s U.S. business was growing faster than the overall e-commerce market. “It’s an incredible feat.”

Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said sales of the company’s Kindle had “exceeded our most optimistic expectations.”

The Kindle, sales of which are not disclosed, has garnered out-sized attention but analysts cannot speculate to what extent the $359 device contributes to profit, if at all.

(Additional reporting by Alexandria Sage)

Also in the basket:

Wal-Mart China sweetens jobs deal after union talks

Cheesecake Factory profit beats, shares up

Top Designers Urge Backing for Piracy Bill (WWD, subscription required)

(Photo: Reuters)

Check out the transformation eBay, the Internet’s premier auction website, hopes to pull off.

Trying to ease fears its best days are in the rearview mirror, eBay is counting on growth at its PayPal payments system and jump-starting its lagging core business.

Chief Executive John Donahue has vowed “ruthless” change to its model.

Skeptics saw nothing new in eBay’s plans, however. Analysts have said eBay needs to raise its performance in the recession and fend off online retailer Amazon.com, which has stolen market share.

On Thursday, Barclays cut its price target on eBay to $14 from $15 per share.

While eBay recognizes marketplace challenges and the need for site innovation, Barclays analyst Douglas Anmuth said in a note that “we still thought the day was light on details & this raises more questions about execution given the co.’s recent track record & the now lofty goals over the next few yrs. Having confidence in 2011 outlook is also difficult when co. seems to have limited visibility in 2009.” 

Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay said in his research note that turning around eBay’s marketplaces business will be more difficult and take longer than expected, but he raised his price target on the shares.

“We are raising our  target price slightly to $15.50 (from $14) to reflect management’s more aggressive strategies for PayPal and Skype, but we continue to rate eBay Market Perform.” 

Also in the basket:

Beermakers not eyeing new sports deals in downturn

Smithfield Foods posts third quarter loss

Retailers cut costs, prices to fight recession

Neiman Presses Designers for Cuts (Wall Street Journal)

(Reuters photo)

Check Out the top products on Amazon.com.
 
Amazon.com just came out with its “best of” lists for 2008.  Since Amazon is best known for selling books (even though it offers everything from groceries to jewelry these days), we thought you might want to know which titles were the hottest this year.

No surprise to tween girls or their parents, the best-selling book was “Breaking Dawn,” also known as the fourth book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga.

The book that got the most positive reviews was “The Revolution: A Manifesto” by Ron Paul. Meyer’s “Twilight” got the most positive reviews for a Kindle book. Of course, Amazon’s Kindle was the best-selling electronic item on its 2008 list.
 
The book most frequently purchased as a gift? It was the first book in Meyer’s series, “Twilight” - the one that became a hit movie when it opened in November.
 
Also in the basket:

NexCen sells Bill Blass apparel brand for $10 mln

E-commerce retailer Parent Co files for Chapter 11

Britain’s John Lewis posts record sales on 1st clearance day

A Holiday to Forget: Retailers Experience Aftershocks (WWD, subscription required)

(Reuters photo of fan Noelle Buffam at the premiere of the movie Twilight)

Check Out mixed news on the retail sales front.

Retailers are now out to lure consumers with after-Christmas deals as data show this year’s holiday season was one of the weakest in decades.

The retail data service of MasterCard Advisors said U.S. retail sales fell as much as 4 percent during the holiday season. SpendingPulse tracks sales activity in the MasterCard payments network and couples that with estimates for other payment forms.

It found that luxury sector sales fell 34.5 percent, as job losses and stock market declines weighed on higher-end shoppers. Specialty electronics and appliance sales were off 26.7 percent.

But the news wasn’t all bad. Online retailer Amazon.com said this year’s holiday sales season was its best yet, with more than 6.3 million items ordered on its site on the peak shopping day of Dec. 15. Online sales were likely aided by winter weather in some parts of the United States.

Retail shares even turned higher on Friday — perhaps investors are more confident that it can’t get much worse?

Also in the basket:

Wal-Mart to sell 3G iPhone

Jones Apparel reduces lines of credit

British shoppers hunt for post-Christmas deals

(Photo: Reuters)