Growing Your Business: Spin-off or Start-up?

| MCM staff

Spin-offs and start-ups can be growth opportunities for companies with strong core businesses because they create new revenue streams. Question is, when should you consider developing a spin-off, and when should you consider a start-up?

Amazon 2Q Sales Up, Profits Down

| Tim Parry

Amazon.com said its sales for the second quarter, which ended June 30, were up 29%. But the etailer expects to have an operating loss of between $50 million and $350 million next quarter. Here’s why.

ACMA, DMA Form TruST Coalition to Fight Internet Sales Tax

| Jim Tierney

Four prominent trade groups, including the American Catalog Mailers Association and the Direct Marketing Association, today announced the formation of a coalition titled TruST (True Simplification of Taxation) to fight pending Internet sales tax …

Trade Groups Have Different Views on Marketplace Equity Act

| Jim Tierney

The Marketplace Equity Act would repeal the 1992 Supreme Court decision, Quill Corp. vs. North Dakota, which said states are not allowed to require out-of-state companies to collect sales taxes unless that company has a physical presence, such as a store or warehouse, in the state.

All Signs Lead to Amazon Offering Same-Day Delivery

| MCM staff

Mom and pop retailers can take some lessons from their ecommerce counterparts about how to compete against Amazon.com. From our perspective at Multichannel Merchant, retailers can compete with Amazon if they take the following 10 steps.

12 Ways to Compete With AmazonSupply.com

| Erin Lynch

Even though Amazon.com announced the beta launch of AmazonSupply, a store for business and industry folks, it doesn’t mean the end for distributors and wholesalers. Here are 12 ways you can successfully compete against the online juggernaut.

It’s 11:00 PM: Do You Know Where Your Inventory Is?

| Ernie Schell

The Holy Grail of multichannel commerce is unifying databases to simplify both the management of all business data and the operation of systems that rely on it, thus eliminating independent data silos that segregate data and require duplication of effort