Data? They’ve Got It

| MCM staff

When it comes to database use, you might think business-to-business marketers trail their consumer counterparts. Well, think again.

Great expectations

| Ken Magill

Attention online merchants: Your customers’ patience for technical foul-ups getting in the way of their purchases is wearing dangerously thin.

The reason: As e-commerce site experiences continue to improve, customer expectations improve right along with them.

GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT

| Jim Tierney

Boy meets girl. Boy proposes to girl. Boy and girl head down to the local department store and register for home items, such as place settings, stemware,

IAC splitting into five companies

| MCM staff

IAC/InterActiveCorp, whose properties include HSN and the Cornerstone Brands catalogs, will spin itself off into five separate publicly traded companies.

New tricks for Old Pueblo

| MCM staff

AMY AFRICA Whether we like it or not, users like Websites that have structure. That’s why the most successful e-commerce sites all look the same. Users

Movers & shakers

| MCM staff

General merchant J.C. Penney Co. has hired Ruby Anik as senior vice president and director of brand marketing. Anik joins J.C. Penney from Best Buy, where

Critical Issues and Trends

| Melissa Dowling

Increasing competition from manufacturers and retailers entering the catalog and Web selling channels was ranked the second most pressing marketing concern

Best deal for FAO Schwarz

| MCM staff

Upscale toy merchant FAO Schwarz in November acquired Best & Co., a luxury children’s apparel and accessories merchant. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.