We’ve been talking much about social media marketing here at Get Elastic, blogging, podcasts, viral videos and so on. But what about Facebook applications? What kind of things can you build for this platform that relate to ecommerce? Is it worth it? Who’s doing what and are they successful? Today I’m reviewing 29 ecommerce Facebook applications by shopping engines, deals sites, social shopping sites and online retailers. Join discussion...

Google and Universal Music Group will be partnering with gBox, Inc., an online music retailer, to sell DRM-free music tracks via Google search results. gBox, based in Apple's backyard of Cupertino, California, will begin selling Universal tracks, sans DRM, via their web site on August 21. Universal will purchase text ads on Google's searches to direct searchers to gBox sales pages. Though Universal will also sell music without copy protection through Wal-Mart, Best Buy Digital Music Store, Rhap Join discussion...

Jason forwarded me this funny ecommerce site and I didn’t know what to expect when I clicked on the link…but have a look for yourself. The Norwegian estore Arngren.net inspired me to write a tongue-in-cheek usability evaluation. Because it’s Friday, I thought it would be appropriate to point out 13 usability problems on this ecommerce site… ;-) Join discussion...

An interesting idea recently covered by Springwise is custom blended teas. Blends For Friends is a British company that sells custom-blended teas, mainly ordered as gifts. The buyer is asked to provide some information about the chosen recipient, although only some basic details are obligatory. However, there are many more optional pieces of information that can be provided, which are used to increase the level of personalization in the blending of the tea and the packaging of the product. Join discussion...

Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay, said during her Q2 analyst conference call that “making improvements to the user experience is one of our main strategic priorities.” “As you have correctly pointed out, making improvements to the user experience is one of our main strategic priorities. Let me tell you about a few of them. First is to improve the finding experience, what we call finding 2.0. You can see that we have actually done some work in something we call DefMatch, which is Join discussion...

"Ich müsste lügen, wenn ich behaupten würde, dass es keine Hürden gab" förderland im Gespräch mit Andre Grünhoff, Mitgründer von a-better-tomorrow.com, über ein grundsolides Businessmodell, eine 60-Stunden-Woche, Eigenkapital, Design Contests und Nachwuchsdesigner. Join discussion...