An online retailer platform called simply “42” is debuting today at TechCrunch Disrupt NY with new ideas about how to bring the intelligence of online e-commerce tools to brick-and-mortar merchants. The B2B platform provides businesses and brands a way to better connect and personalize their interactions with customers, as well as to gain broader insight into consumer buying patterns… → Read More
A new report from the Wall Street Journal just out say that Google has made more major executive staffing and organizational changes today, breaking up the Maps and Commerce units, with SVP Jeff Huber stepping down from his position in charge of those divisions. The news comes just a day after Google announced another major shakeup, by replacing Andy Rubin with Sundar Pichai as the head of its… → Read More
Squarespace knows from fancy. They make dead-simple websites for people who require a high level of design and elegance and, unlike, say, our website, a lot of Squarespace sites are surprisingly beautiful. Now those same designers who use the site for their private blogs can sell their wares right from their sites. → Read More
Today, Yelp announced its fourth-quarter earnings, and they weren’t as sunny as some as hoped. Net revenue was $41.2 million in Q4 of 2012 — a 65 percent growth in new revenue from 2011. In turn, net loss was $5.3 million, or $0.08 per share, compared to a net loss of $9.1 million, or $0.55 in the fourth quarter of 2011. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.8 million. → Read More
BarkBox, the subscription-based service that sends pet owners a box of goodies on a monthly basis, has launched a companion mobile application. The app isn’t merely a mini version of the online service, but is meant to compliment Barbox.com by offering unique features like the ability to buy individual items, rate and revies the items in your current box, buy gift subscriptions, read BarkBox news… → Read More
Google Shopping‘s pay-to-play service is going global. The commerce-focused vertical formerly known as Google Product Search, is now expanding the roll out of its commercial model to other countries outside the U.S., including the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia and Switzerland. The announcement comes on the heels of the completion of the U.S. transition… → Read More
Twitter has hired another Google employee, and this time it’s someone with a heavy focus on business and sales. The Googler is Aliza Knox, who ran Business and Sales for Shopping, Offers and Wallet across Asia Pacific as Managing Director of Commerce. Knox has confirmed this with TechCrunch this evening. → Read More
HashTip is a new mobile app targeting savvy shoppers, primarily moms, who want to share tips with each other about kids’ products, activities and deals. (OK, cue snarky comment about how we already have Pinterest for that.) But unlike Pinterest, HashTip isn’t about posting “inspirational” imagery, it’s more heavily focused on social commerce. The service augments its tips with extra info… → Read More
Editor’s note: Boris Wertz is the founder of version one ventures, and has invested in more than 35 early-stage consumer Internet and mobile companies, including Chloe & Isabel, Julep, and Indochino. Follow him on his blog and Twitter.
There has been more e-commerce innovation during the past year than there has been during the last decade. First, flash-sale and daily-deal sites brought a… → Read More
Editor’s note: Nasir Jones is co-founder of 12Society and a multi-platinum recording artist. Follow him at NasirJones.com and on Twitter: @Nas.
On July 24, I found out that my newest album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. This isn’t my first time around the block, but it’s one of the most satisfying. I started as a hungry MC from QB, but now I am trying to give back to the hip hop… → Read More
Paddle8, Artsy, Zazzle, and Art.com are all part of a growing contingent of startups that are on a mission to democratize the purchase, discovery, and enjoyment of art by bringing it online.
In August 2010, Boston-based TurningArt joined this cadre of art industry disruptors, launching its own unique spin on the democratization of art commerce with a Netflix-esque model that allows any and all… → Read More
Amid the increased speculation surrounding Silicon Valley darling Pinterest’s forthcoming revenue model, competitor Fancy, a social photo-clipping service popular among the style-conscious set, has been quietly working on revenue ideas of its own. Previously, the service was doling out coupon code to users who “fancy’d” images belonging to specific merchants, but today, the site is diving… → Read More
I was just reading over the excellent (and long) story about Best Buy at Forbes and wondered, in light of today’s B&N announcement to pull the Nook financials out of their sinking brick-and-mortar business, whether stores like Best Buy and media giants like B&N need to exist at all.
First, before we begin, let’s talk about the Forbes’ article’s money shot:
But the numbers only… → Read More
Ever since I started contributing to the TechCrunch empire, my inbox has received a pretty steady stream of pitches for new (and not-so-new) products and services. Some of them merit a post, but the overwhelming majority of these emails are skimmed and then deleted. Sometimes, though, I’ll engage the sender in a discussion about the product or service they’re pitching, asking about details… → Read More
[photopress:fiberunity.jpg,full,right] I can’t stand the name—Unity—but I recognize its worth. Kinda. Six international companies have signed up to create a new Trans-Pacific Internet fiber optic cable that may (the numbers aren’t finalized yet) increase the bandwidth capacity by 7.68 Terabits/s. The companies, of which Google is most recognizable ’round these parts… → Read More
Several small towns in Britain have a problem with GPS. You know how when you’re using a GPS device and you program the shortest route? Many times, the shortest route between Point A and Point B runs right through these small towns, and these towns aren’t built to accommodate the larger commercial trucks: trucks get stuck in the small towns’ small roads, get caught underneath… → Read More
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Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
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