E-Commerce Minute:  Thursday -- April  7, 2016
The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business     
http://www.ecommercetimes.com     Part of the ECT News Network        
Headline Scan    Crafting an Online Strategy, Part 1: Which Wares Should You Sell?    Twitter Upsets Rivals to Win Thursday Night Football Streaming Rights    Please Hold the Music    White House Opens More Doors for Open Source    Amazon Takes a Swipe at PayPal    The Sales Process Starts With Retention    FCC Labels Aim to Demystify Broadband Service Plans    4-Inch iPhone: Slow and Steady May Win the Race    FBI May Help Local Law Enforcement Agencies Crack Encrypted iPhones    Microsoft Guns for Cloud Devs at Build 2016    Amazon Doubles Down on Dash    FCC Extends Broadband Lifeline to Low-Income Subcribers    Foxconn Finally Wrangles Sharp Deal    IBM Snags Bluewolf for Salesforce Chops        Today's Story Highlights  
      Crafting an Online Strategy, Part 1: Which Wares Should You Sell?    
If you like to make soaps, candles, pendants, pouches or any other  
  crafts, you might be thinking of riding the wave of craftspeople who  
  sell their wares online. Digital marketplaces are opening a wealth of  
  opportunities for makers. Once you've decided to stake your claim in the  
  world of online handicraft sales, however, what's the best way to  
  determine what to make and sell? Here are some tips.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83329.html        Twitter Upsets Rivals to Win Thursday Night Football Streaming Rights    
The National Football League on Monday named Twitter its exclusive  
  global partner to live-stream 10 Thursday Night Football games during  
  the 2016 season. Twitter reportedly beat out some of the top content and  
  social media providers. It will live-stream the games for free to more  
  than 800 million registered and unregistered users over mobile phones,  
  tablets, connected TV sets and PCs.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83331.html        Please Hold the Music    
Remember when your mother used to yell up the stairs to get you to turn  
  your music down? Sometimes, in the age before sensitivity awareness,  
  your dad would do the yelling and he'd substitute noise for music. Ah,  
  the good old days. Too bad they aren't here right now yelling at  
  vendors. ConsumerAffairs.com is the brainchild of James R. Hood, a  
  former Washington, D.C., journalist.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83333.html        White House Opens More Doors for Open Source    
The U.S. government is picking up the pace in its efforts to use open  
  source software as much as possible. Federal CIO Tony Scott last month  
  released details of a proposed policy designed to allow customized  
  software created for one agency to be openly available to other  
  government agencies as well. Industry and government professionals may  
  comment on the proposal by Monday.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83332.html        Amazon Takes a Swipe at PayPal    
Amazon on Monday launched its Payments Partner Program -- a global  
  effort widely seen as a rival to PayPal -- in the United States, the UK,  
  Germany and Japan. Available by invitation only, the program provides  
  for three levels of partners: premier partners, certified partners and  
  certified developers. The first two are for e-commerce platform  
  providers; the third is for developers and agencies.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83325.html        The Sales Process Starts With Retention    
Despite the numbers that show how lucrative retention is in an  
  increasingly subscription-driven economy, the emphasis has been on new  
  customer acquisition. That is still true, according to a recent study.  
  Forty-two percent of the firms surveyed said they were increasing their  
  budgets for customer acquisition, while only 33 percent said the budget  
  for retention would increase.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83324.html        FCC Labels Aim to Demystify Broadband Service Plans    
The Federal Communications Commission on Monday announced a plan to  
  create label disclosures that would give consumers a clear picture of  
  the pricing, speed and bandwidth they are paying for under high-speed  
  Internet contracts. The FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee proposed the  
  nutrition-like labels amid concerns that providers were not transparent  
  enough.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83322.html        4-Inch iPhone: Slow and Steady May Win the Race    
Apple appears to have experienced a lost weekend with the 4-inch iPhone  
  SE failing to rack up significant sales. When the period ended, the SE  
  claimed only 0.1 percent of the iPhone market, Localytics reported  
  Monday. "The new phone was unable to take away the iPhone 5's share, the  
  model it most closely resembled, suggesting that small-screen lovers  
  have not yet been convinced to upgrade."    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83320.html        FBI May Help Local Law Enforcement Agencies Crack Encrypted iPhones    
Weeks after backing down from its litigation demanding Apple's help to  
  access encrypted data on the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone, the FBI  
  appears to be taking full advantage of its newly discovered forensic  
  prowess by offering assistance to law enforcement agencies across the  
  country. The agency has sent out letters letting local officials know  
  that it has gained access to the encrypted data.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83319.html        Microsoft Guns for Cloud Devs at Build 2016    
Microsoft last week at its Build 2016 conference announced innovations  
  in mobile app development, the Internet of Things, microservices and  
  intelligence designed to help developers create apps for the cloud. One  
  is Azure App Service, which offers back-end capabilities for Web, native  
  Windows, iOS and Android platforms. Microsoft also announced five Azure  
  IoT starter kits, starting at $50.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83318.html        Amazon Doubles Down on Dash    
Amazon last week announced that it had increased to more than 100 the  
  number of Dash buttons Prime users can install in their homes to  
  replenish supplies of household goods. Dash buttons, which essentially  
  are free for Amazon Prime members, are connected devices that link to a  
  customer's account. With the press of a button, they can order shipments  
  of the product associated with a Dash module.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83313.html        FCC Extends Broadband Lifeline to Low-Income Subcribers    
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted 3-2 to approve a  
  $2.25 billion program to subsidize broadband Internet service and  
  bundled voice and data packages for low-income consumers. The new  
  subsidy is part of a major overhaul of the agency's Lifeline program,  
  which has provided affordable phone access for decades. The vote was a  
  long-awaited reform for many low-income communities.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83316.html        Foxconn Finally Wrangles Sharp Deal    
Foxconn has agreed to purchase a controlling stake in Sharp -- about 66  
  percent -- for roughly $3.5 billion, the companies announced Wednesday.  
  Foxconn has committed to restoring Sharp's profitability and improving  
  operations, according to the companies. "I am confident that we will  
  unlock Sharp's true potential," Foxconn CEO Terry Gou said. The  
  acquisition brings months of speculation to a close.    
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83311.html        IBM Snags Bluewolf for Salesforce Chops    
IBM on Thursday announced that it has agreed to buy Bluewolf, a  
  Salesforce system integrator. It reportedly will pay $200 million.  
  Bluewolf will provide cloud consulting and implementation capabilities  
  as part of IBM Global Business Services' Interactive Experience  
  practice. The aim is to deliver differentiated, cloud-based, consumer-  
  grade experiences, IBM said.    
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