Rakuten

Online marketplace Rakuten Inc. has acquired Webgistix, a Las Vegas-based logistics and services company specializing in cloud-based fulfillment technology for e-commerce retailers. The acquisition is Rakuten’s second logistics investment outside of Japan and its first in the Americas. 

The world of e-commerce is gearing up for the 9th annual Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition, which will be held at Chicago’s McCormick Place West from June 4-7. This year's theme is "Breaking Barriers."

SAN FRANCISCO — Executives from Walmart, Facebook and Groupon are among the keynote speakers slated for the Mobile Commerce World three-day conference and expo in June. 

Mobile Commerce World touts itself as the only event of its kind designed to help retail and enterprise executives create the most effective mobile commerce strategies. It will be held June 24-26, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. 

The keynote lineup includes:

NEW YORK and ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — Leading global e-commerce marketplace Rakuten Inc. has rebranded Buy.com, which it acquired May 2010, to Rakuten.com Shopping.

Between now and January 30, merchants and consumers will still be able to go to Buy.com to access Rakuten’s U.S. subsidiary. Starting January 31, however, the site url will change to Rakuten.com. Anyone going to Buy.com will be redirected to the new url.

Seattle -- Paladino and Co., a sustainability and green building consulting firm, has acquired green building consulting firm S.D. Keppler & Associates, Rockville, Md. The two firms have joined to establish a comprehensive consulting offering focused on elevating the prominence and impact of green real estate programs within business.

New York -- A report released Tuesday by e-commerce marketplace technology provider Merchantry found that marketplace customer experience compares unfavorably to that of e-commerce sites, particularly in regard to comprehensiveness of product information and logistics transparency.

The State of Online Marketplaces report, conducted by Merchantry in concert with the e-tailing group, found that online marketplaces need a lot of improvement before their full potential is realized.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Belk has engaged the services of ChannelAdvisor, a global e-commerce platform provider, for comparison shopping strategy and data feed management. Belk is utilizing ChannelAdvisor’s Comparison Shopping and Flex Feed solutions to skillfully create, optimize and distribute Belk’s product data feeds to multiple shopping engines such as Shopzilla, Shopping.com, Nextag and PriceGrabber as well as to a variety of other commerce partners.

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — Buy.com has announced that Bernard Luthi, a 15-year veteran of e-commerce, technology and consumer electronics, has joined the company as chief marketing officer. Previously, Luthi was VP marketing, web management and customer service at Newegg.com.

In his new role, Luthi will lead Buy.com’s marketing initiatives, including web site experience, advertising, BuyTV, public relations and promotions. In addition, he will work closely with Buy.com parent company Rakuten on overall corporate branding. 

MINNEAPOLIS — Best Buy has joined the likes of Amazon and eBay with the launch of its own third-party shopping destination. The move comes as Best Buy looks to grow its online business as it struggles to maintain leadership of a saturated consumer electronics market.

According to Best Buy, Best Buy Marketplace will increase the company's online product assortment by one third in time for holiday shopping.

Costco isn’t a retailer that comes to mind for most people when it comes to back-to-school shopping, so it was peculiar to see the company’s name atop a list of the best one-stop shopping destinations.

Nothing against Costco, they sell some awesome stuff, but the company can’t be confused with such true one-stop shopping destinations as Target, Walmart or even office supply stores. Costco topped the list due to a flawed survey conducted by STELLAService, a company that provides customer service ratings for online retailers.