Google ups e-book offering

Google plans to get deeper entrenched in the e-commerce space, by offering up e-books and other digital content which will be compatible with a variety of e-reader devices, reports ZippyCart.

This expansion into e-books is a perfect complement to its book search service and many view this effort as a precursor for the release of a Google tablet computer. It hasn't been officially confirmed yet by Google, but the addition of a tablet computer to its e-commerce e-book store would be a smart move.

It would allow the company to compete directly with the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle, and give it access to even more information about what consumers are doing online.

A new social dimension is now available to users of Bing Shopping, as the online shopping vertical for Microsoft's search engine has grown with the addition of Twitter and Facebook, states Softpedia.

Bing Shopping programme manager, Lawrence Lam, and product manager Sonam Saxena question why online shopping should be a less social process than the traditional experience. “The fact of the matter is, it shouldn't,” explains Lam.

In this regard, next time users 'go shopping' via Bing, they'll be able to ask their friends for an opinion, for advice, or simply brag with some new gear.

According to the Vietnam 2009 e-commerce report, released by the ministry of trade and industry, e-commerce has become a tool to help enterprises save on costs and increase their competitive ability, particularly during tough financial times, says VietnamNews.

The report finds that online shopping and services has become a trend and will boom in the years ahead when customers becomes familiar with e-payment.

The ministry conducted a survey of 2 000 enterprises and 12% of them had already joined e-commerce. Nearly half of the businesses praised the effectiveness of e-commerce.