| SAP making a play for on-demand e-tail CRM?
Business software giant SAP has acquired Praxis Software Solutions as it attempts to weave on-demand applications into its offerings. Technology from Praxis will be incorporated into SAP Business One, a business management product aimed at small and medium-sized companies, to help them set up online stores and deploy customer relationship management software via the internet. The two key elements that SAP is gaining from its long-time partner are Praxis' NetPoint Commerce and NetPoint Focus applications. The first is an ecommerce package that offers customisable shopping-cart and customer support functions, designed to handle data access for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer needs on a single website. It integrates pricing and inventory data originated from the SAP Business One System.
Local consumer complaints up 25%
Consumers filed 14,268 complaints against area businesses with The Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont last year. That's a 25 percent increase over the 2006 level of 11,389 complaints. The top 10 industries receiving complaints in 2007 were: Auto dealers -- new cars; Home builders; Auto-repair services; Television -- cable and satellite service; Home improvement and remodeling; Furniture -- retail; Auto dealers -- used cars; Magazine sales -- door-to-door; Mobile-telephone services; and Internet shopping services. "The good news is that 84 percent of these complaints were closed satisfactorily in 2007, thanks to businesses and consumers who worked with the BBB to resolve their disputes," says Tom Bartholomy, chief executive of The Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont.
eBay buys Skype for $2.6bn
After weeks of rumours over potential partners for Skype, eBay will buy the VoIP company for $2.6bn in cash and stock, plus a further $1.5bn if Skype meets certain financial targets. eBay is looking for the deal to enhance its current businesses, which include online auctions, classified listings and shopping sites, and electronic payments. For instance, Skype could be used to allow buyers and sellers in eBay's online auctions to talk to each other. The deal will also open up new sources of revenue for the company, including charging for these VoIP calls, and eBay is hoping Skype will help boost its presence in areas such as Japan and Scandinavia. Skype, in turn, could use eBay's PayPal e-payments service to make it easier for users to pay for Skype services.
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