Headlines:
eBay to Develop Sites for Users
eBay Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has a new service: standalone "storefront" Web sites for merchants that are outgrowing its auction site.
The new service, called ProStores and announced Thursday, is meant to help eBay retain successful customers. Much of the company's revenue comes from small merchants that use the auction site as their primary sales channel. Some that do well there ultimately switch to their own Web sites.
eBay would help develop the ProStores sites, which would carry the merchants' own brands. The merchants would pay 0.5% to 1.5% per transaction plus a flat monthly fee of $6.95 or more, depending on the services they use.
The service would integrate the ProStores sites with the merchants' existing eBay "stores" to help them manage listings and inventory. "eBay sellers are looking to maximize their sales online, and many are interested in doing so through more than one channel," said Bill Cobb, the president of eBay North America, in the press release announcing the service.
To expand relationships with merchants, eBay's payment unit, PayPal Inc., recently introduced a credit card processing service. Buyers think they are making ordinary card payments, but the money goes into the seller's PayPal account.
ABN to Outsource 2,300 IT Jobs
ABN Amro Holding NV plans to outsource 2,300 information technology jobs to reduce costs.
The Dutch banking company had previously said it would cut 1,500 jobs in its IT department. "We will eventually only keep around 1,200 jobs in our own information technology department," Sierk Nawijn, a spokesman, said Friday.
The company is talking with International Business Machines Corp. about a deal that could involve some of the employees to be outsourced.
ABN Amro has a worldwide staff of about 97,000; the outsourcing plan is part of a companywide program meant to save $930 million a year beginning in 2007. The company is involved in a takeover battle for Banca Antonveneta SpA of Padua, Italy.
