As a dedicated ecommerce entrepreneur, I have spent my entire career building ecommerce technology companies. It started in 1994 when I founded Intershop, an enterprise-license, build-and-run model ecommerce platform for large companies. From my vantage at Intershop, I saw first hand how fast the industry changes. At the time, enterprise license software was the only game in town, but increasingly customers were talking about the pains of that model-managing licenses, hardware, data centers, software upgrades, databases, IT specialists, developers and the list goes on. So in 2004 I bowed out of Intershop to launch Demandware-an enterprise ecommerce application delivered on-demand. Our goal, then and now, has been to solve the shortcomings of traditional enterprise ecommerce applications-ease of use, control and flexibility, continuous and automatic innovation and security.

Just as we recognized a need in the marketplace for a better way to handle ecommerce, we have recognized the need for a thought-provoking, content-rich resource for retailers to make the most of their online presence. With this blog, we hope to create a better, more open, direct and real-time forum to share ideas with others who are just as passionate about ecommerce as we are and we encourage you to share your thoughts with us. Though the content of our blog will often be dependant on current trends, industry news and technological innovations, we aim to gear our content toward three main topics:

eCommerce Merchandising Best Practices, Tips, Tools and Techniques: With 80% of the resources in this industry focused on basics like preventing downtime and ensuring a secure checkout, it is clear that there has to be a better way. While these elements are important, consumers are not impressed with a site's uptime or secure checkout. Since consumers expect these elements, we will focus on providing the best ways for retailers to provide superior merchandising and innovative onsite features.

Enterprise-Class, On-Demand Applications: eCommerce, unlike any other channel, is managed and run with the consumer-it allows consumers to interact with the channel itself and must be able to respond. On-demand services can react to consumers in a way other ecommerce models can't and therefore represent a better, smarter and faster way to serve customers. We want to highlight the emergence of these cutting-edge, on-demand services that are changing the face of ecommerce.

eCommerce Innovations: There have been many rapid and remarkable changes in the ecommerce environment over the years, and ecommerce continues to see double-digit annual growth rates despite decreased consumer spending. With tools like Google Gears and the Salesforce AppExchange changing the way we look at software, we hope to offer new ways to approach old problems that face online retailers everyday.

We hope that this blog can become a resource for you, whether you are an ecommerce newcomer or an early pioneer. Though we have spelled out the framework for our content, we hope that you will reach out to us with any questions or comments you would like to have addressed. The beauty of blogging is the interaction it fosters and we hope this is the beginning of a long and thought-provoking conversation!