Ebay bids for GSI Commerce

This one is pretty interesting.  In case there was any doubt that Ebay was continually less focused on their consumer-facing efforts in exchange for becoming the be-all infrastructure for eCommerce.... I think this deal sums it up.

This is really a win-win... GSI gets to keep fueling/growing some of their recently acquired subsidiaries, while Ebay gets all the guts&glory (and high-profile customer base) of GSI's eCommerce and marketing service contracts.

Forrester says that eCommerce spending will double by 2015 (nearly $300bn), and paypal's revenues are expected to double by 2013.  Between transaction processing (paypal), short-term financing (BillMeLater), eCommerce & Marketing (GSI), Ebay is sitting in a pretty comfortable position to hold a significant stake in the broad online commerce arena. 

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