In Washington, the Senate Commerce Committee has launched an investigation into an online marketing practice that results in unforeseen monthly charges on Web surfers' credit cards, reports John Eggerton. The charges result from post-purchase pop-ups that offer cash back rewards for joining an online membership service. Webloyalty.com, and Vertrue Inc., described by committee chairman Jay Rockefeller as "two of the leading 'post-transaction' e-commerce marketing companies," have been asked to respond to questions by June 17. Such companies allegedly acquire consumers' billing information through agreements with popular online retail sites like Fandango.com and Orbitz.com.

Colgate toothpaste took the top spot in wRatings' 2009 "Most Competitive Retail & Consumer Goods" study, followed by Mountain Dew/Diet Mountain Dew, Budweiser/Bud Light, Vaseline and Kellogg cereals. To arrive at the rankings, wRatings every quarter asks consumers how well companies meet their expectations. The consumer ratings are categorized by nine competitive moats, or barriers to entry, that companies create to protect against rivals taking their customers and, ultimately, their profits. Each W Score blends a company's historical economic profit with its competitive moat scores.

"Diapers.com's innovative Web strategies have turned customer acquisition and retention into an art form," declares eMarketing & Commerce's headline for Melissa Campanelli's cover story on how Diapers.com was able to create a niche and reach $89 million in sales in just four-and-a-half years. One of the keys, she writes, is the retailer's efficient distribution system, featuring these elements: • Buying quantities by the truckload from suppliers like Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson • Offering more economical bulk sizes than many brick-and-mortar stores have space to shelf • …

It's no secret that the sale of venerable and high-end FAO Schwarz to mass market giant Toys 'R' Us is the talk of the retail world, but writer Lisa Biank Fasiq focuses on the merger's effect on a third retailer -- Cincinnati-based Macy's. While FAO Schwartz has just two stand-alone stores (in New York and Las Vegas), it has a far wider brick-and-mortar presence via boutiques it operates in 260 Macy's locations under a deal completed a year ago this month. While the three dedicated stores will be taken over by Toys 'R'" Us, the Macy's locations will …

"Advertising is the price you pay for having an unremarkable product or service," Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos remarked at the online retail giant's annual shareholders meeting, held at the Seattle Art Museum. The comment, part of an answer to a question about Amazon's competitors "caused the audience to go silent," writes SeattlePI.com blogger Andrea James. She discovers an unintentional environmental theme running through the meeting. Bezos' green references included the Kindle potentially leading to less paper use down the road, the recent eliminations of dozens of wire ties and hard plastic encasements from its packaging, the use …

Nestle USA's Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, which says it created the Rocky Road flavor in 1929 to "give folks something to smile about despite their financial woes," is back at it 80 years later. To help promote its latest new "Slow Churned" flavor, the brand is running a "Taste of Recovery" essay contest, with a grand prize of $100,000. Entrants were asked to describe why they need the money, and how they would spend it to pursue their dreams. The "Slow Churned" line is marketed under the Dreyer's brand name in the western U.S. and Edy's in …