Rumours boost Amazon share price

Rumours of an ecommerce deal between Amazon.com and US retail giant Wal-Mart have excited both the Stock Market and analysts looking to the future of ebusiness.

Rumours of an ecommerce deal between Amazon.com and US retail giant Wal-Mart have excited both the Stock Market and analysts looking to the future of ebusiness.

The source of the rumours was unclear as Computing went to press, and neither company has commented on the alleged tie-in, but after months with its value in freefall, Amazon's share price jumped 26 per cent.

Whether this deal goes ahead or not, experts say that a mix-and-match of the old and new economies makes sense.

Alliances exploiting specialist strengths will become common in an increasingly multi-channel world, according to analyst Gartner.

"This isn't a surprise, because it seems a natural evolution for organisations with different strengths to seek ways of working together for mutual advantage," said Gartner research director Andy Kyte.

"We are likely to see alliances of this nature in business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer as some marketplaces look to work with established distributors," he added.

The loss-making dotcom could provide Wal-Mart with ecommerce expertise in return for much-needed investment.