In his weekly e-commerce report, Bob Tedeschi reports on the ways that online retailers are using blogs to boost sales. Tedeschi says it's all aboard for the blogging bandwagon: "Online merchants are starting to test Web logs... in hopes of giving their stores more personality and giving customers a reason to return even when they're not in the mood to buy."

Among the companies mentioned in the piece: Bluefly.com, eHobbies and Ice.com. What's interesting is that some of these companies are actively promoting the blogs in their correspondence with customers and even hiding coupon codes in their blogs to give people an incentive to visit. These online retailers are obviously hoping that a huge blog audience will translate into additional sales, or at least, additional buzz around certain products.