E-commerce Industry News Recap - Week of June 19th, 2023

This is a summary recap of the?126th Edition ?of the?Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter ?- brought to you by?Paul Drecksler . Check out the?full edition ?for links and sources.?

.

1. STAT OF THE WEEK: Humans can only identify #AI generated content about 55% of the time. Study participants 18-24 years old answered correctly 61% of the time, compared to 51% of 45-54 year olds. — According to Nexcess

.

2. U.S. lawmakers are looking to introduce a bill called “The Import Security and Fairness Act” to eliminate a tariff exemption used by Chinese e-commerce sellers to bypass paying import taxes on goods shipped to U.S. customers. The exemption, known as the minimis rule, exempts import taxes on all shipments valued at less than $800, and is widely abused by companies such as Shein, Temu, and AliExpress in their daily shipments to evade tariffs. Under the bill, countries other than China and Russia could keep the exemption by adopting the $800 threshold for their own tariff-free imports. The bill would only allow private shippers like FedEx, UPS, and DHL to transport de minimis packages and would exclude postal services.

.

3. Squarespace is set to acquire approximately 10M domains from 谷歌 , which is selling its Google Domains division that it launched in 2014. The $180M acquisition is set to close in Q3 2023. Squarespace promised that it would honor Google's domain pricing for at least 12 months before jacking up its renewal fee. As a point of reference, “.com” domains at Google renew at $12/year versus $20/year at Squarespace. Once the deal closes, Squarespace will become the exclusive partner for anyone looking to purchase a domain alongside their Google Workspace subscription and provide customer support for existing customers who've already purchased domains through Google Domains.

.

4. 亚马逊 is planning to reopen registration for its program that allows third-party sellers to offer Prime shipping on their products without using FBA. Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) was launched in 2015, but Amazon paused the program for new sellers in 2019 after the company realized that “SFP was not providing the same high-quality experience that customers expect from Prime.” It was discovered that year that less than 16% of SFP orders in the U.S. were meeting Amazon's two-day shipping promise. Several years later, after working out the kinks with existing sellers, Amazon is reopening enrollment in the program.

.

5. Google released a new virtual try-on tool that uses generative AI to help consumers visualize how garments look on models of a similar size and body shape. Shoppers can select products with a “Try On” badge to select a model ranging in size from XXS to 4XL with different skin tones, body shapes, and hair types. Currently the feature is only available for women's apparel from brands like H&M , Loft , Everlane , and Anthropologie . However Google plans to launch a virtual try-on tool for men’s apparel, including tops, later this year.

.

6. According to Amazon, the Chinese marketplace Temu , which launched in September, does not meet its strict qualification requirements for Amazon's fair pricing policy. Amazon's pricing algorithm routinely checks if products sold on its platform are competitive with rivals, but now it's excluding Temu from its checks because it simply can't compete with the Chinese retailer on price. Amazon is spinning the exclusion as a reputation play, claiming that Temu doesn't meet its qualification standards, and as a “questionable marketplace”, it may include products that may be counterfeit.

.

7. Meta introduced a generative AI model that performs speech-generation tasks. The new Voicebox can help with tasks like audio editing, sampling, and styling, and produce high-quality clips while removing background noises like car horns or dogs barking. The model is also multilingual and can produce speech in six languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Polish, and Portuguese. The model can be used for giving natural sounding voices to VAs and non-player characters in the metaverse, allowing visually impaired people to hear written messages in the voices of friends, creating and editing audio tracks, helping people communicate in other languages, bring AI customer service and sales to the next horizon.

.

8. This past Thursday, 84 Amazon drivers in Palmdale, California went on strike in an attempt to get Amazon to negotiate over better working conditions. Only here's the thing, Amazon says they don't actually work for Amazon; the drivers work for a third-party contractor called Battle-Tested Strategies — so Amazon refuses to negotiate. Amazon calls the contractor a “Delivery Service Partner”, even though it employs drivers who exclusively deliver packages for Amazon, drive vehicles with big Amazon logos, and wear Amazon uniforms.

.

9. TikTok 's CEO announced that the company plans to pour billions of dollars into Southeast Asia in the coming years, where it's gained a substantial market share in the region just a year after its launch. Shou Zi Chew told a forum in Jakarta, “We're going to invest billions of dollars in Indonesia and Southeast Asia over the next few years. From a humble team of about 100 people, we now have nearly 8,000 employees in Southeast Asia.” Chew did not provide a detailed breakdown of the spending plan, but said the company would invest in training, advertising and supporting small vendors looking to join its e-commerce platform TikTok Shop.

.

10. The FTC tweeted a message informing consumers that they can now get information about marketplace sellers and report questionable activity thanks to a new law called the INFORM Act, which I reported on extensively in December. The tweet linked to a page on the FTC website where it explained more about the law.

.

11. Brands that left Twitter after Elon took over are now returning to the platform with Linda Yaccarino at the helm, who generated more than $100B in ad sales for NBC Universal during her 11-year term at the company. However screenshots of ads for Disney, Adobe, and Microsoft pictured next to neo-Nazi propaganda posts have some experts concerned that Twitter is not yet a safe place for brands.?

.

12. French activists are urging for legislative and regulatory measures against SHEIN , concerned about its impact on the planet. The activists claim that synthetic clothing produced by the company results in large quantities of microplastic fibers contaminating the oceans, and if left unchecked, could skyrocket global greenhouse gas emissions in the next two decades.

.

13. Amazon Alexa described 苹果 as an “oligopoly” and claimed that Google violates privacy rights, but responded with “Hmm, I don't know that one” when asked if Amazon is a monopoly. Looks like they forgot to add the safeguards for their fellow monopolies!?

.

14. Meta experienced a platform-wide outage on Friday that affected more than 20k uses across Facebook , Instagram , and WhatsApp users. The company resolved the issues within three hours, but did not reveal a cause for the problem.?

.

15. Amazon also experienced a major outage at its AWS on Tuesday, affecting websites of the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Boston Globe among others. The outage extended to AWS's own down detector webpage, which at one point failed to load.

.

16. The Indian government is asking e-commerce firms like 亚马逊 , Flipkart , Swiggy, and Zomato to create a self-regulatory framework during the next two months designed to stop dark patterns. Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Singh informed companies that if dark pattern practices continue even after awareness and creation of a self-regulatory framework, the government will look to regulate the matter.

.

17. Social Snowball ?? introduced Safelinks, an affiliate technology designed to solve the problem of coupon code leakage and misattribution. When a customer clicks on an affiliate's Safelink, a popup appears acknowledging the affiliate's referral and allows the customer to generate a one-time-use coupon code from within the pop-up.

.

18. ShipBob expanded to the Netherlands with the launch of a fulfillment center, marking the company's fifth European location. The firm expects to start shipping parcels from the new location in July.

.

19. Amazon is facing accusations of exploiting small businesses by raising fees and advertising costs for sellers. According to a report from The Guardian, Amazon tripled its earnings from fees charged to independent sellers in Europe from 2017 to 2022, surpassing the growth in sales, which only doubled during the same period.

.

20. Shopify and Volt, a UK-based fintech startup, will soon offer open banking capabilities, which Canadians currently aren't able to take advantage of due to delays in implementing the framework within the country. As part of the partnership, Shopify merchants across Europe and Brazil can offer Volt's pay-by-bank checkout solution, which allows customers to settle funds instantly with real-time account-to-account payments.

.

21. Amazon Prime members in India will now receive a 5% cashback on rides when they use Amazon Pay as their payment method for Uber, which will be divided into 4% Uber credit and 1% Amazon Pay cashback. The collaboration was first announced in 2022 where Uber and Amazon provided Prime members with access to UberPremier at the price of UberGo, and now the two companies are taking their relationship to the next level and opening a joint back account.?

.

22. Some footwear and apparel factory owners say they are starting to see big drops in U.S. retailers' holiday orders as companies became cautious about consumers' budgets, a sign that sales will see a sharp decline during the next several quarters. The quantity of apparel imports fell 31% in the first four months of the year versus a year earlier, while retailers focus on whittling down the piles of merchandise they accumulated in 2022.

.

23. Shopify promoted Deann Evans to EMEA managing director, from her current position of director of EMEA expansion and partnerships, which she has held since Aug 2021. In her new position, Evans will be responsible for expanding regional growth by supporting and developing merchants and entrepreneurs, growing the partner ecosystem, and leading the team culture within Shopify's EMEA market.

.

24. The WooCommerce Stripe payment gateway plugin used by 900k stores was discovered to have a vulnerability that allows an attacker to steal customers' personally identifiable information. It's recommended that plugin users immediately update to the latest version 7.4.1 to avoid further issue.

.

25. Chinese e-commerce platforms are in a fierce competition for market share during this year's 618 festival, which runs from late May until June 18th, offering steep discounts to entice cash strapped consumers. 京东 , Tmall , 拼多多 and others are investing billions in subsidies to keep gross sales growing, in what's turning into a national race to the price bottom.

.

26. 阿里巴巴集团 is expanding its Tmall e-commerce site to Europe, reflecting a significant shift in strategy for the company's international operations. The platform is currently conducting a pilot project in Spain which is set to expand across the continent this year.

.

27. Shipt appointed Katie Stratton, a former Meta exec, as its first chief growth officer to expedite the company's growth in CPG and retail. Stratton will oversea its new growth team which includes business development, business capabilities, CPG, partner success, innovation, site merchandising, and catalog operations.

.

28. 亚马逊 recently sued more than 90 fake review brokers and 10k Facebook group admins around the world for facilitating the posting of fake reviews in exchange for money or free product, and now the company is asking governments for more support in legislation and enforcement. It's also asking for collaboration within the industry to share information on fake review tactics and techniques to better, and better controls for services that facilitate the solicitation of fake reviews. I sense an over-correction coming.?

.

29. In 2022, online returns cost retailers $816B in lost sales, nearly as much as the U.S. spent on public schools and twice the cost of returns in 2020. The return process, including transportation and packaging, generated about 24M metric tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions last year.

.

30. Plus 5 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest including Auctane 's (owner of Stamps.com , ShipStation , ShipEngine ) acquired Return Rabbit .

.

I hope you found this recap helpful. See you next week!

PAUL

#ecommerce #ecommercenews #ecommercebusiness #ecommercewebsite #marketing #tech #retail #commerce #shopify #bigcommerce #amazon #wix #instagram #meta #facebook #temu #china #bnpl