- STAT OF THE WEEK:
沃尔玛
's marketplace has reached 100k active sellers. For the past year, between 10k and 20k new sellers applied to join Walmart each month, of which at least 10% got approved and became active. — According to Marketplace Pulse >
- The #FTC along with 17 states are suing #Amazon, alleging that its policies inflate online prices and stifle competition. The FTC is seeking a permanent injunction in federal court that would bar Amazon from continuing these practices. Amazon said that the FTC is “wrong on the facts and the law” and had departed from its role of protecting consumers and competition. .
- #Shopify is investing an undisclosed amount into the wholesale marketplace #Faire, which will become the recommended wholesale marketplace for Shopify merchants, while Shopify become the preferred POS provider for Faire's merchants. The new partnership kicks off with the launch of official Faire buyer and seller apps. With this news, does anyone know what's to become of Handshake, the wholesale marketplace Shopify acquired in 2019? .
- The government of #Indonesia officially banned e-commerce transactions on social media platforms last week, in an aim to protect its small businesses from predatory pricing and avoid flooding the country with cheap Chinese-made products. Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said social commerce platforms have a week to comply with the new rule. .
- #Square rolled out a new set of tools for sellers, some which were made available last week and others that have been introduced over the past couple of months. Highlights include: new themes, more customization features, AI generated product descriptions, the ability to archive old items, barcode label printing, a new shipments page, enhancements to its checkout, text message marketing that can now include images and GIFs, retail bundles, and group eGift cars. .
- Book spammers are releasing dozens of titles a day via #AmazonKDP, which enables authors to self-publish ebooks and print books. Most are one off guides on how to use camera models and cheap fantasy romance novels, but others are more personal. One author had his autobiography spun into a biography written in 3rd person using AI tools -- however it got nearly everything wrong about his story. To top it off, Amazon recommended the book to him! .
- #Meta had its annual Connect conference last week and announced more than several new hardware and platform updates including Meta Quest 3 hardware, Xbox Cloud Gaming (including a virtual screen that can float in front of you), Emu (image generation for creating AI stickers), Ray-Ban Smart Glasses 2.0 (which can livestream), AI chatbots (including Meta AI Assistant), and AI Studio (to let businesses build their own AI chatbots). .
- #DoorDash is looking to improve the in-store processes of its grocery and retail vendors to remove “defects in the system” such as helping reduce the likelihood that an item becomes out of stock after promising it to an online customer, identifying items that are consistently out of stock, and encouraging retailers to take measures to help their pickers avoid checkout lines as a means of speeding up fulfillment. (Hey, no cutsies!) .
- Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke wrote a company-wide memo last week informing employees that their side hustles (and any other commitments that take attention away from their Shopify jobs) are discouraged. Many employees were surprised, as the memo contradicted Shopify's long term attitude of promoting a spirit of entrepreneurship within the organization. Even Shopify's President Harley Finkelstein has his own store, Firebelly Tea, which he co-founded in 2021. .
- #Brazil launched a new national identify program to its 214M residents that's powered by blockchain technology, with Rio de Janeiro, Goiás, and Paraná being the first states to issue the IDs. The Brazilian government said that the national ID project is crucial in targeting organized crime by allowing government sectors to work together to offer a simpler way to access services and administrative records. In regards to e-commerce, it could serve as a way to verify consumer purchases of age-gated products like alcohol, facilitate tax collection, and reduce online fraud. .
- #commercetools unveiled commercetools Connect, a feature that makes it easier for merchants to add new components into their Composable Commerce platform. Connect facilitates integrations for hosting, maintenance, execution, monitoring, and security. .
- WHP Global is rolling out more #ToysRUs stores throughout the US next year in partnership with Go! Retail Group, as well as expanding to cruise ship and airport venues. Since acquiring the Toys ‘R' Us brand in 2021, WHP Global has opened over 1,400 stores and e-commerce sites in 31 countries. .
- #Paperfly, a Bangladesh-based third-party logistics e-commerce firm, ceased operations last week, leaving 1,000 employees jobless. The company blamed the halt in operations on non-disbursement of funds from its foreign investor, coupled with funds frozen by CVC Finance. .
- The US #SupremeCourt agreed to hear a case to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate social media platforms violate the Constitution. The justices will review laws enacted in Florida and Texas that aim to prevent Facebook, TikTok, X and other social networks from censoring users based on their viewpoints. .
- X CEO #LindaYaccarino revealed that X has paid out almost $20M to creators since July for shared ad revenue they earnedf rom ads served in the replies to their posts to other verified users. To be eligible, users must subscribe to X Premium, have more than 500 followers, and have received more than 5M tweet impressions for the last three months. .
- commercetools announced its first ever Elevate Summit, which will feature hosted keynotes, panel discussions, developer training, networking, entertainment, roundtable conversions, and product announcements. The two-day event will be hosted at the Miami Beach Convention Center from April 16-18, 2024. .
- #Lululemon laid off 120 workers from its Studio team, as the company announced plans to stop selling its Mirror connected-fitness device. Lululemon acquired Mirror for $500M in 2020, but has since struggled to grow sales for the device. .
- Those laid off from Lululemon can maybe find work at Dick's Sporting Goods, which is planning to hire 8,600 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, down from 9,000 last year. Keeping up with tradition, Dick's will close all of its stores and distribution centers on Thanksgiving Day so that employees can spend the holiday with their families, and then re-open on Black Friday. .
- #UberEats and #Getir are teaming up in the UK and soon to be Germany and Netherlands to expand the range of groceries on tap for Uber Eats' customers. Last year Getir acquired its German rival, Gorillas, which Getir says it is now drawing on its network of dark stores to power the grocery delivery partnership with Uber Eats. .
- #TikTok partnered up with #ShipBob (fulfillment), #AfterShip (post-purchase customer experience), and #CommerceHub (dropshipping). TikTok is rapidly expanding its list of integration partners as it aims to grow its market share in the US. .
- #eBay is redesigning its homepage for the first time in five years. CEO Jamie Iannone told sellers during a virtual keynote at eBay Open 2023 that visitors will soon find it simpler and more intuitive to search for products with the new modernized look and feel of the homepage. .
- #Kroger is looking to compete with #Walmart by expanding its product selection into general merchandise with a superstore format. The grocer began construction on a 124k sq.ft. location in Plano, Texas called “Kroger Marketplace”, which marks the company's largest store format to date. It is set to open next year. .
- The European Commission adopted a series of measures aimed at fighting microplastics pollution, including banning the sale of certain products of which microplastics have been added. Particularly the rules are targeting synthetic polymer particles below five millimetres that are organic, insoluble, and resist degradation such as exfoliators, fragrances, detergents, fabric softeners, glitter, fertilizers, toys, medicines, and medical devices, among others. .
- #GoogleBard is under heat for indexing conversations into its search results pages, potentially exposing information users meant to be kept contained or confidential. Google noted that the indexing only occurred for conversations that users had elected to click the share link button, but most users would not have been aware that sharing a convo with a friend would mean that it'd be indexed by Google and then show up within search results.
- Speaking of #Bard, yesterday I asked it, “What is the best e-commerce newsletter?” It replied, “The best e-commerce newsletter for you will depend on your specific interests and needs. However, some of the most popular and well-respected e-commerce newsletters include: #1 Shopifreaks.” — Hell yeah Google Bard! I like you better than ChatGPT now.
- Plus 6 seed rounds, IPOs, acquisitions, and bankruptcies of interest, including #Thrasio, an Amazon aggregator which at one point was valued between $5B and $10B, exploring restructuring options, including the possibility of filing for bankruptcy. The company, which previously secured over $3B in funding, went on an acquisition spree, which apparently didn't go to well. .
Graphic Designer
1 年??