Unless you’ve been surfing Starbucks.com recently, you may not have noticed that something is missing — its online store. The Seattle-based coffee chain shut down its virtual shop on Sunday, citing a desire to focus on the customer experience in physical stores. [More]
e-commerce
Twitch Streamers Will Now Sell You Stuff On Amazon
By 9.1.17
You might pay extra to interact with your favorite streaming stars on Twitch, but would you click over to Amazon to buy products that those stars recommend? Amazon hopes that you will, and announced this week that broadcasters on Twitch will be able to earn up to 10% commission on items that they recommend to viewers. [More]
Kohl’s Revamping Stores, Cutting Down On Retail Space In Online Push
By 8.22.17
Your local Kohl’s could look a bit different later this year: The retailer plans to revamp stores by cutting down on retail space and moving its focus to online sales. [More]
You Probably Live Near A Walmart, So It’s Depending On In-Store Pickup For Growth
By 8.17.17
Walmart is out to dominate in e-commerce, but while finding ways to deliver as few orders as possible to customers using the postal service or private carriers. Instead, the company wants to draw customers to its stores with pickup towers or grocery pickup points, or dispatch store employees to make deliveries. [More]
Amazon Tells Third-Party Booksellers To Speed Up Deliveries
By 8.8.17
That paperback book you ordered from Amazon for your upcoming beach vacation might just arrive faster than you thought. But it’ll come at a new cost for the third-party seller providing the title: Amazon is once again tightening the reins on sellers who don’t use the company’s fulfillment services, reducing their required delivery window. [More]
Here’s How Some Brands Are Fighting Back Against Amazon
By 8.7.17
From groceries and household supplies to electronics and clothing, Amazon has steadily been expanding its product categories in an effort to appeal to as many customers as it can. But some brands don’t want the e-commerce giant horning in on their business, so they’re fighting back. [More]
Amazon Reportedly Has A Secret Team Working On Virtual Doctor Visits, Other Medical Services
By 7.27.17
Two months after Amazon was rumored to be thinking of getting into the pharmacy business by offering customers the option of ordering their prescription drugs through the e-commerce giant’s supplier channel, the company is taking its desire to be doctor a step further, reported developing a team focused on virtual medicine. [More]
Amazon Hosts Invite-Only Events To Keep Sellers From Defecting To Walmart
By 6.28.17
Like the guy in the office who tries to make up for the fact that he’s been a real jerk by taking everyone out to happy hour, Amazon is hoping that some meet-and-greets with under-appreciated third-party sellers will keep them from fleeing to Walmart.com or other rivals. [More]
America Has Too Many Malls, Not Enough E-Commerce Warehouses
By 6.23.17
There are many to blame for the demise of malls, but there’s one important factor that’s easy to fforget: There are just too dang many of them. The U.S. has more retail square footage per person than other industrialized countries, and we keep adding newer and bigger malls without humanely putting enough of the old ones out of their misery. At the same time, online retailers like Amazon are scrambling to find or build warehouse space to keep up with customer demand. [More]
Amazon’s “Prime Wardrobe” Lets Customers Try Clothing Before Buying
By 6.20.17
One of the biggest problems with ordering clothing online is that you can’t actually try on items before you buy them. Amazon seems to think it has the answer in its new Prime Wardrobe offering that sends a box full of clothes for customers to try out before actually buying them… but you’ll still have to deal with the hassle of returning the items if they don’t work out. [More]
Feeling Unappreciated By Amazon, Some Sellers Are Defecting To Walmart.com
By 6.16.17
The recent flood of third-party sellers offering items for sale on Amazon has left some the e-tailer’s older marketplace merchants feeling left behind and unappreciated. So they’re taking their wares and going over to Walmart’s website, where they have fewer competitors and pay smaller commissions. [More]
Walmart Adds Men’s Clothing Retailer Bonobos To Its Collection Of Online Businesses
By 6.16.17
When someone says “retailers of upscale men’s fashion,” you probably don’t picture Walmart. Yet the mega-retailer is adding menswear company Bonobos, which started online and now has boutiques in cities and in Nordstrom stores, to its collection of online brands. [More]
Jet To Stop Selling Costco’s Kirkland Signature Products
By 6.13.17
If you like Costco’s Kirkland Signature line of store-brand products — encompassing everything from laundry detergent to vodka — but aren’t a Costco member, you’ve had the option of buying some Kirkland items online at Jet.com. But now that Walmart owns Jet, those Kirkland items will be going away. [More]
Walmart Employees Now Delivering Packages To Your Front Door
By 6.1.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Two-day free shipping, online pickup discounts, grocery pickup — these are just a few ways in which Walmart has tried to up its online shopping game while staying competitive with rival Amazon. Today, the big box retailer rolled out its latest effort: sending associates to customers’ houses with orders in hand. [More]
J. Crew CEO Says It Was A “Big Mistake” To Bank On Elitist Image
By 5.24.17
As J. Crew struggles to compete in today’s tough retail world and avoid going bankrupt like so many other brands, the company’s CEO is admitting that he wasn’t quite prepared for how its high-priced image would fail to lure customers amid competition from fast fashion retailers with cheaper clothing.. [More]
Is Walmart Catching Up With Amazon In The Online Shopping Race?
By 5.18.17
In the world of retail, bricks-and-mortar retailers have one common enemy: Amazon. Walmart may finally be catching up with the e-commerce giant, reporting a 69% jump in online sales last quarter. [More]
Target Could Have Acquired Jet.com And Boxed, But Decided Not To
By 5.15.17
Recognizing that it needed to work on its e-commerce business, Walmart went on an acquisition spree, buying Jet.com and other existing businesses to build its online operations up very quickly. Target, it turns out, had the same opportunities to acquire its way into more robust online operations, but instead is sticking to basics and building its own online operations up. [More]
Report: Amazon Blocked Walmart’s Shopping Bots From Getting Pricing Data
By 5.10.17
In the crowded arena of online shopping, speed is of the essence if you want to keep up with your competitors’ prices: If you aren’t quick enough, your rival could undercut you. A new report claims that Walmart is trying its hardest to automatically track Amazon’s prices, but it’s not having much luck. [More]
