You know that part of every “ugly duckling” movie where the protagonist goes through a head-to-toe makeover in a matter of minutes? That describes the last four months for Walmart, which has revamped its wardrobe with the purchases of ShoeBuy, ModCloth, and even MooseJaw. And it’s apparently not done with apparel, with a possible purchase of online men’s retailer Bonobos in the offing. [More]
online retail
Walmart May Invest $1B In Flipkart To Fight Amazon Overseas
By 9.28.16
Walmart’s apparent plan to become more like Amazon wasn’t realized when the company launched its $50/year Prime-rival Shipping Pass or after the company snatched up e-commerce site Jet.com for $3.3 billion. But not one to give up, the big box retailer is now reportedly in talks to invest more than $1 billion in fellow Amazon competitor Flipkart. [More]
Why Does My Amazon Order Have A Walmart Or Target Shipping Order Inside?
By 9.1.16
It doesn’t happen a lot, especially if you’re an Amazon Prime member, but occasionally if you order an item from an Amazon third-party seller you might end up with an item shipped in a Target box, or containing a shipping receipt from Walmart. It’s not illegal or a scam, but it probably means you paid more than you should have. [More]
Want To Sell Big Name-Brand Products Through Amazon? There’s A Fee For That
By 8.29.16
It’s no secret that online marketplaces like Amazon have a problem with third-party sellers offering counterfeit copies of name-brand products. The company’s latest effort to cut off the stream of fakes involves charging a fee to sellers who want to include certain big-name brands in their stores. [More]
States Hungry For Online Sales Tax Looking At Challenge To South Dakota Law
By 5.31.16
Amazon now collects sales tax in more than half the states, but that still leaves a substantial portion of the country not paying taxes on their purchases. Even in states where Amazon is collecting taxes, some other online retailers say they don’t have to collect taxes because they have no physical presence in the state. A new South Dakota law is a direct attack on these companies, and if it stands up to legal scrutiny it could have nationwide implications. [More]
Amazon Officially In the Air Freight Business; Acquires 10% Stake In Cargo Partner
By 3.21.16
Only weeks after making a deal with cargo company Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) to lease a fleet of 20 planes to use for shipping packages, Amazon is now a part owner of the company. [More]
FedEx Expects To Handle A Record 317 Million Packages Between Black Friday And Christmas
By 10.26.15
As consumers continue to rely on online retailers to fill their holiday shopping needs, FedEx says this year will be busier than ever before: between Black Friday and Christmas, the company says it expects to handle 317 million packages. Which is a pretty impressive number — but what’s FedEx going to do to make sure those packages actually reach their destinations in time? [More]
Amazon, Penguin Random House Avoid Dispute, Reach Deal For Physical & Online Book Sales
By 6.18.15
Public feud avoided. Less than a month after reports began swirling that Amazon and the world’s largest book publisher Penguin Random House could potentially come to blows over a new contract for online book sales, the two entities have reached a long-term agreement. [More]
Could Amazon & Penguin Random House Be Headed For A Hachette-Level Feud?
By 5.26.15
Almost exactly a year after Amazon and book publisher Hachette entered a very public feud over an e-book pricing dispute, the mega online retailer is reportedly on the cusp of engaging in a new battle with the world’s largest book publisher, Penguin Random House. [More]
Hot Topic Buying Parent Company Of Online Retailer ThinkGeek For $122M
By 5.26.15
Mall staple Hot Topic is taking another chain under its umbrella for a $122 million price tag, announcing that it’s acquiring Geeknet, Inc., parent company of online retailers ThinkGeek and ThinkGeek Solutions, for $122 million. Commemorative T-shirts with cheeky sayings for everyone! [More]
EBay Rolling Out Its Own Prime-Like Service… In Germany
By 5.21.15
Just weeks after rumors surfaced that Walmart was working on its own Amazon Prime-esque service, eBay is jumping into the game — except its subscription service is only available across that big Atlantic pond – for now. [More]
Amazon Launches New Marketplace To Sell Specialized Supplies To Businesses
By 4.28.15
Amazon is gunning for businesses – connecting them with sellers of everything from lab equipment to food service supplies. The online retail giant launched its latest marketplace Tuesday, aiming to provide businesses with the same shopping service the company offers everyday customers. [More]
High-End Online Retailers Net-A-Porter, Yoox Officially Tie The Knot
By 3.31.15
It seems like just yesterday we were dreaming of a mega-luxury online retail platform where we could buy all the designer brands our wallets will never be able to afford. That’s probably because it was one day ago that reports began to swirl that online merchants Yoox and Net-A-Porter were thinking of merging to create one big high-end shopping destination on the interwebs. [More]
Net-A-Porter In Deal Talks With Online Retailer Yoox
By 3.30.15
Amazon’s foray into the luxury apparel business may be over before it even began. Just a week after reports surfaced that the company was in talks to buy high-end retailer Net-a-Porter for $2 billion, the smaller company confirmed it’s seeking a possible deal with someone else. [More]
Amazon Building Warehouses Everywhere, Hopes Christmas Gifts Actually Arrive By Christmas
By 9.26.14
Holiday time is shopping time in America, and millions of families turn to Amazon to get their gifts. But last year, Santa’s sleigh had some trouble getting where it needed to be on time: last-minute buying, bad weather, and snafus at UPS and FedEx meant plenty of presents were still in transit when kids went looking under the tree in the morning. Some Christmas delivery miracles occurred, but Amazon still had to issue plenty of apologies, refunds, discounts, and Prime extensions. But Amazon is determined not to see a repeat in 2014, if their year of planning and building pans out. [More]
Remember Those Late Holiday Packages? Don’t Blame The Carrier, Blame The Retailer
By 4.4.14
We may be a few months removed from the holiday shopping season, but some of us are still stewing over the broken promise of pre-Christmas Day deliveries from online retailers. And it appears we have reason to be disappointed with those retailers now that a study has found the majority of delays were their fault, not the postal carrier. [More]
Nine West Overcharges You Because Calculating Taxes Is Hard
By 3.27.09
Nine West wasn’t sure how much tax to charge Jane for her online order so they have gave her a price that was $5.48 less than what they actually charged. When Jane wrote in to complain and to ask for her money back, Nine West explained that it was impossible to instantly calculate how much tax to charge because they use two highly-sophisticated tax gizmos that simply can’t interface with their online store. Jane wants to know if Nine West’s charges are ethical and whether it’s worth complaining over six bucks.
Beware: CompUSA's 'In-Store Pick-Up' Is A Scam
By 3.11.07
Kevin purchased two DVD and CDR spindles using CompUSA’s “In-Store Pick-Up” option; when he got to the store, the price doubled. Kevin had already handed over his credit card information and had a printed receipt. Why did the price double?
