Amazon is launching a TikTok-like feature called Inspire that lets users scroll through short-form videos and hopefully buy stuff from brands, but industry observers don’t seem too inspired by the company’s latest venture into social commerce, an area that hasn’t really exploded. It’s the latest in a decade of social commerce experiments.
While Amazon is the clear market leader in ecommerce sales, at $50.9 billion to $19.2 billion, arch-rival Walmart has been gaining in some respects in their ongoing retail industry cage match. Jungle Scout has developed a helpful infographic that details some key comparison metrics between the two behemoths. (image credit: Wharton/UPenn)
Singles Day, the prefab shopping holiday created by Alibaba in 2009, saw just 5% sales growth over 2021, experts polled by CNN estimated, compared to a 15.5% gain in 2021, as the inflation-fueled ecommerce slowdown and fresh COVID-19 lockdowns in China acted as a drag on results.
Dublin-based ESW and Mamenta of Littleton, CO have joined platform forces to offer brands and retailers greater opportunities to expand their cross-border ecommerce trade both on hundreds of global marketplaces and in their direct-to-consumer business.
Amazon reported third quarter revenue under estimates and provided a lowered fourth quarter outlook on Thursday, causing yet more jitters on Wall Street and in the industry as retail swings into the home stretch of the peak holiday season, and sending shares down 20% after hours.
Amazon is relaunching its discounted version of the vaunted Prime subscription, aimed at providing lower-income consumers perks normally reserved for the full offering but at a lower monthly price, during a period of economic hardship for many as inflation continues unabated.
SellerX, one of many that jumped on the Amazon rollup bandwagon, is being sued by a game and toy company who sold it one of its successful brands in 2021, alleging SellerX is in breach of contract for failing to adequately promote it, causing sales to plummet along with the earnout potential.
Nothing ever happens in isolation in the world of ecommerce. Yet even the largest CPG and distribution companies still rely on lag analytics and siloed information to get a handle on what’s being sold where, to whom and for how much. A more proactive approach, based on digital transformation, makes all the difference.
CommerceHub plans to acquire ChannelAdvisor in a joining of two competing SaaS ecommerce platforms combining front-end and back-end capabilities for retailers and brands to help grow their businesses, but one that will face some integration work based on different technologies. The acquisition price was $663.6 million.
Amazon aggregators have become much more selective with brand acquisition and they’re watching the bottom line, while forming alliances with non-Amazon marketplaces. They’re also affected by inflation and consumer spending. Max Firsau, co-founder of Accel Club, shares his thoughts about the space and explains his model.