Missing Prime Day this July, and can’t wait until October? Never fear. Global buy now and pay later platform Klarna has teamed up with media partner Cosmopolitan to create a new shopping event called Hauliday over the weekend of Aug. 8-9, with deals aplenty aimed at millennial and Gen Z shoppers.
Amazon as of Sept. 1 will require third-party sellers in the U.S. to provide their business name and address in their seller profile, a requirement that has been in place for some time in Europe, Japan and Mexico based on government regulations. The benefits to consumers are not entirely clear, ditto the impact on counterfeiting.
Our conception of a VR enabled post-COVID retail experience may seem space-aged at first, passing through the temperature sensor and ambling by the ultraviolet sanitizing booth, but ultimately it’s the way retailers can build trust. In the new normal, people may pay close attention to sanitization but they will always value the experience.
Moving forward, one thing is certain: Marketplace facilitator laws will continue to evolve. We’re already seeing some changes in the U.S., with Louisiana going after high-volume 3P sellers during COVID-19. But states are also going to great lengths to pursue lodging and communications platforms and even food delivery services.
Website design and builder firm Wix has enhanced its ecommerce solution by adding a number of capabilities, taking aim at market leader Shopify by giving SMBs an entire raft of tools to set up and run their e-shop without breaking the bank. Wix said the COVID-driven explosion in ecommerce accelerated its development plans.
The European Union is making sweeping updates to how retailers need to calculate Value-Added Tax (VAT) when selling goods into its member countries, effective July 1, 2021. Peter Boerhof, EU VAT director for Vertex, explains the various changes and their significance, and the impact for companies selling goods into Europe.
Amazon is taking a serious run at counterfeit sellers on its marketplace, with the creation of a Counterfeit Crimes Unit that includes former federal prosecutors, investigators and data analysts. The company said it has limited counterfeit complaints to 0.1% of items listed, but legislators and media investigations have still taken it to task.
As consumer spending dwindles, retail chains struggle and bankruptcy filings mount up. Yet retail and food sales rose a record 17.7% in May, and discount chains are flourishing. How do we account for this? Brett Rose, founder and CEO of United National Consumer Suppliers, shares his thoughts in this MCM CommerceChat podcast.
Brands are challenged with finding a way forward even when traditional DTC models threaten to crack—and thinking outside the box to find the post-coronavirus formula for success. Fortunately, DTC doesn’t just mean selling on your own site. Here are some of the strong benefits of adding marketplaces to your DTC channel mix.
COVID-19 has quickly reshaped web traffic and app usage patterns; for example, skyrocketing traffic to food delivery services. The rapid consumer behavior shift has morphed attack patterns, expanded the threat environment and added pressure against many site operators unaccustomed to so much fraudster attention.