In a first, Amazon has filed three separate lawsuits against multiple parties it claims submitted thousands of false copyright infringement claims against legitimate sellers, seeking to have their products removed from the marketplace. It has also joined WWE and Cartier in other legal actions against counterfeiters.
Software giant SAP is jumping into the composable commerce ring, admittedly later to the game than smaller competitors but pitching it as providing greater flexibility, scalability and maturity than members of the growing MACH Alliance of headless, cloud, API and microservices-based vendors.
A trio of industry experts offered a mostly gloomy picture of retail economic indicators at this week’s Shoptalk conference at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, noting recessionary trends and a nagging reduction in demand for durable, higher-ticket goods as consumers keep their powder dry.
Buy now pay later (BNPL) usage continues to grow, as cash- and credit-strapped consumers dinged by inflation use it for a wider variety of purchases. The share of online purchases using BNPL increased by 14% and revenue grew by 27% in 2022, according to new data from Adobe Digital Insights.
The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), an amendment to the 2018 CCPA, went into effect Jan. 1, requiring publishers/advertisers to comply with new consumer data privacy guidelines. Other states including Connecticut, Colorado and Virginia are getting onboard. We break down the initiatives and their implications in this podcast.
Offsetting a weak fourth quarter report, department store firm Kohl’s is significantly expanding its store-within-a-store partnership with leading beauty brand Sephora, adding 250 such locations and bringing the total to 850 in 48 states as it pursues a target of $2 billion in sales by the end of 2025.
Boxed, the once high-flying online answer to price clubs like Costco, BJ’s Wholesale and Sam’s Club, is considering a bankruptcy filing if it can’t find a buyer as its struggles continue 15 months after going public in a much-anticipated SPAC deal. At the same time, Boxed said it plans to lay off about 25% of its 136 employees.
More bad Amazon news: 9,000 additional layoffs are planned on top of 18,000 previously announced, and there are efforts to block the $1.7 billion iRobot acquisition here and in the EU. On the plus side, the FTC reportedly won’t block Amazon’s purchase of One Medical, but reportedly not for lack of evidence of anticompetitive behavior.
Society Brands, an Ohio-based acquirer with a small-but-growing portfolio, asks its founders to stick around as brand directors, incenting them with an equity stake from a future liquidity event or IPO over the next few years as the company accelerates its pace of acquisition. The company’s six brands were all acquired in 2022.
Ecommerce entertainment is a fast-emerging trend merchants will need to build into growth strategies and investment plans. “Showbiz” will be the new ecommerce battleground. The convergence of tech, commerce, brand power and consumer hunger for enjoyable experiences will increasingly drive competitive differentiation.