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Target Joins the Warning Parade

| Mike O'Brien

Target joined fellow retail bellwethers Walmart, Home Depot and Amazon in warning about softness in consumer demand for 2023 as it reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for Q4, although the figures cleared a lower bar.

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Amazon Expanding Same-Day Capabilities

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon is aggressively expanding same-day delivery capabilities after a major pullback in planned fulfillment facilities which overshot demand when the pandemic boom receded. Feeling the competitive heat, Amazon is redirecting its investments toward smaller hubs closer to customers, making fast delivery a higher priority in 2023.

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Livestream Shopping Enhanced by Newegg to Attract Creators

| Mike O'Brien

Newegg is adding enhancements to its livestream shopping program in an effort to attract more creators who can earn commissions by selling tech products on eight different social media channels plus its own website and app, using the company’s upgraded production studios in California for free.

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Instacart Plans to Launch SMB Service

| Mike O'Brien

Instacart is launching a new service aimed at SMBs, including possibly smaller niche and specialty grocers as well as office supply firms, in a bid to increase revenue lost to major grocers that have taken back fulfillment, as it looks to boost a sagging valuation ahead of an expected IPO.

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E-Grocery Sales Down, But Pandemic Gains Stay Sticky

| Mike O'Brien

E-grocery sales were down both sequentially and year-over-year in January, driven mostly by declines in the ship-to-home category, but gains from pre-pandemic levels have mostly held even though delivery options have been impacted by inflation, according to a Brick Meets Click/Mercatus report.

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Shopify Touts Expanded Suite of Tools for Merchants

| Mike O'Brien

Shopify is expanding its fulfillment services as part of a package of 100 new items in its toolset for merchants, including app connections to Flexport for supply chain tracking and visibility, to acquired unit Deliverr for inventory positioning and to Loop Returns to improve that experience for shoppers.

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Nearly 90% of Amazon Sellers Report Profitability

| Mike O'Brien

Even in a difficult market, Amazon sellers are doing well collectively on the number-one online marketplace, with 89% of them reporting profitability at the start of 2023, while 37% say their net income is up from a year ago, according to an annual report from Jungle Scout. More of them are also diversifying across other sites.

Understanding Amazon’s SERP Tactics

| Prasanna Dhungel

Marketers must understand Amazon’s tactics across search engine results pages (SERPs). By monitoring Amazon’s Share of Voice (SOV) trends, you can make informed decisions on allocating marketing budget, reducing ad spend in segments where Amazon’s presence is strong and reallocating it in areas where they’re weak.

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Amazon Ad Revenue Up, Ecommerce Down in Mixed Q4

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon reported a mix bag of results for its fourth quarter and year, with ad revenue up but ecommerce sales down, and even the vaunted Amazon Web Services, the company’s profit driver for years, fell short of expectations in what executives repeatedly called an “uncertain economy.”

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UPS Exceeds Q4 Income Goal, Falls Short on Revenue

| Mike O'Brien

UPS reported fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of expectations but earnings ahead of the consensus, while the outlook for 2023 appears challenged and the company is in margin protection mode against falling volumes and other volatility. And CEO Carol Tome optimistically predicted a “win, win, win” outcome with the Teamsters.