Shopify logo feature

Shopify, Amazon Partner Up in Frenemy Deal

| Mike O'Brien

In an unusual move, Amazon and Shopify have formed a partnership that lets Shopify merchants integrate Buy With Prime at checkout through an Amazon app in Shopify’s store, with the latter quick to note that merchants still control their brand and customer data within its administrative dashboard. The app will be available to all U.S. merchants in September.

free shipping Amazon feature

Amazon Free Shipping Threshold Shift a Win Either Way

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon is testing pricing for non-Prime members to get free shipping in selected areas, raising the threshold from $25 back to $35 – the same as for shoppers who aren’t members of Walmart+ – as it probes the potential to increase order value when shoppers add items. Amazon has yo-yoed the order threshold as it reads the tea leaves of analytical data on shopper behavior and pulls the levers.

goods-to-person AutoStore feature

Goods-To-Person in E-Fulfillment: Flexing Along With Demand

| Mike O'Brien

Ecommerce demand may not be exploding like 2020 and 2021, but retailers are increasingly looking at automated solutions like goods-to-person (GTP) systems to help future-proof their operations as conditions fluctuate. Automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS) and autonomous mobile robots (AMR) are gaining serious traction, with rapid market expansion projected between now and 2030.

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Payment Gateways 101: Examples, Benefits and Drawbacks

| Burkhard Berger

If you’re selling anything online, odds are that part of your sales funnel is dependent on a payment gateway of some sort to accept payments through a bank card or third-party service. Here’s a primer on who the major providers are, the types of payment gateways, what they do, how they work and their pluses and minuses.

Amazon Inspire hero

Amazon Charging Non-FBA Sellers, Offers Pittance to Influencers

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon will start charging a 2% per-item fee to merchants using Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) starting in October, Bloomberg reports, while the company is offering influencers the equivalent of $25 a video to populate content promoting its listings as it seeks a bulwark against Chinese social giant TikTok.

GenAI GPT phone feature

Who Is Leading in GenAI Readiness and Projected Business Impact?

| Mike O'Brien

It’s undeniable that artificial intelligence is having a major impact across industries. But what does that mean in dollars and cents? IHL Group has estimated the business impact of AI, GenAI and machine learning on the retail and restaurant sectors through 2029 at $1.5 trillion. IHL also ranks companies on AI readiness and projected business impact. IHL president Greg Busek breaks down their findings.

ecommerce returns feature

How GenAI is Being Used to Reduce Ecommerce Returns

| Mike O'Brien

With generative AI adoption being so widespread across industries, one key application and business process of the technology near and dear to the hearts of retailers is finding ways to reduce the expense, hassle and poor customer experience of ecommerce returns that grow year after year. Hear how leading retailers are leveraging GenAI and machine learning to reduce returns and boost CX.

Amazon pile of boxes boxless packaging feature

Amazon Grows Boxless Packaging, and the Industry is Watching

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon has been quietly growing the volume of orders going out boxless, which the company says represented 11% of items shipped in 2022, a move that some see as a sea change in reducing packaging materials that will be imitated across retail. Amazon customers can choose to add an external “smiley” box at checkout, but boxless is now the default, with more apparently opting for it.

warehouse bay feature

Getting Smart About Automated Intralogistics

| Smitha Raphael

Savvy shippers are introducing automated intralogistics to deliver an enhanced customer experience to gain competitive advantage. They’re also streamlining their business and making warehouse operations as profitable as possible. A multi-agent orchestration platform that is device and technology agnostic switches things up, bringing more uniformity to your fulfillment operations.

ecommerce packaging QR code scan feature

Ecommerce Packaging in the Digital Age

| Tiffani Burt

With the opportunity for so much online revenue at stake, it’s critical to delight consumers with optimized ecommerce packaging that delivers products without damage. Packaging enhancements need to go beyond functionality, using materials that can be reused or recycled. This is good for the business and the environment, and increasingly attractive to consumers.