cyber weekend

Ahead of Cyber Weekend, Some Thoughts and Numbers

| Mike O'Brien

Like lots of things, Cyber Weekend ain’t what it used to be, with a lot of air let out of the balloon. Major retailers vie to outdo each other by launching Black Friday deals ahead of the starting gun. Black Friday deals at Target, Best Buy and Amazon all launched last week, with Walmart joining today. Here’s an outlook and some thoughts.

Cross-Border Ecommerce: A Checklist

| Juliana Pererira

There is no slowdown in sight for global ecommerce, so now is the time to seize the moment. But before launching, there are many factors to process. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 or an SMB, you can drive prosperous cross-border growth if you tackle a few areas first. Here is a checklist of the high-priority items to consider. 

casper sleep

Casper Goes Private, CEO Steps Down as High Flyer Sinks

| Mike O'Brien

Casper Sleep, the once high-flying DTC mattress-in-a-box company whose star descended as profits shrank despite brisk pandemic-era sales, is going private in an acquisition by Durational Capital Management for about a quarter of its $1.1 billion valuation when it went public in February 2020.

walmart fulfillment center

Walmart Q3 Ecommerce Sales Up 8%, Says Holiday Prep in Good Place

| Mike O'Brien

Walmart reported its ecommerce sales in the U.S. increased 8% in the third quarter, and have gained a total of 87% since the same period in 2019, an incredible jump since pre-pandemic days as the retail giant continues to expand digitally, while declaring itself ready for the holidays.

CX or CSAT illustration

Connected Customer Experiences, Designed for Today

| James Brooke

Today’s ecommerce architectures are fragmented and disconnected. There are many important components to plug gaps and make customer experiences consistent, with an infinite number of journeys. Creating connected customer experiences that are personalized across all channels takes time, but doing it right is critical.

singles day 2021

Singles Day Underwhelming for Alibaba, Slowest Growth Ever

| Mike O'Brien

Singles Day, really Singles Nearly Fortnight (to borrow a British term) running from Nov. 1-11, was hit by headwinds from an anemic economy, the pandemic, Chinese crackdowns and supply issues, increasing 8.5% to $84.54 billion for originator Alibaba, the lowest jump since its inception in 2009.

Amazon Prime Air Des Moines feature

Amazon Air Expands to Des Moines

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon Air this week has begun operations at Des Moines International Airport, helping to expand same-day delivery for Prime members in the Hawkeye State as its cargo operations continue to spiderweb across the country, increasing Amazon’s independence from traditional air freight carriers.

Bed Bath & Beyond Chelsea

Bed, Bath & Beyond to Sell Through Kroger

| Mike O'Brien

Breaking the mold, grocery leader Kroger and home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond have struck an unusual partnership, with Kroger planning to carry an assortment of home and baby products from Bed Bath & Beyond on its ecommerce channel as well as in select stores starting in early 2022.

Standing Out in a Future of Seamless Payments

| Ed Whitehead

For an ecommerce business, seamless payments are vital. According to one study from Baymard, 18% of U.S. online shoppers have ditched their cart in the last three months due to long and complicated checkout processes.
Now is the time to improve seamless payments for your ecommerce business. Here are some tips to guide you.

Ecommerce Marketers: ROAS Measurement Mistakes

| Darwin Liu

Most ecommerce businesses rely heavily on advertising to draw customers to their websites, and in the case of retargeting, remind them of past visits or past purchase intentions. When it comes to measuring return on ad spend (ROAS), here are four common pitfalls that ecommerce marketers must know how to navigate.