BigCommerce added a significant piece to its arsenal by acquiring the assets of feed management tool provider Feedonomics for $145M as it does battle with Shopify to be a platform of choice for everything from SMB, mid-market and enterprises. Observers said it brings BigCommerce closer but Shopify is still in a runaway lead.
Unybrands, a Miami-based aggregator of successful brands both on and off Amazon, has raised another $300 million to pursue its manifest destiny of acquiring 20 companies in 2021, building out its platform and doubling headcount to 50. Unybrands CEO Ulrich Kratz said the company is tracking ahead of its acquisition goal.
Those who only think of ecommerce marketplaces of major American and Chinese operators when they consider the global platform economy overlook opportunities this business model also offers SMBs. Merchants with complementary offerings can learn from the big players and serve their customers better together.
Prime Day 2021 is in the books with a record $11 billion in sales, according to Adobe’s Digital Economy Index, up 6.1% from $10.4 billion in 2020, when the event was held in October, but was not a winner for retailers not named Amazon, based on data from SalesForce. Wall Street wasn’t impressed with flat growth over the 2020 event.
As of July 1, the EU is updating how retailers calculate Value-Added Tax (VAT) when selling goods into member countries. This extends a 2015 change to include low-cost ecommerce goods under 22 Euros. Peter Boerhof of Vertex helps us better understand the implications for sellers in our latest MCM CommerceChat podcast.
Amazon has revoked the 200-unit limit for new FBA sellers and changed how it assesses sellers’ storage limits. New sellers can start with 500-1,000 units depending on their storage type. It also now subject all sellers to new restock limits. Eytan Wiener, CEO of Getida and a former Amazon power seller, helps us break down the changes.
Perch, part of a growing wave one of Amazon brand rollups in the hottest space in retail, just raised $775 million, bringing its war chest to over $900 million as it looks to add to a portfolio of 70 brands acquired in just 18 months and considers product launches. The company opened its own FC and is eyeing Asia and South America.
Vertex, a provider of sales tax automation software, has acquired Irish payments and tax solution provider Taxamo for $200 million in an all-cash transaction, positioning it to address compliance with new European Union tax requirements impacting remote sellers going into effect July 1.
The cybersecurity team at SafetyDetectives uncovered a database leak that appears to have exposed more than 200,000 people involved in a scam where Amazon vendors exchanged free products for fake reviews. The server, based in China, contained more than 134 million messages between 3P sellers and reviewers.
There’s a behind-the-scenes battle going on between Amazon and Shopify that has big implications for merchants. Amazon now owns a technology that could help it compete directly. Here’s why the rivalry matters to online merchants, and how understanding it can help you select the right ecommerce channels for your goals.