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Uncommon Goods Steps Up Its SMS Marketing Game

| Mike O'Brien

Based in Brooklyn, NY, ecommerce crafts marketplace Uncommon Goods has been tested automated SMS campaigns, including for retargeting. Brian Hashemi, head of marketing and analytics for Uncommon Goods, talks about how the company is testing and learning with its SMS/email mix and working to increase personalization.

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Post Disruption, Ecommerce Marketplaces Are Here to Stay

| Adrien Nussenbaum

As a bored, locked-down country lurched from trend to trend, retailers scrambled to cover demand. It’s no surprise ecommerce marketplaces thrived, connecting customers with 3P sellers to outperform even the strong growth of ecommerce as a whole. Their diversity gives them resilience during periods of complex change.

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Amazon Canning Early Reviewer Program

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon announced it plans to cancel its Early Reviewer program as of April 25, and won’t be taking any new applications as of April 10, as it has found other programs more effective in generating customer reviews, upsetting sellers who had found success with it. Experts however saw Amazon Vine as a superior review generator.

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Thrasio Raises $500M to Expand Amazon Rollup Juggernaut

| Mike O'Brien

Thrasio, the most successful practitioner of the Amazon rollup model by creating economies of scale and supercharging growth, has raised $500 million, pushing it over the $1B mark in less than two years. It plans to pursue bigger targets, expand product development and go into other channels and international markets.

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Amazon Gives Break to SFP Merchants

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon is giving merchants using its Seller Fulfilled Prime a break in terms of service level commitments, removing a plan to have them meet one- and two-day shipping requirements, in light of ongoing challenges on speedy delivery from carriers, CNBC reported.

Ecommerce and 2021 Tax Trends: What to Expect

| Pete Olanday

While business may be booming, ecommerce companies — especially those selling across state lines — may face overwhelming tax complexity into 2021 and beyond. Here are some trends you need to consider as you look to stay tax compliant in the new year.

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U.S. Sellers Outperform During Singles Day 2020

| Mike O'Brien

Boding well for the holiday spend here, the U.S. was the top seller of goods during Alibaba’s Singles Day 2020, which raked in $116 billion combined on Alibaba and JD.com. Alibaba itself reported $75.28 billion yuan in GMV, while JD.com said its Singles Day GMV was $40.72 billion. Sales from U.S. retailers topped $5 billion.

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Prime Day 2020 Set to Break Records, But 3P Sellers Facing Challenges

| Mike O'Brien

With Prime Day hitting Oct. 13-14, the unofficial kickoff of a very different holiday season, sellers are geared up to take advantage of the massive shopping event, but the proximity to other mega events from Thanksgiving on may lead shoppers and sellers to choose one or the other vs. both. Still Prime Day 2020 is expected to break records.

eBay Strikes Deal with UPS, Offering Sellers Discounted Shipping

| Mike O'Brien

eBay has struck a deal with UPS to provide its sellers with discounted shipping, after telling them last month it was aware of service delays with primary carrier the U.S. Postal Service and complaints from sellers. The major marketplace said the discounts would be available to all of its sellers by the end of September.

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Amazon FBA Sellers Facing Suspension Over Late Carrier Deliveries

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon is warning ecommerce shippers using Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) that late shipments to an FBA facility on the part of their carrier could result in suspension of their FBA shipping privileges, even if the shippers themselves aren’t responsible for the delays. The new policy went into effect on Aug. 25, 2020.