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FTC Suggests Possible Amazon Breakup in Antitrust Lawsuit

| Mike O'Brien

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general filed a long-expected antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, with the FTC accusing the company of monopolistic behavior on a broad scale and suggesting a breakup as one form of injunctive relief. The company used its market power to block competition, inflate prices and degrade product quality, the FTC alleges.

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Amazon Second Prime Day Runs Oct. 10-11

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon Prime Day 2, this time dubbed Big Deal Days, is now set for Oct. 10-11, the company announced, with the fall version now appearing to be a locked-in flash sale event catering to bargain-seeking shoppers who seemingly can’t get enough during the July extravaganza. Target and Walmart, not wanting to be left out, have competing events that coincide or run ahead of Amazon.

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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.

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Second Prime Day On Tap in October

| Mike O'Brien

When is Amazon Prime Day not Prime Day, but actually is? When it’s rebranded as Prime Big Deal Days. The ecommerce giant has once again announced a second sales event in October, as it did in 2022, when it was called Prime Early Access Sale. Amazon said only that it will be running in 19 countries. Last year it performed poorly compared to the July event, according to Bank of America.

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Multichannel Ecommerce: The Path to Higher Revenue

| Eric Youngstrom

Multichannel ecommerce means selling products across different channels online to increase revenue. While the idea is pretty straightforward, everyone’s approach to expanding will be a little bit different. Exploring new channels opens a business up to new potential customers, increasing the potential for revenue by huge amounts. Here are some solid tips to set you up for success.

The INFORM Act: What You Need to Know

| Mike O'Brien

The INFORM Act goes into effect June 27, to help stem the tide of counterfeit goods on ecommerce marketplaces. The FTC can impose fines and injunctions against marketplace operators that don’t provide information on high-volume sellers. Alexandra Megaris of Venable LLP helps us gain a better understanding of its ramifications.

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SellerX Acquires Elevate Brands; More Consolidation Expected

| Mike O'Brien

Talk of consolidation in the overcrowded Amazon aggregator space has come to fruition, as Berlin-based SellerX is acquiring Elevate Brands of Austin, giving the new company a combined portfolio of 80 Amazon brands, 40,000 products and a $431 million run rate. It was the second such deal after Suma and D1 Brands tied up in late May.

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Amazon Invites Retailers to Join Anti-Counterfeiting Group

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon is inviting other retailers to join an anti-counterfeiting cooperative, begun as a pilot program in 2021 to help stem the flood of illegitimate goods on its marketplace and across the industry, two weeks after filing three separate lawsuits against counterfeiters. The Anti-Counterfeiting Exchange (ACX) grew out of a 20211 pilot by a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

Wish Does Reverse Stock Split to Avoid Delisting

| Mike O'Brien

Wish, a once-popular online marketplace for a vast array of often bizarre, inexpensive goods that at one juncture proved to be phantom listings, has conducted a 1-for-30 reverse stock split, a move typically associated with distressed companies in danger of being delisted from an exchange. A 2022 expose found the company listed and sold items it knew didn’t exist.

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Amazon Files Lawsuits Against Counterfeiters

| Mike O'Brien

In a first, Amazon has filed three separate lawsuits against multiple parties it claims submitted thousands of false copyright infringement claims against legitimate sellers, seeking to have their products removed from the marketplace. It has also joined WWE and Cartier in other legal actions against counterfeiters.