Category: News (Page 1 of 7)
Recently, Ulta Beauty announced plans to launch a marketplace featuring beauty and wellness products. Earlier this year, Best Buy opened its own marketplace. Large retailers are turning to this model, from Urban Outfitters to Michaels.
There are several reasons why they would do so: increasing revenue through sales and advertising fees, gathering valuable market data, and of course expanding their assortment without holding more inventory.
You may have heard recently about Amazon overtaking Walmart’s revenues for the first time.
But Walmart is far from being out of the game; I would say they are a serious competitor in ecommerce.
In 2024, Walmart delivered five billion items on the same day they were ordered, twice as many as in 2023. Amazon does not communicate its numbers, but the growth is impressive.
I don’t think tariffs alone will be enough to kill Temu, and I’ve written about how the company has adapted. But there’s another Chinese giant selling large volumes to the U.S.: Shein.
Looking only at revenues, you’d think Shein is in great shape, with a 19% increase in sales, reaching $38 billion. However, the company saw a significant profit decline in 2024, with net income dropping by nearly 40% to $1 billion—which may have delayed its IPO.
Over the last few years, Amazon has been throwing s**t at the wall to see what sticks. Not everyone can be Amazon, but not everyone can be TikTok either. So, I’m not surprised to see that Amazon is shutting down Inspire, their TikTok-like feed of shoppable videos posted by influencers and brands.
As Paul Drecksler explained in a recent post, people go to TikTok for entertainment, not just with the intent to shop, and Inspire lacked the entertainment part. I believe very few people are looking for Amazon’s version of QVC, and many people tend to rely on existing social media for product discovery.
Another reason for this failure, in my opinion, is the lack of influencers on the platform. People want to see content from their favorite creators, and Amazon struggled to attract talent. They were mocked for the low rates they offered: at one point, Amazon said they would pay influencers $25 per video, with a payout cap of $12,500 for influencers submitting up to 500 videos.
Amazon is great for capturing customers at the bottom of the funnel, but when it comes to product discovery, I think there’s a lot of progress to be made. Maybe a partnership or an acquisition would work better, because I don’t see how they could turn their shopping app into a media platform that can compete with TikTok or Instagram.
Based on this article from PYMNTS: https://www.pymnts.com/news/ecommerce/2025/66-of-consumers-look-for-free-shipping-when-online-shopping/
What stood out to me more in this report were these findings: “48% of consumers prefer online marketplaces for this very reason”, and among those who made most of their recent purchases on marketplaces, only “18% said better prices are the key factor”.
While pricing is important, customer perception matters just as much. A $30 order with free shipping may often feel like a better deal than a $25 order with $5 shipping, even though the total cost is identical.
Are we about to see department stores return to their former glory, or are they a relic of the past? Only time will tell. However, reading business news makes me a little pessimistic about their future. Maybe I missed something big here, but the latest news on JCPenney led me to think the company won’t make a comeback anytime soon.
Continue readingAs a customer, I found that AI-chatbots can sometimes be very convenient, but many times a nightmare to deal with. So I was skeptical when I read in an article I won’t link here that “AI-powered chatbots played a key role in boosting online sales during the 2024 holiday season”.
Convenience alone doesn’t necessarily equal increased revenues, not to mention these are often implemented as a cost saving measure by companies. While chatbots might help speed up simple tasks like tracking an order or processing a return, they still aren’t there when it comes to complex inquiries and making sales.
Are these AI-driven tools really boosting sales because they improve the customer journey—or would the customer have purchased the same items through a different journey? And what’s the long-term impact on brand loyalty when customers are left frustrated by unhelpful bot interactions?
I have no doubt that AI has a ton of potential in ecommerce, especially with product discovery and personalization. But retailers should find the right balance between authenticity and the use of AI. No customer wants to deal with an AI when trying to buy something, and feel like they are trying to reach customer service but the AI won’t let them talk to an actual employee.
I’ve made many questionable investment decisions over the years, but buying Walmart stock is not one of them. Don’t worry, I’m not here to give personal finance advice, but rather to talk about the retail giant and how it compares to the current king of ecommerce, Amazon.
For many years, Amazon has dominated the ecommerce world, performing much better than all of its competitors. But 2024 was different: Walmart is no longer flying under the radar and is getting more attention from marketers. But how big is it really?
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Benjamin Franklin may have said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death, taxes, and supply chain nightmares before the holidays.” And I’d agree with him. To be fair, the marketplace has become so competitive and complex that large variations in volumes are bound to create some troubles. However, it seems like this year has been especially challenging for those selling through Amazon FBA.
Should we blame the port strike earlier this year, larger volumes of inventory being shipped, or other factors? In today’s article, I’d like to go over what happened with Amazon and see how the company is dealing with it. We’ll then look at how sellers were impacted, but more importantly, why fixing these issues is critical for the ecommerce titan.
Continue readingAbout This Blog
My name is François, I’m the author of this blog. I love writing and talking about business and ecommerce. I hope you enjoy my work, feel free to contact me for any suggestion!