JD.com, a Chinese eCommerce company, is tapping Google and Walmart to help it expand outside China. Bloomberg, citing an interview with Richard Liu, the head of JD.com, reported Liu is in the initial stages of planning with Google to lure customers outside the country. Walmart,...
Walmart announced Wednesday (August 22) the launch of its new eBook service dubbed Walmart eBooks by Rakuten Kobo, which provides customers with access to an all-new digital catalog of books in the stores and online. In a blog post, Mario Pacini, general manager of entertainment...
Commerce is everywhere, which means barcodes are everywhere. Smart devices? They’re everywhere, too. Internet of Things (IoT) — well, by now, everything is going to be connected, or is already. Marry the devices, the barcode and the constant communication that is the hallmark of IoT,...
Expedia is ready to take on Airbnb by adding more house listings to its HomeAway unit. “Phase one was just getting the platform working and getting people online,” said Expedia Chief Executive Officer Mark Okerstrom in an interview, according to Bloomberg. “Phase two is about...
Taking a page from Amazon.com, Walmart announced late last week that it will be testing robots to help it fill online grocery orders quicker. According to a press release, the company said it is collaborating with Alert Innovation, the startup, to launch a pilot using...
Retail is undergoing a reinvention with the rise of eCommerce, and merchants are trying new approaches to their brick-and-mortar stores. Nordstrom, for example, has rolled out a new store concept, Nordstrom Local, that premiered in West Hollywood. The idea, according to Senior Vice President of...
Regulators in China have reportedly launched an investigation into Pinduoduo following on the heels of media reports that third-party vendors are selling fake goods on the marketplace. According to a report in Reuters, the inquiry comes a few days after the startup raised $1.63 billion...
For eCommerce, the Magic Button (Almost) In Sight In eCommerce, what’s the panacea – the cure-all for all transactional ills? Or, in this case, friction? The kind that makes consumers miserable and spurs them to abandon the shopping cart in the middle of it all … It’s...
It’s a striking difference: A new Visa study has found that digital accounts for 38 percent of consumer retail purchases, but when it comes to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), only 15 percent of their sales are conducted via eCommerce. That signals opportunity for smart, nimble...
