Matt McGee says, “Many companies that offer a subscription-based product or service have an easier way to sell their wares to Amazon.com customers with today’s launch of Subscribe with Amazon, a self-serve platform that’s already being used by several major publishers and well-known brands. Subscription offerings are available to consumers now on a dedicated subscription storefront. Major publishers like The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, People magazine and Consumer Reports are selling there already, as are subscription product providers like Sling TV, Dropbox and The Princeton... [...]

Laura Forer says, “If you work in e-commerce, it’s likely that your brand and your competitors are using video to help educate, entertain, and sell products or services. But video takes investment, and the pressure to see viable ROI from videos is especially pronounced in e-commerce. The team at Goodvidio has put together an infographic of 40 video statistics relevant to e-commerce marketers that can help guide you as you look to make the most of your video investment. You can find statistics about general video usage, such as product videos can increase the likelihood of a purchase... [...]

Ellie Martin says, “As social media and ecommerce become increasingly enmeshed in our lives, the opportunities for them to interact with and bolster each other are innumerable, considering that the average person spends around an hour and 40 minutes browsing social media every day, and the number of internet shoppers in the US will reach 217 million this year. Back in the old days, a business’s presence would be signified by advertisements in the paper and a physical storefront. Now, in the digital age, business reputations live and die by their social media standing. Right now, social... [...]

Tess Townsend says, “Google has added a new shopping feature in Image Search called “style ideas” that shows users perusing fashion merchandise what specific items look like paired with others. A preview of the feature, launching in mobile search, demonstrates a search for a purse from Zara. Below the carousel of products similar to the purse is a grid of photos of various models pairing the purse with a jean jacket, gray suede boots and a pastel pink hijab. The new feature is clearly aimed at getting people looking at products to think of Google as a place to start shopping searches... [...]

Allison Enright says, “Amazon.com Inc., the largest online retailer in North America and Europe, has released its 2016 annual report. Data in the report shows where and how Amazon generates revenue, and the contributions of each business segment. By key geographic market Amazon generates two-thirds of its total revenue from its business interests in the United States, including its retail business, marketplace, seller services and its computing business, Amazon Web Services. Amazon’s next-largest markets for sales are Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. By business segment Retail products... [...]

Emma Koehn says, “Online purchases of less than $1000 made from overseas suppliers will be subject to the goods and services tax (GST) from July 1, but overseas retail giants are now fighting it out over how and when the policy should be implemented. Global shopping marketplace eBay has said the policy could force it to prevent Australians from buying its foreign sellers, while Amazon is arguing that logistics providers should be responsible for collecting and processing the tax. But some smaller local operators say the specifics of the collection processes don’t matter as much as the... [...]

David Mercer says, “Amazon is a truly gargantuan marketplace with millions of products and hundreds of thousands of sellers all competing to make sales and capture market share. According to the Seattle Times there are more than 2 million sellers registered on Amazon’s marketplace. It’s a vibrant, living ecommerce ecosystem that is full of opportunity. Being one of the biggest and baddest marketplaces around comes with great advantages for Amazon, which often enjoys pride of place in Google’s organic search results, regularly capturing multiple results on the first page. With Amazon... [...]

Nikki Gilliland says, “It’s a hard thing for a writer to admit, but sometimes, it can be downright tricky to find the right words. When it comes to searching for products online, it’s usually much easier to imagine what you want than describe it. Luckily, visual search is helping to change this, making it much easier for consumers to find exactly what it is they’re looking for. I attended Brighton SEO last week, where Purma Virji from Microsoft gave a talk all about this topic. So, what exactly is visual search, and more specifically, how is it changing the way we buy online? With... [...]

William Johnson says, “After you get your eCommerce website live, it’s time to run into the serious business of selling your products. The two primary challenges which the website faces initially are: 1. How will people get to know about your website? 2. How to attract people to come to your website and make a final go with purchasing products from there? Digital marketing is the all round solution for the issues stated above. Right from optimizing your website according to the basic rules of Google to stretching  promotional activities across various online channels, digital marketing... [...]

Ben Davis says, “Dark patterns are deceptive parts of a digital user interface, designed to trick the user into making a decision that benefits the business involved. Darkpatterns.org is a terrific website conceived by Harry Brignul as part of a campaign to raise awareness of dark patterns. The site includes a roundup of the most common categories of dark patterns, as well as a hall of shame with examples submitted by the UX community. I thought I would select some examples of dark patterns found in ecommerce checkouts to highlight the issue. Most of the examples are taken from the #darkpatterns... [...]