January eCommerce news roundup from Expandly

January – the month of salads, water, nights in and the following not-to-be-missed eCommerce news. 

Easy like a Sunday morning

Amazon has made it even easier to purchase from the platform (as if one-click wasn’t enough.) With the Echo Show 5 and 8, shoppers can scan barcodes to add products to Alexa’s shopping list. This means that:

? It’s easier to stay loyal to Amazon

? It’s easier to stay loyal to products

? Amazon is one of the top platforms for encouraging customer loyalty. 

Woo-p

WooCommerce released two new product updates this January: 1) POS configuration for using your web browser as a cash register; and 2) Custom user registration fields for collecting additional information from B2B customers.

Woo also released WooCommerce 3.9 – complete with product blocks, a ‘show password’ button, and filtering blocks.

Other eCommerce platform updates include:

? BigCommerce launching multi-channel currency for all merchants. 

? Magento 2.3.4 being released with integrated Adobe Stock, chat and improved performance. 

Coming to a town near you

eBay is approaching a pretty big birthday this year and, in celebration, is doubling the number of eBay UpFront events in the US.

Promising an evening of news, guidance and inspiration, the eBay UpFront events can be booked here.

Fee updates

Another month, another change in fees. To add to the January blues, we had:

? Amazon Pay price increases and decreases 

? BigCommerce Pro Plan increase of $50 per month

? Amazon charging VAT in Norway, Switzerland and Armenia. 

Cha-ching

Shopify has launched Shopify Capital – starter loans for new merchants in the US. With quick funding and the option to repay from sales, this could be an innovative step forward in the world of eCommerce.

Speaking of money…

PayPal released some big policy updates this January, including changes to the way refund fees are handled.

Previously, merchants would receive their PayPal fees back, minus a 20p fixed charge. Going forward, PayPal will keep all fees following a refund.

The results are in

Christmas may have been and gone, but the retail results are still flowing in. This month, we learnt that Santa delivered:

? A 21% rise in sales from the previous year for Amazon

? A 9.4% year-on-year growth for UK sellers.

However, it wasn’t all jolly. A reported 6% of Amazon customers were not happy this Christmas – leaving more than half a million negative reviews. The reasons? Late and missing deliveries.

Disney vs Etsy

Disney has been busy issuing takedown notices to Etsy, requiring them to remove listings of “Baby Yodas”.

Use of the words “Star Wars,” “mandalorian,” and “Yoda” have been deemed against Etsy’s Intellectual Property Policy – causing sellers to opt for more ambiguous names including “The Baby Child”.

Hallo

Amazon is expanding into the Netherlands and inviting sellers to be the first to onboard on its new platform. The Netherlands marketplace opened this January, alongside an announcement for expansion plans later this year.

In other news

Amazon sales are up 21%, eBay revenue was down, Amazon has lifted its FedEx ban and we’ve been discussing Christmas 2020.

And, when it all gets too much…

At least you didn’t buy a yurt at 3am.

Here’s to a fab February!

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About Expandly

Expandly multi-channel management software makes running an eCommerce business easy – thanks to it’s impressive back office functionality.

Less time wasted, more time keeping up in the world of eCommerce.