E-Commerce

Top Chinese social media influencer Li Jiaqi, known as the “Lipstick King” because he once managed to sell 15,000 units of lipstick in five minutes flat during a livestream performance, was evidently “disappeared” by the tyrannical Chinese government on Friday after he pointed his webcam at a cake that looked like a tank, one day before the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

To offset supply-chain delays, retailers are working hard to quickly get returned items back on shelves for sale, particularly like-new items that were originally purchased online.

Italy’s competition authority announced on Thursday that it has fined Amazon roughly $1.3 billion (€1.129 billion), alleging that the company “has harmed competing operators” by abusing its dominant market position and pushing third-party sellers to use Amazon’s logistics service Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

Cyber Monday online sales have reportedly fallen for the first time, dropping 1.4 percent from last year to $10.7 billion, according to data released on Tuesday by Adobe Analytics. The report also indicated that out-of-stock messages on relaters’ websites were up 169 percent when compared with pre-pandemic years.

India’s commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, complained this weekend that “arrogant” American e-commerce giants are flouting his country’s laws.

The Disney company announced plans Wednesday to focus on its e-commerce business and close at least 60 stores in North America.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the final version of its new antitrust rules on Sunday, evidently concluding a debate within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over how China’s high-flying technology titans should be reined in. The final draft of the rules places heavy new restrictions on firms like Alibaba, but the rules are not as stifling as they could have been.

Amazon reportedly told members of its affiliates program on Tuesday that it will be cutting commission rates beginning on April 21. The “Amazon Associates” affiliate marketing program pays a percentage of sales to publishers that direct consumers to Amazon via links on their website and social media.

A new report shows that e-commerce sites doubled their ad spending between mid-February and the second week of March as social distancing became the norm due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

E-commerce giant Amazon has reportedly fired a number of employees accused of providing independent sellers with inside company information.

A New York labor union published a report, Wednesday, calling out Amazon’s “deadly and dehumanizing” working conditions and accusing it of working towards “world market domination.”

Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill this week that would crack down on “Grinch Bots,” Internet shopping bots that prevent real consumers from ordering hotly desired items.

In a recorded company meeting, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos declared, “One day Amazon will fail. Amazon will go bankrupt.”

Shopify announced Monday it had updated its “Acceptable Use Policy” with the result that sites selling commonly owned semiautomatic firearms will be barred from using the e-commerce platform.

Amazon, the online retailing giant founded by Jeff Bezos, is fast approaching capturing 50 percent of the U.S. e-commerce market, according to data research firm eMarketer.