Nikki Gilliland says, “Last December, Amazon unveiled its first ever bricks-and-mortar grocery store. Amazon Go is not just your average supermarket of course, but a cashier-free shop that allows customers to pick up their items and walk out without queuing or paying (sort of). Shoppers are simply required to scan smartphones as they enter, leaving Amazon’s “just walk out” technology to detect exactly what’s being taken and charge it to their Prime accounts. It’s one of the first ever examples of a truly seamless customer experience – a trend that’s predicted to be big... [...]

Matt McGee says, “Amazon already told the world that the 2016 holidays were its “best-ever season,” and new data from retail analytics company Slice Intelligence is adding some perspective to the claim. Based on a panel of more than 1.3 million US online shoppers, Amazon claimed 38 percent of all online revenue during the just-completed holidays. That’s a slight gain over its 37.9 percent share during the 2015 holidays. But it’s also another sign of the company’s ownership of US e-commerce dollars. According to Slice’s panel, Best Buy was again the No. 2 e-commerce site during... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “The final holiday online shopping tally is out. According to Adobe, total e-commerce sales (November 1 to December 31) hit $91.7 billion, representing growth of 11 percent year over year. Out of 61 shopping days in the period, all but five saw at least $1 billion in online revenue. Traffic to retailers was split evenly between the desktop and mobile but sales still heavily favored the PC. Mobile devices accounted for 31 percent of sales and the desktop generated 69 percent according to Adobe’s estimates. Simultaneously comScore released desktop commerce data for the... [...]

Tracy Maple says, “Online sales for the November-December period jump about 11% as totals hit a record $91.7 billion, according to Adobe. On desktops, web sales increase 11.9% to $63.1 billion, data from comScore shows. Online sales hit their targets this holiday season, with e-commerce sales increasing by double digits year over year, according to data released today from Adobe Inc. and web measurement firm comScore Inc. U.S. online sales totaled $91.7 billion, up 10.5% from $83.0 billion in 2015 and slightly higher than Adobe Digital Insights’ projection of $91.6 billion for the Nov.... [...]

Barry Levine says, “Content recommendation service Taboola is today announcing that it has purchased site personalization and optimization platform Commerce Sciences and will make its capabilities available for free to Taboola’s customers. Backers of the optimization service, which was launched in 2012 by ex-Israeli Intelligence alumni, include Alphabet/Google Chairman CEO Eric Schmidt’s Innovation, Endeavors. Commerce Sciences will discontinue its current freestanding offering, and its employees, based in Tel Aviv, will move to Taboola’s offices in that city. Deal terms were not made... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Amazon led the way among big retailers in increasing their digital holiday advertising spend, according to ad sales intelligence firm MediaRadar, which analyzed sales data from October and November 2016 and 2015. The e-commerce giant increased digital ad spend during the early holiday push by 224 percent year over year. Linear TV ad spend also rose — by 76 percent — while its print investment dropped 10 percent. “Most retailers are reducing print spend while focusing on other channels, like linear TV and digital,” said Todd Krizelman, CEO and co-founder of MediaRadar... [...]

Astroblu.com is releasing a new e-commerce WordPress theme today, called the ECOMES Theme. They have surveyed the field of prior e-commerce themes and the needs of businesses doing e-commerce, and have come up with the latest (and possibly, the best) theme for an online e-commerce store. Astroblu’s new theme is a solution for anyone needing an online presence, whether you are an offline merchant who knows people are searching online and want to meet them where they are, or whether you are a merchant who only sells online, or whether you are a consultant helping other businesses get online.... [...]

Sean Jackson says, “Of all the pages on your site, there is only one that actually makes you money: your purchase page. But too often this page is ignored; most people just use the default shopping cart that comes with their dCommerce system. If you are serious about selling digital goods online, then you will want to listen to this episode. We deep dive into the specific elements you must have on your purchase page to maximize sales conversions. And we go one step further and discuss the “other” page that is as important as your purchase page. In this 30-minute episode, Jessica Frick... [...]

Shopify team says, “Ecommerce sales are ramping up in the United States, with consumers doing more than half of their shopping online, according to ComScore and UPS. But the U.S. isn’t the only country seeing explosive growth in online sales; research from eMarketer predict’s that global ecommerce sales will hit $1.9 trillion this year, with double-digit growth nearing $4 trillion by 2020. Your online store gives you the ability to sell to every corner of the world where prospective customers have access to the web. However, many online merchants continue to shrug off this opportunity... [...]

Jeff Rajeck says, “That marketing is ‘all about the data’ has now become so widely accepted that many marketers are left wondering, what’s next? To some, the future of data looks a lot like the present. Data is something marketers send upwards to business intelligence systems (BI) and report performance. Speaking to company marketers at a recent Digital Cream Singapore, though, it seems that others have a much different view of marketing data. Many attendees indicated that they are no longer just handing over their data to demonstrate return on investment (ROI), but they... [...]