Amazon, Intel partner to enable more Alexa-driven devices, smart homes

The companies have teamed up on a form factor reference design to make it easier to create products leveraging the e-commerce giant's Alexa virtual assistant technology platform.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 4, 2016

Report: Amazon wins Cyber Monday sales crown, but falls shy of Prime Day totals

The e-commerce giant accounted for 30.9% of total revenue generated from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, according to research from Slice Intelligence.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 2, 2016

Explore the Trendline➔

What's shaping the e-commerce landscape?

From pivots in digital strategies to challenges retailers must overcome with reverse logistics, here are some of the forces shaping online retail.

By Retail Dive staff

Amazon announces Alexa Accelerator to boost conversational commerce startups

The program, supported by startup accelerator Techstars, will help developers targeting speech technology advances and voice application innovation.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 1, 2016

EU proposes tax reforms to simplify cross-border e-commerce

Europe's taxes on consumption have no equivalent in the U.S. and are applied at different rates among the various EU states, presenting significant problems for online merchants selling across borders.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 1, 2016

Amazon releases core AI technology to developers via new platform

The move gives developers access to some of Amazon's most significant artificial intelligence technology tools as the company looks to become a key driver of the global, multi-industry AI movement.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 30, 2016

How apparel brands can defend against Amazon's fashion rise

The e-commerce giant is poised to become the largest U.S. clothing retailer by 2017, but brands are hesitant to sell on the marketplace.

By Jessica Binns • Nov. 30, 2016

Gucci passes Burberry on L2 Digital IQ Fashion index

E-commerce and digital marketing are increasingly important to luxury sales growth, and brands are taking things up a notch while avoiding the elephant in the room — Amazon.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 30, 2016

4 takeaways from Cyber Monday 2016

Another Cyber Monday, another website outage fiasco. This year, Gap Inc. brands Old Navy and Banana Republic suffered disruptions for much of the afternoon.

By Corinne Ruff • Nov. 30, 2016

Shopping via mobile popular on Black Friday, paying by mobile definitely wasn't

Mobile payments were used for only 0.6% of in-store purchases nationwide, according to data from payments firm Cayan.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 29, 2016

The 2016 Dive Awards for the retail industry

As we enter 2017, let's take a look back at the companies and people we honored for disrupting and redefining retail in the year that was.

By Jason Ankeny • Nov. 29, 2016

Amazon amps up Interesting Finds discovery via human curation

Some experts believe Amazon’s workaday website is in danger of falling behind in an increasingly image-focused, “Pinterest-like” e-commerce world.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 29, 2016

UPDATE: Cyber Monday sales surge to record $3.45B

Sales topped forecasts of $3.36 billion, which would have just edged past Black Friday's record-setting $3.34 billion in online purchases, according to Adobe Digital Insights.

By Corinne Ruff • Nov. 28, 2016

Report: Amazon may acquire Dubai e-commerce site Souq for $1B

As China’s e-commerce market has matured, major e-commerce companies are looking to other parts of the world for growth.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 28, 2016

Bed Bath & Beyond snaps up PersonalizationMall for $190M

The struggling home goods retailer is working to differentiate its assortment to get away from competing so heavily on price.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 28, 2016

Amazon cracking down on customer-generated reviews

The e-commerce giant is deleting incentivized reviews and limiting overall reviews to five per week in an effort to preserve consumer trust.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 28, 2016

The winners and losers of Black Friday 2016

Online shopping scaled new highs, and civility plunged to new lows. Here's what you need to know.

By Jason Ankeny • Nov. 28, 2016

UPDATE Mobile shoppers fuel surging Black Friday online sales

Online sales reached $490 million on Black Friday morning, with mobile generating 57% of visits and a hearty 40% chunk of sales, according to Adobe Digital Insights.

By Corinne Ruff, Jason Ankeny • Nov. 25, 2016

Amazon reportedly developing tech tools to fight counterfeiters

A suite of digital solutions dubbed Brand Central will help smaller Amazon sellers increasingly victimized by copycats.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 23, 2016

Amazon reveals new partners, products in latest Dash Replenishment update

In addition to four new device manufacturer partners, Amazon announced new Dash-enabled products from Whirlpool and PUR.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 22, 2016

6 shopping trends that will dominate Black Friday 2016

Black Friday still looms large on the retail calendar, but digital disruptions and pre-holiday sales are redefining its role. Here's what merchants need to know.

By Jason Ankeny • Nov. 22, 2016

Alibaba acquires a third of grocery club retailer Sanjiang

Sanjiang operates about 160 stores across the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang and boasts more than a million members, accelerating Alibaba's push into brick-and-mortar retail.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 22, 2016

Cowen: Amazon Prime hits 50M US members

The financial services firm also found that 83% of Prime members made a purchase from Amazon last month, compared to 49% of non-members.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 22, 2016

Casper reportedly plotting brick-and-mortar mattress stores

The mattress startup has posted a series of job ads for executives needed to build a physical store strategy, demonstrating that there may be no such thing as pure-play e-commerce.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 21, 2016

Lowe's promotes Black Friday deals via Facebook Live

The event, hosted by Drew and Jonathan Scott of the HGTV show "Property Brothers," revealed deals between comedy bits and interactions with viewers.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 20, 2016

Crate and Barrel launches e-commerce marketplace

Offering customers a host of goods sold and fulfilled by third-party vendors is not just for Amazon anymore.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 18, 2016