Prime members get discounts at Amazon's physical bookstores

The new pricing scheme could indicate the company's approach for other brick-and-mortar plans and an extension of its overall Prime strategy.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 2, 2016

Wal-Mart e-commerce execs exit in wake of Jet merger

The retail giant also plans to incorporate Jet's “smart basket” dynamic pricing system into its flagship Walmart.com site.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 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

IBM acquires Fluid's personal shopper unit to beef up Watson

Fluid's bot-based conversational product recommendation platform uses Watson-enabled natural language interaction to assist shoppers across digital channels.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 1, 2016

Shoppable photos coming soon to Instagram

Images can be tagged with pricing information and product descriptions, and will link directly to brand websites for purchase.

By Peter Adams • Nov. 1, 2016

Amazon rolls out Black Friday exclusives, app enhancements

The shopping app's new features allow customers to scan delivered packages to see what's in them without opening them and to compare real-life items with other product options.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 1, 2016

Inside the final days of Borders' bankruptcy — and what Mike Edwards learned as its last CEO

Despite several CEOs' best turnaround efforts, Borders bookstores are no more. The liquidated chain's last CEO opens up on just what went wrong — and what other retailers can take away.

By Corinne Ruff • Nov. 1, 2016

Moody's: Retail sector stable, healthy holiday sales ahead

Home improvement, dollar stores, specialty retail and off-price will drive revenues, while other segments — including department stores, apparel and footwear, office supply and discounters and warehouse clubs — face headwinds.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 1, 2016

Amazon delivers cheaper, limited version of Prime to China

The new service doesn't include digital content streaming and offers free shipping only on foreign products that meet a certain price threshold.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 30, 2016

Adobe forecasts blockbuster $91B holiday retail season

Cyber Monday is set to be the largest online shopping day of all time, raking in a projected $3.36 billion in sales.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 28, 2016

Report: Amazon planning as many as 2K grocery stores

Half of the first 20 Amazon Fresh-branded pilot stores will offer minimal 'click-and-collect' grocery pickup services, while the other half will offer more traditional merchandise, services and store layouts. 

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 28, 2016

Wal-Mart tests dispensing machine for in-store pickup

The machine contains many items of different sizes that have been ordered online by customers, and upon arriving at the store, customers input a numeric code to retrieve their package.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 27, 2016

Amazon's shipping ambitions wreak havoc on Q3 results

Amazon reported third quarter net sales of $32.7 billion, up 29%, but surging shipping costs and other expenses resulted in an unexpected profit miss.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 27, 2016

Deloitte: Retailers to see record web traffic over holidays

Fewer people this year plan to visit big-box retailers, malls and smaller, independent merchants.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 27, 2016

Trade groups lobby for Alibaba's return to USTR Notorious Markets list

Counterfeit sales are at “crisis levels,” according to a letter signed by 18 trade groups from across North America, Europe and Asia.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 27, 2016

MasterCard getting into AI game with chatbots for merchants, banks

Consumers will be able to shop and process transactions on messaging platforms, and check out with the Masterpass digital wallet, all through a merchant's bot.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 26, 2016

Amazon adds Dash Buttons for 60 more brands

There are now more than 200 different Dash Buttons available, and Amazon claims sales through the one-touch automated ordering program have increased by five times over the last year.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 25, 2016

Returns: Meeting customer expectations and inventory challenges

In a competitive omnichannel environment, retailers are racing to keep up with customer expectations. Returns are greater for online retailers, placing a premium on an effective returns process and policy.

Oct. 25, 2016

PayPal adds new payment features through Facebook Messenger

The payments company will make it easier for consumers to link their PayPal accounts to the social networking giant's services.  

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 24, 2016

Cyberattacks knock out Etsy, Shopify, others as e-commerce security fears mount

Hacker group New World Hackers unloaded 1.2 trillion bits of data traffic on web domain company Dyn's servers, making its customers' sites crash.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 23, 2016

Apple alleges Amazon sold counterfeit products in lawsuit

Some 90% of Apple products provided by vendor Mobile Star were counterfeit, according to court documents in a lawsuit filed in Northern California.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 21, 2016

Wal-Mart doubles down on Chinese e-commerce with same-day delivery bet

Ahead of Singles Day, the retail giant expanded its Chinese presence with a $50 million investment in grocery and same-day delivery company New Dada.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 21, 2016

Alibaba launches 'Singles Day' promotions three weeks early

The Chinese e-commerce giant, which raked in $14 billion last year, is setting the stage for another blockbuster holiday.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 20, 2016

EBay debuts chatbot for Facebook Messenger

The e-commerce platform wants its new shopping assistant to learn how to find the right products from live customer search queries.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 18, 2016

Walgreens introduces click-and-collect option

The drugstore retailer is also sweetening the deal by offering free shipping with no minimum for online orders picked up in its stores.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 18, 2016

EBay launches Collective curated antiques, art marketplace

The effort uses visual search artificial intelligence and image recognition technologies to curate products on an interactive platform.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 17, 2016