Multi-Channel Seller News
There were some exciting major news stories this week, as well as some great industry insights. And I’m not even going to mention the new iPhone announcement (because you’ve already seen/read/heard enough about it). Also, because Android is better. (Just kidding! #sorta)
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A perspective piece from Internet Retailer brings us back to the inevitable internet sales tax. While studies suggest that shoppers are split on whether or not their purchase decisions would be affected by the tax, I tend to side with the entrepreneur in the article, who suggests it will just be business as usual. In my view, convenience is too strong of a factor in the shopping decision, and time is increasingly valuable.
eBay annouced it was buying Israeli startup Decide.com, a fast growing price comparison affiliate. The marketplace will acquire the team and shut down the site’s operations within a few months.
All of you fashionistas out there probably heard that Neiman Marcus sold this week (for $6B!), which is a good sign for the 100 year old luxury retailer as its new owners will likely pump some money into it. Neiman Marcus was previously owned by private equity holders, who bought it high and held during the recession.
Twitter announced it has submitted a “confidential filing” for IPO, a move made possible by the recent JOBS act for emerging companies. The IPO is rumored to be worth $10B, though the company current trades for higher than that on private markets. Personally, I’m excited to see their growth plans… the service is just so incredible and has changed the world in only a few short years. In fact, if you aren’t already following us on Twitter, you should….. Right Now!
Bonus:
Practical eCommerce wrote an interesting review of a study done over the last year of social media users’ actual purchase data, suggesting that Pinterest users were actually more likely to end up going from digital research to physical store purchase than users of other social media. The study suggests that creative categories such as hobby, food, and decor, among the most actively consumed on Pinterest, were the most likely to result in this phenomenon.
Bonus Bonus:
Buyers can currently find Bitcoins available for sale on eBay (though I’m not sold on them as a stable investment right now), but Wired recently outlined a few pretty solid reasons why eBay would be interested in accepting Bitcoins as a payment method in the future.
Last Bonus, Promise:
Facebook made a somewhat quiet move today that actually has a lot of long term potential benefit for sellers. The social network is closing down its old Credits payment system and transitioning to a local currency-based system, which will help eliminate currency exchange rate issues that plagued the old system as the number of international Facebook customers rises. The change will also simplify their own handling of payout procedures and (hopefully) better incentivize the hands that feed the network with ~$1B a year in sales commissions.
