As Amazon’s ecommerce market share rises steadily, third-party sellers will continue to be a growing population. Cyber criminals have taken notice, stealing credentials, hijacking accounts and posting fake deals. Amazon sellers have become lucrative targets, and cyberattacks will only get more sophisticated going forward.

Hackers Take Aim at Amazon Third-Party Sellers

In recent weeks, cyber criminals have hacked into bank-deposit information of several Amazon seller accounts, posting fake deals online then taking money from naive buyers. This month so far has been the highest scamming activity, and the trend is escalating. Roughly 75 new scam sellers have been detected each day, and attacks on seller accounts will only become more aggressive and targeted.   via Marketplace Pulse

"Just Launched" Sellers Causing Fraudulent Competition on Amazon

It's not just hackers causing trouble for Amazon third-party sellers. Many legitimate sellers have reported seeing “just launched” scammers on Amazon selling non-existent merchandise at lower prices. Sellers are understandably frustrated by the unfair pricing competition and Amazon’s lack of communication and transparency.   via Inc

Walmart Offers Discounts for In-Store Pickup of Web Orders

The price war between Amazon and Walmart is heating up. Walmart has started offering discounts on select items sold online and picked up in stores. Discounts will range between 3-5% and will launch with 10,000 eligible products in April and expand to more than 1 million items by the end of June.   via Multichannel Merchant

Walmart in Advanced Talks to Acquire Online Retailer Bonobos

Walmart’s ecommerce unit Jet is currently in advanced talks to acquire menswear site, Bonobos. Walmart has been on a startup shopping spree ever since Marc Lore took over its ecommerce operations. But unlike the other companies Walmart has acquired, Bonobos is reportedly profitable and using its latest investments to push further into brick and mortar.   via ReCode

Google Is Transforming Image Search into a Shopping Tool

Google recently launched “Style Ideas” on Image Search, a feature that showcases related fashion images when a user browses fashion merchandise. The new feature aims to entice users to see Google as a reference point for product search, instead of marketplaces like Amazon.   via Retail Dive

For insights on the future of brick and mortar and omnichannel selling, see our article featured on Retail TouchPoints. Check out the article here!