The pricing war continues to heat up as Amazon lowers its free shipping threshold for non-Prime members yet again. More and more sellers are also expanding into Walmart Marketplace, given its recent investments and competitive 2-day free shipping policy. Sellers will indeed need to diversity their channels to meet where the shoppers are.
Amazon Quietly Lowers Free Shipping Threshold Again
Less than 3 months after Amazon reduced its free-shipping threshold from $49 to $35 for non-Prime members, Amazon has again reduced the minimum to $25. This news comes after Walmart rolled out free two-day shipping for orders over $35. This may have been another preemptive move by Amazon to dissuade shoppers from considering Walmart. via Retail Dive
More Amazon Sellers Plan to Expand into Walmart Marketplace in 2017
About 29% of Amazon sellers plan to expand their sales into Walmart.com. Currently, only 9% of Amazon sellers also sell on Walmart, compared to 65% who also sell on eBay. There’s a growing interest in selling Walmart, and with requirements becoming less strict, more sellers are planning to join the marketplace. via Multichannel Merchant
Amazon Wants to Break into the Multibillion-Dollar Pharmacy Market
Amazon is hiring business leads to figure out how the company can break into the prescription-drug business. Amazon has been expanding its reach into different industries, from cloud computing to original programming. If Amazon manages to offer an experience that significantly improves on existing mail-order options, on price or convenience, then there’s no doubt it could disrupt the retail drugstore industry. via The Washington Post
How A.I. Shopping Assistants Are Changing the Buyer's Journey
New research is finding that shoppers today are increasingly seeking out shopping assistants to optimize their search efforts and to weed out the clutter of product ads. Gartner predicts that 85% of customer interactions will be handled without a human by 2020, and the level of artificial intelligence we have today already closely mirrors human interaction in the offline world. via Inc.
More Than 50% of Retailers Are Not Ready to Support IoT
Despite the significance of the internet of things in ecommerce and logistics, retailers are slow in adopting the technology. According to a new report, more than half of retailers do not have existing infrastructure capable of supporting IoT. Furthermore, 47% of respondents admit that their business leaders do not understand the benefits of IoT. via Fierce Retail
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