More than 15,000 Amazon Flex drivers have filed claims against Amazon for unpaid wages and overtime. The drivers argue they are employees, not contractors, and are seeking compensation for expenses like mileage and phone usage. The claims highlight the ongoing debate over gig economy worker rights.

TikTok is testing a new image search feature in TikTok Shop, aiming to compete with Google Lens and Amazon. Available in the U.S. and Southeast Asia, this feature lets users find products by uploading or taking photos. TikTok Shop now has 15M sellers worldwide.

Walmart plans to reach e-commerce profitability in the U.S. within two years, as announced on June 7. Sam's Club has already achieved this milestone. Walmart's e-commerce sales rose 22% last quarter, driving company growth.

OneRail's purchase of Orderbot on June 5, 2024, adds advanced inventory and order management to its system. This integration aims to improve order accuracy, cost savings, and customer experience, with a network of 12M drivers.

Google’s AI overviews are disrupting ecommerce search visibility. Most overviews pull product data from non-ranking sources, creating new opportunities to optimize product pages for better visibility.

Starbucks partners with Grubhub for nationwide delivery starting in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Illinois this June, expanding to more locations by August. This move follows Starbucks' reported decline in same-store sales but growth in delivery.

Amazon partners with Grubhub, offering food delivery to US customers via its app. Prime members receive free Grubhub Plus, a $120 annual value. This expands Grubhub's reach, boosting sales and earnings for delivery partners.

True Fit's new tool, Fit Hub, uses generative AI to help online shoppers find clothes that fit their body type. By analyzing size charts, descriptions, and reviews, it reduces return rates. Fit Hub is in beta and launches next month.

Walmart’s InHome delivery is expanding to 45M U.S. homes, adding 10M potential customers. Since its 2019 launch, the service has grown steadily, now covering Southern California, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia.

eBay launched an AI tool for background enhancement on June 5, 2024. The tool, available for iOS users in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, lets sellers replace image backgrounds with AI-generated ones. This feature helps improve photo quality and follows similar moves by Amazon and Google. Android rollout is planned soon.

Amazon's Project PI combines AI and computer vision to detect damaged items before shipping. This new tech operates in several North American warehouses and aims to expand. Human reviewers decide if flagged items are resold or donated.

TikTok stops ecommerce in Europe to focus on the US, aiming for $17.5B in sales by end of 2024. The company faces a potential ban in the US and legal challenges to divestment demands. Investigations in Europe also continue.

eBay will no longer accept American Express cards starting August 17th. The company cites "unacceptably high fees" as the reason. Amex disagrees, noting its fees are comparable to other cards.

WSJ recently published great article analysing store brands perfromance vs national brands (like store coke vs coke) predominantly based on NielsenIQ data. Lets dive into main messages.

Zoovu enhances ecommerce by introducing tools for ADA and WCAG 2.1 compliance. These tools help brands create accessible shopping experiences, benefiting the 27% of the US population with accessibility challenges.

GrubMarket has acquired Butter, a four-year-old AI company, to enhance its ecommerce and payment solutions. Butter's AI tools will integrate with GrubMarket's existing products, aiming to improve services for food distributors. Butter has raised $39M and has 11,000 buyers.

Google Pay introduces features like card perks display, BNPL options with Affirm and Zip, and biometric card verification. These updates enhance user experience and make Google Pay a stronger competitor in the digital payments market.

Sysco's new Mirakl-powered marketplace, announced on May 22, 2024, offers over 15,000 niche products. This initiative supports the Recipe for Growth strategy, enhancing customer choice and simplifying shopping.

Levi Strauss & Co. teams with o9 Solutions to create a real-time data visibility supply chain system, reducing lead times and costs. The system launched with three modules and will expand with five more in 2024-2025.

Airbnb recently removed many travel experiences from its platform, causing confusion among operators. This move is part of a larger strategy to improve quality and refocus on its core offerings. Despite the delistings, Airbnb is committed to the experiences market with new initiatives like "Icons".

Home Depot joins forces with Instacart to provide same-day delivery from 2,000 stores. This move aims to enhance their eCommerce capabilities amid declining consumer spending. The partnership leverages Instacart's fast delivery, including heavy items, and follows a successful pilot. Instacart's collaborations with other retailers like Kohl's and Uber Eats highlight the trend of delivery services expanding beyond groceries.

Amazon teams up with Lucky Supermarkets for same-day, 2-hour grocery delivery in select San Francisco Bay Area cities. Prime members receive free delivery on their first three orders of $10 or more. Shop at amazon.com/luckysupermarkets.

Amazon introduces Prime Access for qualifying government assistance recipients at $6.99/month, over 50% off. Customers can save on essential needs with programs like SNAP EBT, Amazon Layaway, and more. Last year, Prime Access members saved $1,600 on average.

Amazon is expanding its logistics with 16M sq ft of new warehouse space in the U.S. The company has restructured its distribution network into nine regions to speed up deliveries and cut costs, competing with Walmart and new players like Shein and Temu.

Xometry reported a 16% revenue growth in Q1 2024, reaching $123M. Marketplace revenue rose by 24%, driven by a 32% increase in active buyers. Gross profit increased by 22%, while supplier services revenue declined.

Restaurant365 secures $175M from ICONIQ, KKR, and L Catterton. The company, valued over $1B, plans to expand its food service software. This move supports its mission to help restaurants manage accounting, inventory, and workforce.

Pepper, an e-commerce platform for food distributors, raised $30M in a Series B funding round led by ICONIQ Growth. The company aims to support small distributors with advanced tech, increasing sales by 23% and saving 10 hours per week per sales rep. Pepper's client base has doubled to 200 in a market of 25,000.

Kudos, an AI-driven smart wallet, raises $10M to enhance credit card optimization for rewards. The company grew from 1,000 beta testers to 200,000 users since 2022. Investors include QED Investors, Patron, and others.

BigCommerce launched an open-source Buyer Portal on May 7, 2024, allowing B2B brands to create tailored buyer experiences. This move aims to reduce development costs and time, offering streamlined services and faster time-to-market. The portal supports localized experiences and automates administrative processes.

Meta's enhanced generative AI tools now offer full image and text generation for advertisers. These features help businesses create creative variations and automate ad creation, improving performance. New text overlay and image expansion tools are also included.

Reebok unveils an AI-driven fashion experience on Instagram called 'Reebok Impact.' Users can create custom digital sneakers by sending a photo via DM. This feature is free for up to four creations, usable in games like Fortnite and Roblox.

Poshmark launched "Promoted Closet," a tool for sellers to promote all listings at once. Using machine learning, it boosts items based on search terms. Sellers set budgets and are charged per click. Beta testers saw a 43% sales increase. Available now in the U.S.

eBay introduces a new "resell on eBay" feature integrated into Certilogo's smart labels, allowing users to list clothing with just a few clicks. Save The Duck is the first brand to pilot this feature starting May. This initiative aims to foster a pre-loved fashion marketplace and reduce landfill waste.

Mercari reversed its new return policy after backlash from sellers. Buyers now have three days to return items only if they are not as described. The policy change, effective May 22, aims to balance buyer flexibility with seller protection.

Walmart is cutting hundreds of corporate jobs and asking remote workers to return to office locations, as per a memo. Affected offices include Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto, with relocations to Bentonville, Hoboken, and Southern California. The company promises support for impacted associates.

Starting today, Walmart introduces e-commerce inside Roblox, allowing players to buy real-world items. This pilot runs through May, targeting U.S. users over 13. It could redefine virtual shopping, leveraging Walmart's vast retail network.

Software company BigCommerce is exploring a sale with help from Qatalyst Partners after a significant drop in market value. The company's strategic shift follows competitive pressures, especially from Shopify.

Allbirds' revenue fell 28% in Q1, totaling $39.3M. Joe Vernachio, the new CEO, addresses urgent restructuring as the company anticipates a 25% sales drop throughout the year.

Etsy's CEO, Josh Silverman, revealed a new machine learning model that reduced USPS transit times by over a day, boosting perceived reliability and increasing estimated delivery dates of seven days or less for triple the orders.

Google's Performance Max now aids sellers on platforms like Amazon by driving sales directly through online marketplaces, eliminating the need for individual websites or Merchant Center accounts. This service has launched in beta and is still evolving.

Despite rising food prices, DoorDash has decreased fees by 12% in 2 years, improving order affordability. The company's operational efficiency and better delivery accuracy support these cuts.

Instacart is venturing into restaurant delivery by integrating Uber Eats' software and logistics into its app, with the same prices and courier pay as Uber Eats.

TikTok's Pulse suite now includes Max Pulse, Pulse Lineups, and Pulse Premiere. These new offerings guarantee ads are placed next to trending, top 4% content. New partners like NHL and Paramount Global join for 2024.

TikTok is taking legal action against the US government, claiming that a law demanding its sale by January 2025 unfairly targets the platform and threatens to disconnect over 1 billion global users.

Amazon's FBA low-inventory-level fee, introduced to improve inventory health, is now in effect but will be credited back for fees incurred from April 1 to May 14 as part of an extended transition period to assist sellers.

Monocle's recent $7.5M funding boosts its AI platform, offering real-time personalized promotions, improving customer engagement and significantly lifting revenue by 30%.

San Francisco-based Ansa raises $14M in Series A funding for virtual wallets, with female investors leading. Total raised hits $20M. Key markets include coffee and QSR.

On April 24, 2024, in Boston, HubSpot introduced Spotlight, featuring new Service Hub and AI tools, making it easier for SMBs to manage and grow customer interactions. These tools promise rapid innovation and support.

At the 2024 Stripe Sessions in San Francisco, Stripe introduced 50+ new features to enhance payments processing and fight fraud, having processed over $1 trillion last year.

Despite a slight drop in sales, Wayfair impresses with a $107M cut in losses and a 3% rise in customer numbers, indicating strong resilience and strategic staffing reductions.