Around the Ecommerce world in 5 mins!

Ecommerce is changing everyday, and sometimes by the minute. So many new ideas and developments everyday, becomes hard to keep track.

We bring to you a curated digest of ecommerce developments/happenings around the world, compiled from various publications across the Internet.

Twitter’s Buy Buttons Gain New Partners

After rumors of Twitter’s move into e-commerce were confirmed last year, and trials with payments system Stripe, it seems Twitter has signed up new partners to introduce Buy buttons to millions of users’ Twitter feeds; US-based Demandware, Canadian platform Shopify, and Australian e-commerce startup Bigcommerce. The partnership with the social media giant will see the Aussie platform introduce support for Twitter’s Buy Now feature, allowing merchants to promote and sell products natively through tweets.

Is online fraud about to spike?

A new retail credit card verification system that debuts Thursday may spell bad news for e-retailers, experts say. Retailers can expect a doubling of online card fraud because criminals will turn to e-commerce to get around a tougher in-store card-payment system set to take effect Thursday, says consulting firm Aite Group. The new standard for debit and credit card payments in stores uses cards with microprocessor chips rather than the decades-old magnetic stripe technology.

Amazon Flexes Its Muscles in Crowdsourced Delivery Space

Amazon has entered the on-demand delivery space in its hometown of Seattle, where independent workers are delivering orders within two hours or less. Under its new Amazon Flex program, the company pays workers between US$18 and $25 per hour to deliver packages to Prime Now customers, company spokesperson Kelly Cheeseman told the E-Commerce Times. The service is available only in Seattle for now, but Amazon plans to expand it to nine additional U.S. Cities: New York, Baltimore, Miami, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Portland.

Holiday Season Predicted to Benefit Omni- Approach

Deloitte expects total retail sales between November and January, including the lucrative Thanksgiving sales period, to only grow by up to 4 percent, reaching 965 billion. Non-store sales, covering online and mail-order purchases, are expected to increase up to 9 percent during the holidays, which represents a slowing of holiday sales growth. “We’re expecting a fairly modest holiday season,” Deloitte Vice Chairman Rod Sides told Internet Retailer.

Is Presale selling a good idea on eBay?

Presales. Read eBay’s policy here. It’s where you sell something that you don’t yet have but will. It could be something like a video game or a fashion item. Or an event ticket. You have the right to sell the item but you don’t yet have it in your possession. eBay allows a 30 day window for such things. It’s a minefield though.