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AMAZON ENHANCES THIRD-PARTY SELLER SERVICES: Amazon is making it easier for third-party sellers to expand distribution and manage product offerings via mobile devices through a number of recent initiatives. For example, the Amazon Seller mobile app, which launched earlier this month, allows sellers to quickly create new product listings and respond to customer inquiries. The app also allows users to estimate the profit generated from future sales, after factoring in fulfillment costs. With this new app, Amazon is making selling on its platform more convenient for merchants. Pain-free sales management could lead to even more merchants listing their products with Amazon. (Mobile Commerce Daily)
AMAZON HELPS MERCHANTS GET NOTICED ON MOBILE: Amazon also recently began including merchant ads in mobile search results. The sponsored search results are intended to give merchants more visibility and to stand out from competitors who are also selling products on Amazon. Amazon's strategic advantage in retail is that it can compete with virtually any other retailer on price and convenience. Nearly one-third of visitors to Amazon websites are mobile-only, so the new ad type is expected to drive more impressions and clicks for Amazon's advertisers. (eCommerce Bytes)
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Consumers have long been able to use Amazon mobile touch points to shop in more moments and occasions with more flexibility. The seller program now provides the sellers with equal flexibility in responding to customers' requests and feedback in a more timely manner." - Jeremy Jacobs, strategist at Resource, a digital advertising agency.
THE FUTURE OF RETAIL: BI Intelligence created a slideshow highlighting the retail categories where e-commerce is having the most impact, and where there is still opportunity for disruption. The shift away from physical retail toward digital retail is happening faster than many observers expected. The slideshow, full of charts featuring historical data and forward projections can be viewed, here. Only subscribers can download the individual charts and datasets in Excel, along with the PowerPoint and PDF versions. (BI Intelligence)
WELCOME, E-COMMERCE INSIDERS: This is our new newsletter covering all things e-commerce. Please email csmith@businessinsider.com with news and tips. Click here to sign up for E-Commerce Insider today, and receive it every morning in your inbox.
SOUQ RAISES $75 MILLION: Souq.com, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in North Africa and the Middle East has raised $75 million. The funding was led by Naspers Limited, a South African media and Internet company that had invested $40 million in Souq back in 2012. Approximately 6.2 million consumers are registered on the Souq, but it only receives 23 million visits per month. The Middle East and North Africa is still a nascent e-commerce market, and Souq is poised to benefit when online selling eventually becomes mainstream in the region. (Wamda)
GOOGLE STARTS LOOKING LIKE A RETAIL BRAND: It's beginning to look as though Google really is jumping into retail. Rumors surfaced last week that the Internet giant was property hunting in SoHo, a busy commercial neighborhood in Manhattan. More important however is the fact that Google has made an enormous effort to brand its wide range of services over the past few years. From color to typography to marketing materials, Google has really begun to create a cohesive look and feel across all consumer offerings. If Google does open a retail store where it sells things such as Google Glass, the company will likely follow Apple's lead in designing a store that focuses on the customer experience. (Retail Dive)
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