FedEx and Amazon reportedly engaged in discussions last year about a potential partnership to handle the increasing volume of eCommerce returns.Although no deal was reached, the talks underscore the shifting dynamics in the parcel delivery industry, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Monday (March 18).The discussions revolved around FedEx accepting Amazon returns at its retail locations, according to the report. The move would have allowed FedEx to tap into Amazon’s return business, which is currently m ...

Latin American eCommerce and payments firm Mercado Libre is reportedly set to invest a record $2.5 billion in Mexico this year, up from the $1.6 billion spent in 2023.The investment will be distributed across various business areas, including warehouse expansion, logistics network enhancement, loan increases, salary payments, and marketing and technology investments, Bloomberg reported Friday (March 15).David Geisen, Mercado Libre’s Mexico country chief, outlined the company’s plan to bolster its eCommerce ...

The digitization of the B2B space, from payments to marketplaces, is well-trodden ground by now. But that doesn't mean that the increasingly online modus operandi for B2B businesses can't throw companies a few curveballs every now and then. This, as new updates to Google's bulk email guidelines, announced last year and set in place since February, have observers wondering about their impact on the marketing and outbound email marketing strategies of business in the B2B space — particularly small- to medium- ...

Core Insights - Groupon is focusing on capturing the lucrative gift spending market despite overall revenue declines, with a significant increase in gift ordering noted in December [1] - A report indicates that consumers are prioritizing gift spending even while cutting back on other purchases, with a high percentage of shoppers taking measures to maintain their gift budgets [2] - The company plans to enhance its gifting business through improved marketing and features, aiming to reduce cart abandonment and improve the checkout experience [3][4] Group 1: Gifting Market Opportunity - Groupon's initial gifting offering led to a 50% year-over-year increase in gift orders in December [1] - The company believes gifting can evolve into a major business segment, positioning itself as a key destination for last-minute gifts [1] Group 2: Consumer Spending Behavior - A significant majority of holiday shoppers (94%) are actively ensuring they do not have to cut back on gift spending despite financial pressures [2] - The PYMNTS Intelligence report highlights that a large portion of consumers across income levels have reduced nonessential spending due to rising retail prices [2] Group 3: Strategic Enhancements - Groupon aims to improve its gifting features and marketing strategies, particularly in the U.S., while collaborating with merchants to highlight giftable products [3] - The company is focusing on enhancing the checkout process to reduce cart abandonment, which is a common challenge in eCommerce [3] - Reports indicate that 50% of consumers consider the ease of the checkout process when choosing a digital merchant, emphasizing its importance [3]

Despite rampant retail theft forcing many retailers to close their doors, Home Depot has reportedly reaffirmed its commitment to major U.S. cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Oakland, California.The home improvement retailer has been heavily investing in technology to combat the significant increase in organized retail crime that’s been seen over the past five years, Home Depot CEO Ted Decker told Bloomberg in a report posted Friday (March 15).In 2023 alone, Home Depot experienced over 142,000 instanc ...

With mega-retailers Amazon and Walmart competing to secure consumers’ loyalty for high-ticket purchases such as furniture, the eCommerce giant is pulling further ahead by the quarter.This trend can be seen in the latest data from the PYMNTS Intelligence “Whole Paycheck Report” series, which estimates each of the two retailers’ market share in various categories based on their earnings reports from Q1 2019 through Q4 2023 in conjunction with national data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic An ...

Dollar General is cutting back on its offering of self-checkout options, saying it is doing so to improve the customer experience and to reduce inventory shrink.This change follows a year in which the retailer saw an increased level of shrink, the company said in a Thursday (March 14) earnings release. Inventory shrink, or shrinkage, is the loss of goods, especially by theft.The company has self-checkout options available in more than 14,000 stores, Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said Thursday during the com ...

Apple has reportedly acquired Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) startup DarwinAI, in a strategic move to strengthen its position in AI market.The acquisition occurred earlier this year but has not been officially announced, Bloomberg reported Thursday (March 14), citing unnamed sources.Apple did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.DarwinAI’s website can’t be reached.Apple told Bloomberg that it sometimes buys smaller technology companies but does not discuss its plans, per the report.Da ...

Citi Ventures has become a strategic investor in Tuum in an extension to the Series B funding round Tuum announced in February.Together with its investment, Citi Ventures will introduce Tuum to key stakeholders within Citi, the bank, to explore commercialization opportunities, Tuum said in a Thursday (March 14) press release.“This investment from one of the largest banking groups in the world, with market-leading positions globally in corporate, private and retail banking, represents a major milestone as we ...

UnitedHealth Group (UHG) reported Thursday (March 14) that some critical services are back online at its subsidiary Change Healthcare, which has been dealing with a cyberattack on its claims and payment infrastructure. In a Thursday update on a UHG page devoted to the Change Healthcare cyber response, Wendi Whitmore, senior vice president, Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity firm, said that firm has experts on the ground, working with UHG and its partners to restore operations.“To date, we have r ...