#E-commerce Order Processing

[technicalfika]

Event-Driven Design Demystified: Concepts and Examples

🚀 Discover how this cutting-edge architecture transforms software systems with real-world examples. From e-commerce efficiency to smart home automation, learn how to create responsive and scalable applications #EventDrivenDesign #SoftwareArchitecture

In the world of software architecture, event-driven design has emerged as a powerful paradigm that allows systems to react and respond to events in a flexible and efficient manner. Whether you’re building applications, microservices, or even IoT devices, understanding event-driven design can lead to more scalable, responsive, and adaptable systems. In this article, we’ll delve into the core…

[hightechlogistics]

Optimizing E-commerce Operations: The significance of competent order fulfilment processes is that they can directly impact the overall customer experience

Digital commerce has become a phased manner development probability after theorder fulfillment process which directly increases customer satisfaction and business achievement. Order fulfilment includes receiving orders to shipping products, and every step is a crucial part of maintaining network functioning and happy customers. The current discussion mainly focuses on the major phases of product order fulfilment and why they contribute to e-commerce businesses.

Order Receipt and Processing

The list of activities to be performed to fulfil the orders starts with the order placement through different sales channels such as online platforms, mobile apps and in-store purchases. Thee-commerce returns logistics apply order management systems to capture, process, and pay for orders, verify product availability on a real-time basis, and allow customers faster finish purchases. In this process, we work to make it as streamlined as possible therefore reducing the risk of inaccurate order processing and eliminating delays in the process.

Inventory Management

Proper management of stocks, which is being maintained intact and not in excess, would check the inaccessibility of products and reduce stock-outs, as well as stocks. The whole complex inventory systems run at e-commerce companies to quickly notify these stocks, monitor the flow of products, as well as automate reordering processes. Businesses, which can operate efficiently with optimal inventory, will satisfy customers' orders in time and minimize carrying costs while maximizing their revenue.

Picking and Packing

After processing orders and checking inventory, the picking and packing step is initiated in the assembly phase. In e-commerce fulfilment centres, employees are designated to pick from stocks, sometimes products stored in different locations, and package them carefully for shipment. Ergonomic picking and packing approaches that take advantage of barcode scanning and automation techniques help significantly to keep out all pick and pack errors and expedite order fulfilment.

Shipping and Delivery

The full order issuance process will be ended by shipping the products to the customer's home addresses. Middle E-commerce companies connect with shipping carriers and logistics contractors to transport goods. Through the software, shipping management enables a business to compare rate shipping, track the delivery, permanently and update customers with tracking information. The existence of fast and safe shipping options significantly increases customer satisfaction, fostering repeated sales.

Positives Effecting Processes of Efficient Order Fulfillments

Check out thebenefits of third-party warehousing and fulfilment

1. Improved Customer Satisfaction: The distribution channels must be designed appropriately such that there exists timely delivery of orders, contributing to positive customer reviews resulting in clientele coming back for future purchases.

2. Enhanced Operational Efficiency: The simplifying of order fulfilment processes results in faster order processing, less error, and optimal resource utilization and ultimately increases productivity and saves cost.

For Original Post Content: - https://timesofrising.com/optimizing-e-commerce-operations-the-significance-of-competent-order-fulfilment-processes-is-that-they-can-directly-impact-the-overall-customer-experience/

[prokopetz]

Okay, so: there's a local restaurant whose online ordering process involves various selecting various sauces to be included with one's order – so many units of teriyaki sauce, so many units of hot sauce, so may units of peanut sauce, and so forth.

The idea is supposed to be that you can select any combination of sauces you want, as long as it adds up to no more than four units. However, what the app actually required is that you select exactly four units of sauces; it wouldn't let you submit the ordering form if the total wasn't exactly four.

Just today I discovered that they seem to have fixed it... not by correcting the errant validation rule, but by adding a "no sauce" option, which counts toward the required total of four.

Thus, it's now possible to place an order with, say, two units of teriyaki sauce rather than four by entering 2x "teriyaki sauce" and 2x "no sauce". Similarly, an order with no sauce at all is 4x "no sauce".

This is quite possibly the least intuitive ordering process I've ever encountered, and I've literally worked in e-commerce.

[expressbankingservice]

Shopify: Empowering Entrepreneurs to Thrive in E-Commerce"

Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that enables entrepreneurs and businesses to create, manage, and scale their online stores with ease. Founded in 2006 by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake, Shopify has democratized the process of selling online, providing users with powerful tools and resources to succeed in the competitive world of e-commerce. Here’s an overview of Shopify’s…

[steveyockey]

spotify is a playlisting service that doesn’t cede control of the playlists you build unless you pay them upwards of $144 per year. in effect, spotify’s non-premium option isn’t withholding their product so much as it is withholding the music that doesn’t belong to them, and which they’re barely paying the artist for—in money or, again, in most cases, merely exposure. in doing so it intentionally creates the sort of negative associations with music that have already spoiled every other corner of our late-capitalist world, beginning with the inter-album ad spots that previously meddled with films repackaged for network TV (only in this case there’s no one in charge of finding the most natural breaks). even in its infancy spotify cultivated this association between music and commerce, which they’ve spent the past decade developing to the point where it reflects the kafkaesque labyrinths of shoddy healthcare portals and malicious e-filing services that serve as untrustworthy middlemen in a process—which is, again, listening to songs you choose in an order you choose—that shouldn’t require one. it’s a theme: the user and artist are always made to suffer unless they’re willing to debase themselves to meet spotify’s increasingly unreasonable needs.

[seat-safety-switch]

The Mafia of Incompetence is out to get me, and not even for the first time this week. There’s all kinds of reasons these non-aligned dimbulb thugs wish me harm, but chief among them is my insistence that I must always receive my RockAuto magnets.

Perhaps you are unfamiliar. You see, RockAuto is a modern e-commerce corporation. It exists as sort of amorphous blob. Old-school parts warehouses, retail operations, and liquidators go out of business all the time. RockAuto scoops up those car parts and sells them over the internet. One of the things they include with every order is at least one small, rectangular refrigerator magnet, of another freak's car.

Time was, you could count on four things in life: gravity, death, taxes, and RockAuto magnets showing up with your order. Now, fewer than that many things are true. Border patrol has been getting increasingly sticky-fingered around my part of the world, and I'll often have a RockAuto package show up with different tape on it, missing all of its packing material and – critically – the magnet.

I've complained to my local political representative, using virtually the same words as I'm speaking to you now. They ignored me, because they have real problems to solve (what caviar to pair with which wine, how to give a larger tax break than 100% to oil companies.) I had to take matters into my own hands. Contrary to popular belief, a background check for the federal government is really easy to fake. Soon, I was the government's newest parcel snoop.

That's where I met my then-coworker, now-friend, Shaky Tim. You see, he was the one stealing the magnets. I caught him red handed my first day. When all the other border guards went to lunch, he stayed behind and hacked open a bunch of the RockAuto packages. His desk at work was laden with the things, a cascading pile many inches thick of gleaming hot-rods, warm-rods, and even cold-rods.

Ethically, I was in a bit of a pickle. Reporting him to my "superiors" would stop the flow of my magnets into his pockets, but it would result in no other benefit to myself. Ignoring him was out of the question: my refrigerator still had at least a few square inches of empty space on its fascia. When in doubt, make like King Solomon: we decided to split the booty. I wouldn't report him, and he'd punch my time card for me and come by with a shopping bag full of magnets every weekend.

We've been doing this for a few years now, and everything was going great. My boss had been giving me glowing performance reviews, based entirely on my ability to not embarrassingly fuck up at work. And my pension was fattening nicely. Unfortunately, Shaky Tim was the weak point in the whole apparatus. He had a crisis of conscience, and quit the government altogether rather than admit his horrible crime. Doing so backed up the entire works: all the remaining border guards were not nearly as motivated to process RockAuto packages quickly. I didn't get my new Mikuni carb floats for, like, a whole week.

[mayakern]

I just wanted to say thank you to you, Ash, and the crew! This was my first time asking for a size exchange and it was such an easy process and the new skirt came in so quick!

As someone who also works in a small packing team for an e-commerce shop, I know how hectic handling all the orders can be, but y'all really have the best customer service <3 so just thank y'all so much for the hard work you do!

aw im so glad to hear that! and yeah packing orders can be laughably hectic, esp with a small team, to an extent that i don’t think a lot of ppl get unless they’ve been involved in it themselves. managing exchanges and returns already requires more logistical infrastructure than you’d think, but add in shopify just sometimes deciding to oversell certain products and stuff can be CRAZY.

we’ve been working really hard the last few months to get our back end processes more streamlined/organized so they can be more accurate and MAN it has been a headache and a half but im glad it’s paying off. we still have some more to do (we’re hoping to actually implement our own barcode system soon) but we’ve come a long way. 💪

anyway the TLDR is it makes me very happy when someone calls out and notices all the hard work our team does since, honestly, it’s the sort of work that usually is totally invisible unless something goes wrong.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT ECOMMERCE NEWS (INCLUDING ETSY), LATE JULY 2024

Things have been hectic so this is a long one update - all the Etsy and other ecommerce news from the past month, broken down for your convenience!

Next week could be a big Etsy news week, with the 2nd quarter report being released, and the mature items ban kicking in. I'm also working on analysis of the new Creativity Standards, but we may not have more substantial information on those until Etsy makes another move. Right now the categories are a mess, but that could change.

A reminder that you can receive more timely updates plus exclusive content - including live chats with me on select topics such as Etsy's new Creativity Standards - by supporting my Patreon: patreon.com/CindyLouWho2

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

The European Union is considering making packages valued under 150 euros subject to customs duties when entering the EU. This is widely seen as a way to reduce Shein and Temu orders. 

The Etsy Creativity Standards announced on July 9th have a lot going on; here is my short summary so far. [post by me on Patreon] While I would not worry too much about this just yet, I expect them to be more important in the near future.  Etsy adding "Made by", "Handpicked by" to every listing is currently full of errors, but more disturbingly, even when a seller points out these errors with arguments from the written policy, Etsy Support is sometimes insisting that the designations are correct. For example, original paintings are lumped in with AI designs and digital downloads. [Post by me on LinkedIn] 

Amazon is imposing new rules regarding on-time delivery rates (OTDR); sellers that do not meet the standard of 90% on time delivery will not be able to continue selling. Businesses are exempted if they use the following tools: Shipping Settings Automation, Automated handling time, and Amazon Buy Shipping. Amazon is allowing only 5 days after shipment for products to arrive within the US. You can read the announcement and vigorous forum discussion here, and EcommerceBytes did a summary of the changes and some complaints.

ETSY NEWS 

As Etsy's widespread ban on many adult-themed products is about to take effect on Monday, I considered why Etsy felt the need to take far more drastic steps than Amazon & eBay has in the same markets. [post by me on Tumblr] The upcoming ban started by getting media attention from Mashable, and quickly escalated to the New York Times [not a gift link; soft paywall]. Etsy is still not commenting on why they are doing this. From the NYT article: "Even before the ban, it was getting harder to run his business, Mr. Goldstein said. So, he thought, “Why don’t we just make our own marketplace?” This year, he started the website Spicerack as an independent alternative to Etsy. The online boutique already has about 75 sellers, which are vetted to make sure they’re not “dropshippers” or simultaneously listing products on e-commerce behemoths like AliExpress or Amazon. Mr. Goldstein said that Spicerack is in the process of adding about 100 more sellers, half of whom signed up when the Etsy ban was announced." From the BBC: “In many countries there is pressure on platforms, sometimes backed by new legislation, to do more to prevent under-18s from encountering explicit content, and to remove illegal or "harmful" content from their platforms. Payment processors are also increasingly wary of working with platforms that enable sex based commerce....those concerns could be addressed by more clearly labelling and separating adult product listings..." The Guardian interviewed a few sellers who are affected.

While Etsy previously stated that the new shop set-up fee would be $15 USD, they quietly changed that, to whatever they feel like charging. [post by me on Patreon]

In case you missed it, the new listing form seems to be triggering Etsy Ads campaigns to start without the seller’s knowledge. [post by me on LinkedIn] Since my post, there are still more reports of this happening, and even more. 

I regret to inform you that Etsy’s Search Analytics are going to disappear after August 14 [post by me on LinkedIn], per a banner on the page.

Canadian sellers will have to pay a 1.15% “Regulatory Operating Fee” on all of their sales income (including shipping and gift wrap) starting August 15. This is likely due to a new law taxing large ecommerce platforms 3% of their Canadian income, which came into effect June 28. The tax applies retroactively back to the beginning of 2022, so Etsy is likely overcharging us to cover those earlier amounts. 

Sellers having difficulties with the domestic pricing tool not working correctly may want to try these tips from an Etsy forum thread: Set the domestic price to the global price amount, save, and then go back in and change the domestic price to your preferred amount, then save again. This apparently works for both new and existing listings, but there are 3 drawbacks: 1) it is time-consuming, 2) it needs to be done any time a listing is changed/edited (including renewals), and 3) it doesn’t seem to work for France. (I don’t ship to France so I cannot test the last point.) Remember, if you have a sale go through for the wrong price, contact Etsy and demand to be compensated the difference. 

Still don’t believe that Etsy is serious about shipping on time? See this Reddit thread by a seller who ignored a 30-day warning, so all of their items were removed from search. From this screenshot, it appears their average order value was fairly high, but that doesn’t mean Etsy will tolerate late shipping from shops with cheaper items, so beware. 

Etsy is testing filtering out digital items from search results unless the terms match a digital item search. See Etsy forum threads here and also here. 

A new academic study calls out Etsy and other online marketplaces for allowing illegally-killed bats to be sold on their sites. “We refute any assertion that the online bat trade is ethical. Again, statements that bats were captive-bred are absurd—bat farms are nonexistent—and it would be impossible for suppliers to find bats that have died naturally in the kind of condition and numbers needed to supply an ornamental trade. These bats were hunted.” The New York Times has also now covered this story [soft paywall]. 

The virtual seller education event Etsy Up is scheduled for September 10. You can register here, but there is no program yet. Usually this event has almost nothing worthwhile for experienced shops, and Etsy generally uses it to push their paid services and integrations along with basic info. 

Etsy is looking for sellers to join their Advocacy program and “share your story”. Beware that sometimes Etsy’s “advocacy” is as much for Etsy as for its sellers, so they are looking for stories that fit Etsy’s own goals. 

The Etsy Design Awards have opened; the final date for submissions is August 8. 

Etsy’s second quarter results for 2024 will be released July 31.

ECOMMERCE NEWS (minus social media)

General

Shein and Temu are facing investigations under the EU’s Digital Services Act. “In a press release, the EU said it’s asking Shein and Temu for more information about measures they’ve taken to meet DSA obligations related to what’s known as “Notice and Action” mechanisms, which should allow users to notify the marketplaces of illegal products.It has also requested info related to the design of their online interfaces, which the pan-EU law mandates must not deceive or manipulate users, such as via so-called “dark patterns”.” Temu is also being sued by Arkansas for having an invasive app that is accused of harvesting data without user permissions. “According to the complaint, Temu is allegedly obscuring its unauthorized access to data through misleading terms of use and privacy policies that do not alert users to the full scope of data that the app can potentially collect. That includes not telling users about tracking granular locations for no defined purpose and collecting "even biometric information such as users’ fingerprints."

Amazon

Amazon now has an AI shopping “assistant” on its US app, called Rufus. “Customers can ask questions about products, comparisons and buying considerations. The AI can provide suggestions for specific tasks or projects.” As per usual with AI, “tests show Rufus doesn’t always provide accurate information.” A review from Marketplace Pulse notes that “Amazon’s AI assistant fails to help shoppers find the best product among the millions in the catalog. It transforms broad questions like “What are the best cycling gloves for winter?” into a few links to product searches — the same searches a shopper could have typed themselves. It refuses to make product recommendations, show specific products, or suggest from the thousands of options. It can’t directly answer the question, “What are the cheapest batteries for my TV remote?”

Any sellers who had items removed for being plants or seeds when they actually aren’t should follow the instructions linked to here to get the situation resolved. An Amazon employee warned sellers: “Please do not acknowledge the violations as these will result in the deactivation of your listings.” Affected businesses should instead appeal the flags.  

Amazon is planning a discount drop shipping from China section, widely seen to be competition to Temu and Shein. However, “[i]t is not clear if these shipments will be made using a U.S. trade provision that exempts individual packages worth less than $800 from U.S. customs duties.”

The European Commission has asked Amazon for more information on “recommender systems, ads transparency provisions and risk assessment measures.” 

Only 1% of US Amazon sellers also offer their items outside of North America. “Due to its proximity to the U.S., Canada has more successful sellers from the U.S. than Canada.” If you have a unique product, this could be an opportunity.  Amazon returns are creating huge workloads for UPS stores and other retailers that accept them. “Amazon “makes up about one-tenth of our profits, but it takes up about 90 percent of the working day,” said Jeremy Walker, a store associate who worked at a UPS Store near Dallas that received between 300 and 600 returns per day.”

Depop

After trying it out in the UK, Depop is removing selling fees for the United States, starting July 15. Payment processing fees still apply. “[B]buyers will now be charged a "marketplace fee" of up to 5% plus a fixed amount up to $1.”

An interview with Depop CEO Kruti Patel Goyal reveals they plan “to bring Depop to a bigger and broader audience over time.” 

eBay

eBay is slowly rolling out changes to the Active Listings page. 

eBay sellers can now get cash advance loans through Liberis, the balance of which gets paid as a percentage of the seller's sales. 

New sellers in the UK might see “automated feedback” on some of their orders, to "help [users] buy and sell with confidence". It will say "This seller successfully completed an order", and is removed once the actual buyer leaves feedback. 

Michaels MakerPlace

Abby Glassenberg reviews Michaels’ MakerPlace popups inside their retail stores. Results seem mixed.

Shopify

A few hundred thousand Shopify users may have had their names, addresses and other data put up for sale on July 3 after a breach. Shopify denies it had any security issues and claims the data came from a third-party app. There was a known data breach at Evolve Bank and Trust in June; that institution is a supporting partner for Shopify Balance. It does appear that Shopify is notifying the affected individuals.

Walmart Walmart is adding pre-owned collectibles to its marketplace. “Eligible categories include Toys (Figures, Dolls, Trains, Plushies, Games, LEGO, Funko, Diecast Cars & Hot Wheels); Media & Music (Movies, Vinyl, Music, SteelBooks, Musical Instruments & Entertainment Replicas); Trading Cards; Comic Books & Books; Sports Memorabilia; and Coins.”

All Other Marketplaces

Indiegogo is opening an ecommerce website for items created through crowdfunding campaigns on the platform, called IndieShop. 

Etsy-owned Reverb now has an “outlet” page, where businesses can sell off their overstock, seconds and out-of-date models for 20% off and free shipping. Most products sold through the main portion of Reverb are used, not new, so this competes with regular sellers. 

Not sure if selling on Faire is right for your business? Here’s a handmade-focussed review of the wholesale site.

Payment Processing

Klarna is now available through Adobe Commerce (previously Magento). 

Shipping

USPS rates for labels on most platforms went up July 1, ahead of the previously-announced July 14th increases. Ina Steiner re-posted the numbers from eBay and Pirate Ship. 

USPS released the addresses and other data of logged-in Informed Delivery users to Meta, LinkedIn and Snap. The company claims it didn’t know the data transfer was happening. 

The free USPS Priority medium shipping tubes are no longer being made, but you can still order existing stock. 

Royal Mail’s Tracked 28 & 48 are now available at post offices. 

UPS’s holiday surcharge rates for the US have been released; the lower surcharges start September 29th.

Shippo has new Canada Post rates from now until January, and the Tracked Packet rates to everywhere but the United States are cheaper than Etsy’s (which are based on Level 4 of Solutions for Small Business). Remember that Shippo makes you pay for a higher tier of service if you use over 30 labels per month.

[fuck-customers]

Hey corporate, maybe next time you decide to send out a coupon to entice every single one of our customers to the store on the same day you could... uhm.. maybe let your employees know?? Maybe give them a bigger wage budget for that day??? And if you're going to make it work both instore and online, maybe you could have given your poor e-commerce employees (me) more time to process orders considering our influx was 3 times more than usual... just a thought, but hey what would I know, I'm not a CEO, I'm just the bitch that made Karen wait in line for too long because no one thought we'd need extra help 🤷‍♀️

(FR though, why are big corporations so blind when it comes to the concept that more employees in store = more customers served, more tasks completed and more orders fulfilled. Especially in a store as big as ours with multiple service counters. Customers don't like waiting and lately more and more of ours are leaving without buying anything because they can't get service. Corporate makes dumb/greedy decisions and the employees get blamed for it 🙃)

Posted by admin Rodney.

[volansoft]

Mobile App Development Company Jaipur | VolanSoft

Transform Your Business with Jaipur's Leading Mobile App Development Company

In today's digital age, having a powerful mobile presence isn't just an option – it's a necessity. As a premier mobile app development company in Jaipur, VolanSoft Technologies understands the unique challenges businesses face in creating impactful mobile solutions. We've spent years helping local businesses, startups, and enterprises transform their digital presence through innovative mobile applications. Our journey as a mobile app development company in Jaipur began with a simple mission: to help businesses connect with their customers through seamless mobile experiences. Today, we're proud to have served over 150+ clients across various industries, from e-commerce to healthcare, delivering solutions that drive real business growth.

The Mobile App Revolution in Pink City

Jaipur's tech landscape has evolved dramatically in recent years. As businesses encirclement digital transformation, the demand for quality mobile app development services has soared. We've witnessed firsthand how local businesses have transformed their operations through custom mobile applications. For instance, one of our clients, a traditional Rajasthani handicraft retailer, saw a 150% increase in sales after launching their mobile app.

Why Choose a Local Mobile App Development Partner?

While there are countless app development companies worldwide, partnering with a local mobile app development company in Jaipur offers unique advantages. Our team understands the local market dynamics and cultural nuances that can make or break your app's success. We're not just developers – we're your neighbors who speak your language and understand your business challenges.

Our Development Process: Where Innovation Meets Tradition

At VolanSoft, we blend modern development methodologies with traditional business values. Our process begins with understanding your vision through personal meetings at our Jaipur office. We then craft a detailed roadmap that aligns with your business goals. Our experienced developers use the latest technologies while maintaining the personal touch that Jaipur businesses are known for.

Custom Solutions for Every Business

Whether you need an Android app, iOS app, or both, our team delivers solutions tailored to your specific needs. We've helped local restaurants create order management apps, developed inventory tracking solutions for textile manufacturers, and built customer engagement platforms for retail businesses. Each project is unique, and we treat it as such.

The VolanSoft Difference

As an established Top mobile app development company in Jaipur, we pride ourselves on:

Deep understanding of local market needs

Transparent communication throughout the development process

Competitive pricing without compromising quality

Post-launch support and maintenance

Regular updates and performance optimization

Beyond App Development

Our expertise extends beyond just mobile apps. As a comprehensive digital solutions provider, we offer e-commerce development, Shopify development, and custom web applications. This integrated approach ensures your mobile app works seamlessly with your entire digital ecosystem.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Mobile Apps in Jaipur

The mobile app landscape in Jaipur is evolving rapidly. We're seeing increased demand for AI-integrated apps, IoT solutions, and blockchain applications. As your local technology partner, we stay ahead of these trends to ensure your business remains competitive in the digital space.

Ready to Transform Your Business?

If you're looking to develop a mobile app that truly resonates with your audience, let's have a conversation. Visit our office in Jaipur, and let's discuss how we can turn your app idea into reality. With VolanSoft Technologies, you're not just getting a mobile app development company – you're gaining a long-term technology partner committed to your success.

[acceptccnow]

Discussing Restaurant Technology, GRUBBRR Self-Ordering Kiosks, & Customer Experience

Article by Jonathan Bomser | CEO | Accept-Credit-Cards-Now.com

The restaurant industry is undergoing a technological transformation, with self-service kiosks changing the way customers place orders and improving overall efficiency. Leading this shift is GRUBBRR, a provider of cutting-edge GRUBBRR Kiosks that are revolutionizing restaurant technology and enhancing the customer experience.

The Surge of Self-Service Kiosks Self-service kiosks have ushered in an era of convenience in the restaurant industry, allowing customers to take charge of their dining experience. They simplify the ordering process, enabling patrons to effortlessly browse menus, customize orders, and handle payments.

GRUBBRR Kiosks: A New Ordering Paradigm GRUBBRR has redefined the ordering process with its self-ordering kiosks, celebrated for their user-friendly interfaces, robust functionality, and seamless integration with various restaurant systems. These kiosks go beyond order placement; they enhance overall operational efficiency.

Elevating Customer Experience Through Technology Restaurants are increasingly leveraging technology to provide exceptional dining experiences. GRUBBRR understands the importance of innovation in ensuring customer satisfaction. Their self-ordering kiosks reduce wait times, minimize order errors, and cater to the growing demand for digital interactions.

Effortless Credit Card Processing The integration of credit card processing services ensures swift, secure transactions that cater to both customer and business preferences. Accepting various payment methods contributes to a seamless and customer-centric environment.

Point of Sale Systems for Small Businesses Small businesses often grapple with unique challenges, and technology choices significantly impact their growth. GRUBBRR Kiosks offer a comprehensive solution for small restaurants, empowering them to compete on a larger scale with a professional and efficient ordering system.

Optimizing Financial Transactions with Merchant Processing Services Efficient financial transactions are essential for any business. GRUBBRR complements its self-ordering kiosks with robust merchant processing services, ensuring seamless transaction handling for businesses.

Online Payment Acceptance As online transactions become increasingly common, the ability to accept credit cards online is vital. GRUBBRR meets this shift in consumer behavior by enabling restaurants to seamlessly accept online payments, catering to tech-savvy customers and expanding revenue streams.

Navigating the Digital Landscape with E-commerce Gateway Systems To stay competitive, restaurants must strategically navigate the digital realm. GRUBBRR not only facilitates online payments but also provides robust e-commerce gateway systems, bridging the physical and digital aspects of a restaurant. This integration enhances online presence, reaches a broader audience, and boosts brand visibility.

The integration of GRUBBRR Kiosks and related technologies marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of the restaurant industry. By embracing self-service kiosks, credit card processing services, and e-commerce gateway systems, restaurants are shaping the future of dining experiences. GRUBBRR stands at the forefront of this revolution, empowering restaurants to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

[snackyboy]

SNACKYBOY.CO.UK official relaunch is NOW!! 🌐💖🌱

Thanks so much for waiting so long, I've been working extremely hard to bring my website to a new e-commerce platform and streamline every BTS process!

Please check it out, and let me know what you think!

Use code SBLAUNCH for 10% off your order!!!!!!

snackyboy.co.uk

[bmv1]

SHEIN USA: Revolutionizing Fashion E-Commerce with Trendy and Affordable Collections

Introduction: 

SHEIN USA has emerged as a dominant force in the world of online fashion retail, offering trendy and affordable clothing, accessories, and lifestyle products to fashion-forward consumers. With a vast selection of on-trend items, rapid product turnover, and budget-friendly prices, SHEIN has captured the attention of style enthusiasts seeking the latest looks at accessible prices. As the American arm of the global SHEIN brand, SHEIN USA has redefined the online shopping experience by providing customers with a diverse range of fashion options that cater to a broad spectrum of tastes and preferences. This article explores the success, impact, and unique features of SHEIN USA as a leading e-commerce platform in the fashion industry.

Trendy and Affordable Fashion for Every Style: 

SHEIN USA offers a wide array of clothing and accessory options that cater to diverse styles, preferences, and body types. From casual wear to formal attire, activewear to loungewear, SHEIN USA provides an extensive range of fashion choices that enable customers to express their individuality and stay current with the latest trends. With frequent additions to its product catalog and limited-time promotions, SHEIN USA ensures that shoppers can update their wardrobes with stylish pieces without breaking the bank, making trendy fashion accessible to a wider audience.

Accessible Online Shopping Experience: 

One of the hallmarks of SHEIN USA is its user-friendly online platform that simplifies the shopping experience for customers. The website features intuitive navigation, detailed product descriptions, sizing guides, customer reviews, and high-quality images that assist shoppers in making informed purchasing decisions. Additionally, SHEIN's mobile app offers a convenient way for customers to browse, shop, and track their orders on the go, enhancing the accessibility and flexibility of the online shopping experience. With secure payment options and responsive customer service, SHEIN USA prioritizes customer satisfaction and convenience.

Fast Fashion and Rapid Product Turnover: 

SHEIN USA's success can be attributed in part to its fast fashion model, which involves quickly responding to emerging trends and customer demands with new product releases. The brand's agility in identifying and delivering on-trend designs at affordable prices resonates with fashion enthusiasts who seek to stay ahead of the curve without overspending. By continuously updating its collections and introducing fresh styles, SHEIN USA fosters a sense of excitement and novelty among customers, encouraging repeat purchases and ongoing engagement with the brand.

Community and Influencer Collaborations: 

SHEIN USA actively engages with its customer base through social media channels, influencer partnerships, and community-driven initiatives that foster connectivity and brand loyalty. The brand collaborates with fashion influencers and content creators to showcase its products, create exclusive collections, and offer styling inspiration to followers. Through user-generated content, interactive campaigns, and virtual events, SHEIN USA cultivates a sense of community among its customers, encouraging them to share their personal style, connect with like-minded individuals, and participate in the brand's vibrant online ecosystem.

Sustainable Practices and Ethical Considerations: 

In response to growing consumer demand for sustainable fashion practices, SHEIN USA has taken steps to introduce eco-friendly initiatives, ethical sourcing standards, and transparent supply chain practices. The brand is committed to reducing its environmental impact, promoting responsible manufacturing processes, and supporting ethical labor practices throughout its production and distribution network. By incorporating sustainability into its business ethos and product offerings, SHEIN USA aims to align with the evolving values and priorities of conscientious consumers who seek fashion choices that are both stylish and sustainable.

Conclusion: 

SHEIN USA has carved out a distinct niche in the competitive landscape of online fashion retail by combining trendy designs, affordability, accessibility, and community engagement to create a dynamic shopping experience for customers. As a trailblazer in the fast fashion sector, SHEIN USA continues to innovate and adapt to changing consumer preferences, technological advancements, and industry trends, setting itself apart as a go-to destination for stylish and budget-friendly fashion. With a commitment to inclusivity, sustainability, and customer satisfaction, SHEIN USA remains a driving force in shaping the future of e-commerce and fashion retail, captivating audiences with its diverse product offerings, collaborative partnerships, and commitment to delivering on-trend styles to fashion enthusiasts across the United States and beyond.

[thedashshop]

Top 5 Benefits for Retailers Using Dash Shop

In the ever-evolving landscape of retail, staying ahead of the curve means leveraging the latest technologies to enhance operations and customer experience. Dash Shop offers a comprehensive e-commerce solution designed to help retailers thrive. Here are the top five benefits of using Dash Shop for your retail business.

1. Instant Delivery and Enhanced Customer Satisfaction

One of the standout features of Dash Shop is its instant delivery service. Customers today expect fast and reliable delivery options, and Dash Shop meets this demand with precision. By integrating instant delivery, retailers can ensure their customers receive their products quickly, boosting satisfaction and loyalty. This rapid delivery service helps retailers stand out in a crowded market, offering a significant competitive advantage.

Detailed Breakdown:

Speed: Customers receive their orders within hours, not days.

Reliability: Real-time tracking ensures transparency and builds trust.

Customer Retention: Fast delivery is a key factor in repeat business.

2. Robust Analytics for Informed Decision-Making

Dash Shop provides retailers with powerful analytics tools that offer deep insights into sales trends, customer behavior, and inventory management. These insights enable retailers to make data-driven decisions, optimize stock levels, and tailor marketing strategies to better meet customer needs.

Detailed Breakdown:

Sales Trends: Identify top-selling products and peak sales times.

Customer Insights: Understand buying patterns and preferences.

Inventory Management: Avoid overstocking or stockouts by aligning inventory with demand.

3. Seamless Integration with Existing Sales Channels

Retailers do not need to overhaul their existing sales channels to benefit from Dash Shop. The platform seamlessly integrates analytics within the Dash Shop mobile app, enhancing rather than replacing them. This integration ensures a smooth transition and minimal disruption to business operations.

Detailed Breakdown:

Analytics: Tracks user interaction for real-time analytics on Retailer’s products.

Unified Management: Centralized control of online and offline sales.

Enhanced Functionality: Adds value without complicating existing processes.

4. Cost-Effective Marketing and Promotion Tools

Marketing can be a significant expense for retailers, but Dash Shop offers a suite of cost-effective marketing tools. From creating and distributing discount coupons to targeted promotions, Dash Shop enables retailers to reach their audience efficiently and effectively.

Detailed Breakdown:

Coupon Creation: Easily design and distribute digital coupons.

Targeted Promotions: Use customer data to personalize marketing efforts.

Affordable Solutions: Maximize marketing ROI with budget-friendly tools.

5. Support for Community Engagement and Charitable Initiatives

Dash Shop is more than just a sales platform; it’s a tool for community engagement. Retailers can leverage the platform to support local charities and community initiatives, fostering goodwill and strengthening community ties. This commitment to social responsibility can enhance the retailer’s brand image and build customer loyalty.

Detailed Breakdown:

Charitable Contributions: Allocate a percentage of sales to local causes.

Community Events: Promote and manage local events through the platform.

Brand Image: Demonstrate commitment to social responsibility.

Conclusion

Adopting Dash Shop offers a multitude of benefits for retailers, from improving customer satisfaction with instant delivery to providing robust analytics for smarter decision-making. Its seamless integration with existing sales channels, cost-effective marketing tools, and support for community engagement make it an invaluable asset for any retail business looking to thrive in today’s competitive market. By leveraging these benefits, retailers can enhance their operations, drive sales, and build stronger relationships with their customers and communities.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How Amazon transformed the EU into a planned economy

Amazon is a perfect parable of enshittification, the process by which platforms first offer subsidies to end users until they’re locked in, then make life good for business customers at users’ expense, until they’re locked in, then claw back all the value they can for themselves, leaving just enough behind to keep the lock-in going.

In a new report for SOMO, Margarida Silva describes how the end-stage enshittification of Amazon is playing out in the EU, with Amazon repeating its US playbook of gouging the small businesses who have no choice but to use the platform in order to reach its locked-in customers, making European customers and European sellers poorer:

https://www.somo.nl/amazons-european-chokehold/

The mechanism for this isn’t a mystery. Amazon boasts about it! They call it their flywheel: first, customers are lured into the platform with low prices, especially through Prime, which requires pre-payment for a year’s shipping, which virtually guarantees that customers will start their shopping on Amazon. Because customers now start their buying on Amazon, sellers have to be there. The increased range of goods for sale on Amazon lures in more buyers, who lure in more sellers, with both sides holding each other hostage:

https://vimeo.com/739486256/00a0a7379a

This flywheel creates a vicious cycle, starving local retail so that customers can’t get what they need from brick-and-mortar shops, which funnels sellers into offering their goods for sale on Amazon. The less choice customers and sellers have about where they shop, the more Amazon can abuse both to pad its own bottom line.

There are 800,000 EU-based sellers on Amazon, and they have seen the junk-fees that Amazon charges them skyrocket, to the point where they have to raise prices or lose money on each sale. Amazon uses both tacit and explicit “Most Favored Nation” deals to hide these price-hikes. Under an MFN deal, sellers must not allow their goods to be sold at a lower price than Amazon’s — so when they raise prices to cover Amazon’s increasing fees, they raise them everywhere:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/

It’s not hard to understand why Amazon would raise its fees: the company has an effective e-commerce monopoly. Like Ozymandias, they have run out of worlds to conquer, and so their growth has to come from squeezing suppliers and/or raising prices, not from bringing in new customers. This is likewise true of mobile companies like Apple and Google, who have run out of people who are so excited about incremental mobile hardware gains that they’ll buy a new phone every year, which means that growth has to come from squeezing app vendors:

https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2023/06/09/Pixel-4-to-7

This is likewise true of the streaming companies, which is why Netflix is cracking down on “password sharing”:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/02/nonbinary-families/#red-envelopes

It’s true of the movie studios, which is why they want to zero out their wage bills by replacing writers with automatic plausible sentence generators that will write stupid movies that they think we’ll still pay to see because there won’t be anything else:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/06/people-are-not-disposable/#union-strong

It’s certainly true of Uber, which is why they’ve double the cost of a taxi ride and halved the wages they pay drivers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

Monopolies “grow” by making their customers and suppliers worse off. But they have to be careful about this: if it’s obvious that you’re using your market power to screw buyers, you can get in trouble with competition regulators. That’s because the only part of antitrust law that the neoliberal project left intact is “consumer welfare” — the idea that monopolies should only face enforcement when they raise prices and/or lower quality:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/10/play-fair/#bedoya

This focus on price-hikes has given monopolists a free hand to squeeze suppliers and workers, because a monopolist — from Walmart to Amazon — can claim that squeezing your workers and suppliers is necessary to enhancing consumer welfare. The less you pay to produce a product, the cheaper you can price it.

When a company has a lot of seller power, we call it a monopolist. When it has a lot of buying power, we call it a monopsonist. No one ever made a bestselling, family-destroying board game called “Monopsony” so most people haven’t heard of the concept. But monopsony is every bit as dangerous as monopoly, and monopsonists find it far easier to acquire market power than monopolists. Few suppliers can afford to have even 10% of their sales disappear overnight, so a buyer who accounts for 10% of your sales can demand deep discounts and other favorable terms.

Amazon is a monopolist, but it’s also a very powerful and ruthless monopsonist. For example, its audiobook division, Audible, has a 90+% market-share, and it used that market-power to steal at least $100m from audiobook creators, in a scandal dubbed Audiblegate:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/07/audible-exclusive/#audiblegate

For Europe’s 800k sellers who rely on Amazon to reach their customers, the monoposony conditions are blatant and shameless. Take listing fees: Amazon’s “flywheel” pitch claims that as the company grows, it achieves “economies of scale” that can lower its cost basis. But Amazon’s listing fees haven’t changed, even as the company experienced explosive growth in the EU (remember, sellers whose Amazon fees exceed their margins have to pass those fees onto buyers, and also raise their prices everywhere else to satisfy the Most Favored Nation requirement).

Amazon books the revenues from these fees — and other junk-fees it extracts from sellers — in Luxembourg, an EU member nation that provides a tax haven to multinational businesses that want to maintain the fiction that they operate their businesses out of the tiny kingdom. There is sharp competition in the EU to offer the most servile, corrupt environment for multinationals, and Luxembourg is a leader, along with Cyprus, Malta and, of course, Ireland:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/15/finnegans-snooze/#dirty-old-town

But at least listing fees haven’t gone up, unlike other fees, which have climbed sharply. Amazon falsely claimed that its additional revenues from fees were the result of growth by independent sellers, which Amazon pegged at 65%. Later, the company admitted that the true growth figure was 22%. Meanwhile, fees are up 85%.

The true growth figure might be lower still. Amazon refuses to show the math behind its growth figures, or even say which sellers and sales are included in the figure.

The SOMO report cites research by Juozas Kaziukėnas of the e-commerce research firm Marketplace Pulse, who finds that sellers are now giving 50% of their gross revenues to Amazon, an increase of 10% over the past five years across the whole EU. However, different EU (and ex-EU) countries have experienced much steeper increases in fees — in the UK, fees have nearly doubled (up 98%), and in France, fees more than doubled (up 115%).

Many of these increases come from the Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA) program, which is promoted as an optional service, but which is really obligatory — careful research shows that sellers who warehouse, pack and ship their own goods get banished to the depths of search results, even if they have ratings, costs and times that are competitive with FBA. This is especially true of the “buy box” that lands at the top of most searches. The company refuses to disclose how buy box positioning is determined, but 90% of products in the buy box pay for FBA.

Amazon has used excuseflation to hike its FBA prices, blaming higher energy prices for price hikes that predated the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and blaming covid for price hikes that predated the pandemic.

Italy’s competition authority did yeoman service in uncovering the sleaze of FBA, publishing an investigation that showed that Prime and buy box made the notionally “optional” FBA into a must-have for merchants, meaning that Amazon could jack up FBA prices without losing business.

Another notable source of gouging came in response to the UK and France adopting digital services taxes, which were meant to make up for the tax-base erosion enabled by Luxembourg’s flouting of EU tax law. Amazon passed these taxes straight through to its merchants, without seeing a comparable decrease in the number of sellers using its platforms — an unmistakable sign of market power. If you can raise prices without losing customers, then, by definition, your customers have nowhere else to go.

I’ve previously written about how Amazon’s $31b/year “advertising” market isn’t really advertising — rather, it’s a payola scheme that auctions off the top of a search-listing to the merchant with the most to spend:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/28/enshittification/#relentless-payola

This is how you get a simple search like “cat beds” returning results whose first screen is 100% ads, and whose next five screens are 50% ads, many of them for dog products:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2022/amazon-shopping-ads/

Auctioning off search results means that every time you search for something you want, you have to wade through screen after screen of listings for products whose vendors spent more on advertising, leaving less to spend on making quality goods.

This is as true in the EU as it is in the USA. The SOMO report shows that European merchants are required to spend ever-larger sums to show up in results for the exact products they sell, leaving them with a choice between making less money, raising prices, or skimping on quality.

But even the “winners” of Amazon’s gladiatorial combat among vendors can still lose. Amazon uses an automated product removal process that can delete some or all of a merchant’s products, without warning or explanation, and no one at Amazon will explain what a merchant did wrong. That remains true even if a vendor pays for Amazon’s “marketplace consultant” service — ask these paid Virgils why you’ve been cast into Amazon’s pit, and they’ll shrug their shoulders (and bill you for it).

And even if you can navigate the junk fees, the Kafka-as-a-service removals, the war of all sellers against all sellers for search primacy…you still lose. Merchants told SOMO that a product that survives Amazon’s gauntlet is likely to be cloned by Amazon and sold as an Amazon Basic or other house-brand product. Amazon doesn’t charge itself 50% junk fees, so it can always underprice the vendors it knocks off, and give its own products permanent top-of-search placement.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos once testified under oath before Congress that this doesn’t happen — and then refused to return to Congress when multiple vendors showed evidence that he’d lied:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/10/18/amazon-congress-letter-third-party-data/

He definitely lied:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/amazon-india-rigging/

Amazon has faced investigations and enforcement in the EU over this, and settled a claim with a promise to “not use non-public seller data to compete with sellers,” but given the company’s record of broken promises on this score and the difficulty of catching them cheating, it’s pretty naive to think they’ll stick to this.

The report quotes Thomas Höppner, a lawyer who has represented small businesses that Amazon screwed over. Höppner says the problem is that the EU evaluates Amazon’s bad deeds on a “case-by-case” basis, missing the big picture: “By the time one identified problem was seemingly solved, Amazon had long made amendments elsewhere with the same effect. We require a more holistic approach that considers the entire Amazon ecosystem and the various interdependencies within.”

But the EU’s enforcement approach is about to change significantly. The EU just passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which imposes a bunch of obligations on Amazon:

allowing sellers to offer their products on other marketplaces at different prices (Article 5.3),

not obliging business users to pay for one of its services in order to use its platform (Article 5.8),

limiting the way Amazon uses non-public seller data to compete with them (Article 6.2)

preventing Amazon from giving top billing in search results to its own products or sellers that have acquired extra Amazon services (Article 6.5)

The report concludes with a suite of recommendations for improving EU enforcement. First, they argue for a return to traditional competition law, abandoning the “consumer welfare standard” that is so friendly to monopsonies and their abuses of suppliers and workers.

They call for a probe into Amazon’s Most Favored Nation deals (“fair pricing policy”), the practice of sponsoring search results, and spiraling fees. They want the EU to adequately fund DMA enforcement, with “measures to prevent regulatory capture.” And they want Amazon to publish clear explanations for how search results, buy box placement, and other practices hidden behind a veil of secrecy.

Amazon will doubtless claim that disclosing how those systems work will make it easier for spammers and scammers to game their way to the top of search results. We should be skeptical of this claim — content moderation is the last domain where anyone takes the bankrupt idea of security through obscurity seriously:

https://doctorow.medium.com/como-is-infosec-307f87004563

Finally, the report calls for breaking up Amazon, forcing it to choose between being a platform seller or a platform user, calling this the only way to “prevent the conflicts of interest between its role as a platform intermediary, seller, and service provider.”

The technical term for this measure is “structural separation” — a rule that bans platform companies from competing with their business customers. This is the principle at work in the US bipartisan AMERICA Act, which would force Google and Meta to spin off the parts of their ad-tech business that put them in a conflict of interest. Right now, Googbook represents both publishers and advertisers, while operating the marketplace where ad sales take place, and they take 51% out of every ad dollar:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-shatter-ad-tech

Structural separation hasn’t really been applied in the US for a generation, but it’s gained currency in recent years, for the obvious reason that the referee can’t also own one of the teams. I was in Germany last week speaking to regulators and politicians, and they espoused skepticism that the EU would embrace structural separation anytime soon.

But they were wrong! Today, the European Commission announced plans to force Google and Meta to sell off their conflict-of-interest ad-tech lines of business, mirroring the provisions of the US AMERICA Act:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/06/google-may-soon-be-ordered-to-break-up-its-lucrative-ad-business-eu-warns/

Structural separation really is the policy we should be demanding. It’s amazing that lawyers who would never argue a case in front of a judge who was married to the plaintiff will turn around and defend the idea that Amazon can fairly operate a marketplace where they compete with other sellers.

With Amazon dominating online sales, and with in-person retail cratering, Amazon’s decisions have the power to determine the outcome of whole swathes of Europe’s economy. This is the “planned economy” that the EU claims it detests and seeks to prevent — but it’s an economy planned by distant autocrats in a Seattle boardroom, for the purpose of extracting the surpluses needed to launch an endless procession of penis-rockets.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this postto read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/14/flywheel-shyster-and-flywheel/#unfulfilled-by-amazon

[Image ID: A desert ruin. In the foreground is a huge Amazon box, with an EU flag in place of its shipping label. Atop the box are the feet and partial legs of an Oxymandias figure.]

Image: Rama (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gladiator_with_sword-Louis_Ernest_Meissonnier-MG_1216-IMG_1223-white.jpg

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/fr/deed.en

[dropshipautomation]

Maximize Efficiency and Profit with Dropship Automation

In today’s fast-paced e-commerce world, managing an Automation business efficiently can be challenging. Between managing orders, customer service, inventory, and supplier relationships, it can feel overwhelming. That’s where Dropship Automation comes in transforming your business by streamlining processes, saving time, and improving profitability.

What is Dropship Automation?

Dropship automation refers to the use of software tools and systems that help automate various aspects of your Automation business. This includes inventory management, pricing updates, and even customer support. By automating these time-consuming tasks, you free up valuable time to focus on growing your business and creating a better customer experience.

Key Benefits of Dropship Automation

Time-Saving Efficiency

Running an Automation store involves multiple steps: processing orders, checking stock levels, updating product information, and more. Dropship automation tools handle these repetitive tasks for you, reducing the risk of human error and saving you hours every week. This allows you to focus on marketing, customer acquisition, and scaling your business.

Improved Accuracy and Reduced Errors

Manual processes are prone to mistakes—whether it’s entering wrong pricing, inventory mismatches, or missing a crucial order. Automation ensures that data is synchronized across all platforms, keeping your inventory levels up to date, and preventing overselling or stock outs.

Enhanced Customer Experience

Customers expect fast and reliable service. With dropship automation, orders are processed more quickly, and stock levels are updated in real-time. This results in fewer delays and stock discrepancies, leading to better customer satisfaction and repeat business.

Scaling Your Business

One of the biggest advantages of dropship automation is that it enables you to scale effortlessly. As your business grows, so do the complexities of managing orders and products. Automation tools can handle a larger volume of transactions without additional manual work, giving you the freedom to expand without worrying about operational bottlenecks.

Why Choose Dropship Automation?

Dropship Automation offers an all-in-one solution to simplify your operations and boost your business efficiency. With integrations to popular platforms like Shopify and Big Commerce, and support for numerous suppliers, it’s the perfect tool for anyone serious about running a successful Automation business.