News Cart for July 24th

Below is your eCommerce News Cart for July 24th, 2018:

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In the News:

Amazon’s Prime Day The Biggest Sales Day in its History (Again)

• Prime members worldwide purchased over 100 million products
• Glitches and tech bugs caused problems for shoppers, resulting in millions of lost sales (details here)
• Amazon doesn’t disclose actual revenues, estimated around $1.5 – $2 billion

Shopify to Roll Out Augmented Reality This Fall

•  Shopify’s Head of VR/AR tweeted about the feature but no official announcement
• Tweet shows a video demo of how the functionality will work (click above)
• Hat tip to Allen Walton for finding/sharing this!

Google Hit With Fine from EU, Major Implications for Mobile Business Model

• Google fined $5 Billion by EU for illegally bundling software with Android
• Mobile generates more than 50% of ad revenue for Google, strongly facilitated by pre-installed apps
• Google may start charging android licensing fees if not allowed to bundle apps

Apple Updates Macbook Pro

• Featuring faster processors and increased RAM capacity to 32MB
• The infrequently-used Touch Bar remains a feature
• Faulty keyboards in previous generation have been fixed

Wistia Decides Against Sale, Raises Debt to Pay Back Investors and Maintain Control

• The popular video hosting SaaS took raised $17 Million in debt to maintain control
• Decision was largely driven by desires to grow more slowly, have more creative freedom

New ECF Content:

• Call Me Maybe?  How to Hire Friendly, Unflappable Phone Support Reps for Your Store
• 15 Critical Habits to Master when Building Business Relationships (Podcast)
• Is Voice the Future of eCommerce Search? (Podcast)

Top Forum Discussions:

(Subscription required to access.  Not a member?  Apply to join our vibrant community of 7-figure store owners today.)

• What Kind of Music Do You Listen to While Working?
• FedEx One Rate – Going Live August 1st
• What are Your Best Practices for Inventory Counting and Receiving?
• Should I Relocate My Store to Austin, TX?

Interesting Reads:

• Before the Exit (Book) – Interesting thought experiments to work through before selling your business.
• 100 Great Books to Read in a Lifetime – Reading list getting low?  There are loads of classic, A+ reads on this list to rebuild your queue.
• Running a Major eCommerce Brand while Traveling for 18 Months – Fayettechill founder Mo Elliott shares how he was able to run his clothing brand while traveling and connecting with the customers who use his products day-to-day.

Compelling Jobs:

(Compelling opportunities from the eCommerceFuel Job Board.  Find your dream job or post your own job opening here.)

• Digital Marketing | Willow & Everett | Remote Job (Beautiful Tea, Remote Job)
• Digital Marketing Analyst | Common Thread Collective | Newport Beach, CA (5 star rated, 4 weeks VA + Christmas + birthday) – cool team

• eCommerce Marketing Coordinator | Santa Cruz Bicycles | Salt Lake City, UT – Love their product.  Can stand behind it.  

Andrew’s Musings

This week Andrew talks about some tweaks to his schedule that are allowing him to dive deeper on new topics and be more effective.  To listen, click the play button on the audio player above.