Hey ECF readers,

This week in the podcast version I share some important thoughts I hope you’ll listen to first here followed by this week’s eCommerce and tech headlines below.

– Andrew

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In the News

U.S. small firms leave $150 billion in coronavirus stimulus untapped

  • A total of $660 billion was allocated to the PPP program
  • Demand for PPP loans has significantly declined over the last few weeks since the start of the pandemic

‘Digital by default’: Shopify is letting employees work from home permanently (Hat Tip to Forum Member Katrina McKinnon)

  • This shift will impact more than 5,000 employees
  • Shopify will keep physical offices closed until 2021

Social media giants take different approaches to presidential messages

Amazon plans summer sale for June 22 to ‘jumpstart sales’ after coronavirus crunch

  • Amazon’s “invitation only” sale is said to be in response to the pandemic and the subsequent delay of Prime Day
  • Sellers were asked to submit deals for items with at least a 30% discount

Slack partners up with Amazon

  • Slack will use Amazon AWS more broadly and replace its lackluster video conferencing tech by integrating Amazon Chime
  • Amazon agrees to roll out Slack to all employees

Amazon reportedly considering $2 billion stake in Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel

  • Bharti Airtel is the third-largest telecom operator in India
  • Comes on the heels of Facebook and Google’s interest in the Indian telecom space with previous talks and/or investments

Alibaba expands its US presence with new programs designed to help businesses struggling with COVID-19

  • Includes longer payment terms, a more unified shipping/fulfillment platform and and additional trade shows
  • U.S. buyers have increased by 70-100% year over year

Stitch Fix to Lay off About 1,400 Employees in California

  • Stitch Fix closed two distribution centers in march due to COVID-19.
  • The company says it plans on hiring 2,000 employees in lower-cost cities like Dallas, Austin, or Minneapolis.
  • All California-based employees will be given the chance to relocate and keep their job

Pinterest adds a ‘Shop’ tab to its Lens Camera search results to showcase matching in-stock products

  • Take a picture of something and see similar items that are in-stock and available for purchase on Pinterest
  • Pinterest reported seeing 3x the number of visual searches compared to 2019
  • Follows Pinterest’s announcement of its partnership with Shopify

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Andrew Youderian
Post by Andrew Youderian
Andrew is the founder of eCommerceFuel and has been building eCommerce businesses ever since gleefully leaving the corporate world in 2008.  Join him and 1,000+ vetted 7- and 8-figure store owners inside the eCommerceFuel Community.

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