The 2026 eCom Trends Report
Top Report Findings: This is our sixth Trends Report with 300 owners representing $3.5...
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
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
- Twitter added fact checking labels to President Trump’s tweets, causing him to issue an executive order against the company
- Facebook allowed another controversial Presidential tweet to remain as-is citing being a company “…committed to free expression.”
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 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
- 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
Top Forum Discussions
(Membership required to access. Not a member? Apply to join our vibrant community of 7-figure store owners today.)
- Annual Expert Update: Shopify 2020
- I Just Received the Best Gift Ever from My Remote Team
- Salsa Dancing My Way to Mental Salvation
- I’m Putting up $50,000 for Frontline Workers
- 20 Min Yoga 3x per Week Is Changing My Life
- A Love Letter to Quarantine
- Introducing Our New Community Guides!
Looking for Capital and/or Mentorship?
If you’re interested in long-term funding from a team that also has the skills, eCommerce rolodex and battle-tested knowledge to help you grow, you need to check out eCommerceFuel Capital.
Post by Andrew Youderian
Founder and Chief Instigator, eComFuel
Andrew quit an early finance job to sell CB radios online — an admittedly unorthodox career path. It set him on a course to found and sell multiple businesses, host a decade-running podcast, lecture at Harvard Business School and create eComFuel, the leading community for 7- and 8-figure online business owners. Andrew is fascinated with branding, AI, building community, investing and growing meaningful businesses that don't require sacrificing what truly matters.
