With Amazon opening its first physical store, Apple Pay replacing credit cards and self-updating pricing labels in supermarkets, the worlds of ecommerce and high street retail are becoming ever-more entwined. As part of our review of the year, we look back at the key trends that shaped ecommerce in 2015, including China’s record-breaking ‘Singles day’, Facebook’s social shopping boost and the eBay/ PayPal divorce.
Key trends to check your 2016 plans against:
Biggest 10 headlines of the year:
Amazon opens first physical book store
Amazon is opening its first physical bookstore, 20 years after the world’s biggest online retailer started selling publications on the internet.
China’s Singles Day breaks ecommerce records
China’s online shopping holiday ‘Singles Day’ has broken all previous records, lead by ecommrce giant Alibaba, with a shopping total was bigger than Facebook’s entire revenue last year.
Unilever online sales growth now ‘double global average’
Unilever’s online sales are growing at twice the rate of the global ecommerce market, fuelled by strong performance in the UK, Ireland and France.
Facebook takes on Amazon with ‘one click’ mobile shopping
Facebook is introducing a shopping section in its mobile app within the same menu as its Events and Groups offerings, as the social network looks to take on Amazon in the growing mobile commerce sector.
Google makes second attempt at mobile payments with Android Pay
Google is launching its second attempt at mobile payments, rolling out a new ‘Android pay’ service across the US this week.
Amazon ‘Dash’ buttons go on sale for $5
Amazon’s new Dash Button fridge magnets are now available for purchase, letting users order refills of household products with a single click.
Amazon bigger than Walmart after surprise profit jump
Amazon shares have surged more than 18% in after-hours trading after it reported a surprise profit and better-than-expected sales figures that value the online retailer higher than Walmart for the first time.
PayPal and eBay split into separate companies
eBay and PayPal are today splitting their operations into two individual companies, having traded together since eBay bought PayPal in 2002.
Apple Pay coming to UK in July… but it’s not for big spenders
Apple’s contactless payment service will launch in the UK in July, but the system could be limited to transactions of 20 or less.
Sainsbury’s tests self-updating e-ink price labels
Sainsbury’s is trialling a new digital pricing display system that uses e-Ink technology rather than traditional paper to produce self-updating pricing tickets.