Why you can buy the same product at different retailers for vastly different prices

Oct 1, 2024
When a retailer buys a product from a manufacturer as is and slaps its own label and price tag on it, the practice is called white labelling.
White labeling is "more common than you think it is," says retail trend analyst Natalie Kotlyar with BDO.
Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Despite all the recent growth, e-commerce still has room to expand

Sep 17, 2024
About 20% of retail sales are online these days.
Practices like curbside pickup for online orders, which was popularized early in the pandemic, have made it difficult to track just how many sales are made online versus in person.
Robin L Marshall/Getty Images

What if your deepfake was circulating halfway across the world in China?

Jun 21, 2024
Deepfakes of foreigners have been cropping up more frequently on Chinese social media.
A Chinese social media account showing deepfakes of a foreigner who turns out to be a real person in the U.S.: journalism professor Andrea Gabor.
Kuaishou

Non-store retail sales grew more than 10% since last November

Dec 14, 2023
$1.2 trillion was spent outside of brick-and-mortar stores this year — much of it online. Here's some of the trends shaping e-commerce spending.
Non-retail sales — mostly online shopping — grew by more than 10% year-over-year, according to the Commerce Department.
Poike/Getty Images

Paperless billing is costing the paper industry. But storeless shopping helps.

Nov 3, 2023
Revenue for the U.S. paper mill industry has declined in recent years. E-commerce, though, has stirred a boom in cardboard packaging.
A box of paper from fictional company Dunder Mifflin, made famous in "The Office."
Donald Bowers/Getty Images for Quill.com

From e-commerce to brick and mortar

Oct 26, 2023
After years selling on Etsy, Mimi Striplin of The Tiny Tassel in South Carolina saw a "need to create a space for people that looked like me.”
The Aneris Collective

An app's worth is partly the data it's got on you, the customer

Sep 18, 2023
Retail apps like Instacart are valued more and more for their consumer data — and advertising possibilities.
"You search for yogurt, and there's, like, a Chobani ad," says Sucharita Kodali of Forrester. "It's more lucrative to sell an ad than it is to actually, in many cases, sell the yogurt."
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

E-commerce and running a business 24/7

Jun 9, 2023
In a world connected via the internet, small businesses are taking advantage of social media to promote their brand.
Remark Glass recycles used bottles and glass to create unique molten products like rock glasses and vases.
Stevie Chris

Layoffs signal retailers are adjusting to more sharp turns

Apr 17, 2023
Retailers like Walmart and Best Buy are cutting staff as consumers pull back on discretionary spending.
Retail sales had a weak showing in March, and stores like Best Buy and Walmart are laying off workers.
Ken Betancur/Getty Images

This year, it's inflation, not contagion, that's driving online commerce

Dec 26, 2022
While growth in e-commerce is not as strong as it was at the height of the pandemic, shoppers are still going online to look for good deals.
Though many consumers continue to shop online, internet sales have slowed since their pandemic heights.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images