Nearly half of toys from third-party online sellers found to be dangerous

UK industry body warns of ‘wild west of safety’ after investigation into toys being sold on major sitesNearly half the toys purchased from third-party sellers on online marketplaces were dangerous, according to an investigation by an industry body that…

Amazon will allow U.S. Prime members to send gifts using only an email or phone number

In preparation for the holiday shopping season, Amazon today convenient a new way to send gifts through its mobile app. Instead of entering in the recipient’s mailing address — a piece of information people often don’t know in today’s age of digital communications — Prime members can now send a gift to a friend via their […]

TikTok’s new ad products invite users to interact with taps, swipes, likes and more

TikTok this week presented its new plan to ramp up advertiser investment in its video platform with the expansion of e-commerce, a new promise of “brand safety” and the launch of several new and interactive ad formats, ranging from clickable stickers to “Choose Your Own Adventure”-type ads to “super likes” and more. The additions, the […]

TikTok Shopping expands with more partnerships, LIVE Shopping, new ads and more

TikTok is expanding its investment in e-commerce. Earlier this year, the video platform began piloting TikTok Shopping in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, in partnership with Shopify. The deal allowed Shopify merchants with a TikTok For Business account to add a Shopping tab to their TikTok profiles and sync their product catalogs to the app […]

Google adds news ways to shop, like turning a website’s photos into shoppable products

Google today introduced new ways to shop through its platform, including both online and via its Google Search mobile app. In an update coming soon to the Google Search app for iPhone, the company will begin to leverage a new machine learning model using on-device processing to recognize the products found in images on a […]

The surge in ‘buy now pay later’ – and why we should be worried

Fintech firms are jostling to offer millennials interest-free payment plans as they shop online. Retailers love it of course, but all this unregulated lending is ringing alarm bellsShoppers tempted by Boohoo’s bestselling satin skater dress are bombard…