Author: Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

Merchants Sell $1 Billion on Shopify Platform on Holiday Weekend

November 28, 2017 Ina Steiner

Shopify said 500,000 merchants around the world sold over $1 billion in goods on its ecommerce platform over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The top three product categories by sales volume were apparel (1.4 million), accessories (917,000), and housewares (531,000). Press Read more

Number of Holiday-Weekend Shoppers Beats Expectations

November 28, 2017November 28, 2017 Ina Steiner

Over 174 million Americans shopped in stores and online over the 5-day holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation, which had expected the number to be closer to 164 million. Cyber Monday was the top day for online shopping, Read more

Amazon Hardware Wins Big over Holiday Weekend

November 28, 2017 Ina Steiner

Even with its Kindles, Echos, and Fire Sticks, one doesn’t think of Amazon as a hardware company. But over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend extending into Cyber Monday, its Echo Dot and Amazon Fire TV Stick were the best-selling products from Read more

eBay Melds Voice-Activated Shopping and Mobile Browsing

November 28, 2017 Ina Steiner

eBay collaborated with Google to enable voice-activated shopping on the Google Assistant, which is Google’s version of Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa, and now offers the ability to switch from the Google voice platform to a smartphone. eBay said it Read more

Online Black Friday Sales Grew 20 Percent over Last Year

November 27, 2017 Ina Steiner

Thanksgiving and Black Friday online sales saw strong growth this year compared to last year, according to comScore. The research firm said Thanksgiving online sales (excluding mobile) grew 22%, while Black Friday saw growth of 20%. comScore also published figures Read more

eBay Lobbies DC Policy Makers on Tax Issues

November 23, 2017 Ina Steiner

eBay Chief Financial Officer Scott Schenkel was in Washington, DC, recently where he met with legislators and White House staff to advocate for sound tax policy for small businesses and entrepreneurs, according to the company, which noted that tax reform Read more

eBay Helps Kiva Borrowers Sell on Its Marketplace

November 23, 2017 Ina Steiner

eBay partnered with micro-lender Kiva and launched a dedicated landing page called Kiva Marketplace on eBay. eBay will provide Kiva borrowers with seller assistance from eBay specialists and is waiving the first three months of seller fees for Kiva borrowers. Read more

eBay Warns UK Sellers about Google Browser Requirements

November 22, 2017 Ina Steiner

eBay warned sellers in the UK about changes it’s rolling out due to Google browser security requirements. Sellers who have dealt with the changes in the US have found it to be a painful experience, so UK sellers should make Read more

USPS Postal Inspectors Offer Tips to Protect Holiday Packages

November 22, 2017 Ina Steiner

Last month, the USPS said it expected to delivery 850 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, an increase of 10% over last year. The Postal Inspection Service is in charge of keeping those shipments safe, and today it Read more

eBay Showcases Select Sellers to Celebrate Small Business Saturday

November 22, 2017 Ina Steiner

eBay is highlighting inventory and deals from some of its small business sellers in a curated shopping experience to celebrate Small Business Saturday, which takes place on November 25th this year (it always falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving). If Read more