In 2023, viewers watched more than 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos on YouTube, according to the platform, which reports “a 25 percent increase in watch time” for videos that help people shop. The uptick coincided with the introduction of tagging features for creators, and now YouTube is expanding its retail involvement even further by allowing creators to set up storefronts and sell products in-app, as yet another way to monetize the service. The move comes as TikTok seeks to grow TikTok Shop as high as $17.5 billion in the U.S., a tenfold increase. Continue reading YouTube Adds Shopping Features for Products, Virtual Stores

In its continuing effort to expand in-app shopping activity, TikTok is testing an option to allow users to automatically identify products in their uploads — a march toward making all objects shoppable. The test lets select users toggle to “Identify Similar Objects” within a video. When activated, the AI-powered ISO highlights matching products that can be purchased in-app. TikTok has been exploring the feature for deployment in the United States this past year. TikTok parent ByteDance has for some time been using the in-stream shopping feature in the platform’s Chinese sister platform, Douyin. Continue reading TikTok Tests Feature Designed to Streamline In-App Shopping

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric spoke with CTA Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Rachel Nemeth during CES 2024 about the challenges of extending safety to products that are constantly evolving and incorporating new technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. Nemeth pointed out that the agency’s authorizing statute was enacted in 1972 and was last amended in 2008. “We’re doing a lot of good work with the statute we have,” Hoehn-Saric responded. “But we’re changing the way we operate. We talk a lot about machine learning and AI.” Continue reading CES: Championing Consumer Product Safety in the Age of AI

Spotify has launched an in-app dedicated Merch Hub that will offer personalized purchase recommendations based on listening habits. Previously, the music streamer’s shopping opportunities were through artist profile pages as well as via the Now Playing view and new release pages. Now, “instead of having to browse artist by artist, this update makes it easier than ever to access all artist merch in one place,” Spotify says. Last year, the streamer reported “the highest-grossing merch sales week for artists in Spotify history” in its annual Wrapped report. Continue reading Spotify Offers ‘Merch Hub’ for Recommendations and More

Amazon has developed a new virtual fan experience that includes shopping and interactive tours to tie-in with popular Prime Video series and films. The first such immersive experience is designed for fans of the Prime Video series “Gen V,” and includes a virtual tour of the show’s fictional Godolkin University, which trains aspiring superheroes, complete with a campus store brimming with actual merchandise that fans can purchase from Amazon. The programming extensions aim to offer “culturally rich environments for customers to discover, learn, experience, and consume more of their favorite stories” while shopping. Continue reading Amazon Launches Immersive Online Shopping on Prime Video

Salesforce suggests “the retail industry is again on the precipice of major disruption” based on consumer adoption of artificial intelligence, which is being used to change shopping habits and inform purchases through things like personalization, browsing suggestions and recommendations based on past habits and visualizations. Other popular use cases include AI-generated marketing assets and customer service agents. Based on a study conducted in May and June of this year involving 2,400 shoppers and 1,125 retail decision makers, Salesforce notes that one in six shoppers, or 17 percent, have already used generative AI for “purchase inspiration.” Continue reading Salesforce: 17 Percent of Shoppers Have Used Generative AI

Amazon is rolling out systematic artificial intelligence summaries of customer product reviews for mobile users. The retail giant says it will be using generative AI to condense highlights of consumer comments so buyers won’t have to wade through dozens of individual reviews to grasp recurring sentiments. Short, AI-generated paragraphs will begin appearing on the product detail page, highlighting prevalent opinions. Along with the summary, Amazon will also include clickable buttons that highlight key product attributes, such as “ease of use,” “wearability” or “performance,” linking the references to reviews that discuss those aspects in detail. Continue reading Amazon’s Generative AI Will Help Streamline Product Reviews

Amazon’s AWS cloud-computing unit generated $22.1 billion in Q2, a 12 percent year-over-year gain that was a highlight in a strong quarter for the e-commerce giant. The company generated a total of $134.4 billion in revenue for the period ending in June, an 11 percent increase over the prior year. Advertising was also strong, jumping 22 percent to $10.68 billion. Cost-cutting and rebounding e-commerce helped propel the Seattle-based company to a quarterly profit of $6.75 billion (its strongest performance since Q4 2021), which contrasted sharply with a loss in the same period last year. Continue reading AWS, Advertising Drive Amazon to 11 Percent Revenue Gain

Amazon says it achieved its “fastest Prime speeds ever” for deliveries across the 60 largest U.S. metro areas in Q2, when more than half its member orders arrived “the same or next day.” The benchmark announcement precedes this week’s earnings statement and was couched as fulfillment and transportation investments that have paid off. Amazon says it will in two years double the number of same-day delivery sites. So far in 2023 it has “delivered more than 1.8 billion units to U.S. Prime members the same or next day,” almost four times the shipments delivered at that rate during the same period in in 2019. Continue reading Amazon Boosts Efforts to Ship its Prime Deliveries in One Day

TikTok is making a big push into e-commerce with a plan to sell made-in-China products to consumers. The move sets up a rivalry with popular shopping platforms Shein and Temu to bring Chinese goods to the U.S., while the overall approach replicates the successful “Sold by Amazon” program. As with leading online marketplace Amazon.com and the companies it represents, TikTok will warehouse and ship items — ranging from clothing, electronics and kitchenware — for Chinese merchants, handling checkout, marketing and after-sale services. TikTok plans to debut its American shopping program in August. Continue reading TikTok Offering Chinese Goods via U.S. E-Commerce Market

The Federal Trade Commission has filed suit against Amazon, alleging the e-commerce giant surreptitiously enrolled millions of people in the $139 per year Amazon Prime program, and once subscribed made it difficult for them to cancel. “Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said, citing “deceptive user-interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions.” Continue reading FTC Sues Amazon Over Deceptive Practices Involving Prime

Streaming platforms are the destination of choice for Gen Zers when it comes to content consumption, with mobile devices also playing a crucial role in their television viewing choices, according to a new study by analytics provider Samba TV. That inevitably raises the stock of streaming platforms with advertisers striving to reach the elusive 18-26 demographic now known as the streaming-first generation. A diverse and multicultural generation with unique values and behaviors, including frequently shopping online while viewing, Gen Z offers an opportunity for advertisers that want omniscreen outcomes. Continue reading Samba TV Report Reveals Advertiser Path to Reaching Gen Z

Amazon is rolling out its Inspire shopping feed to all U.S. customers. The short-form video and photo feed, which has drawn comparisons to TikTok, lets customers explore products while shopping from content created by influencers and brands. After logging in to the Amazon Shopping app, the Inspire light bulb icon will connect users to a menu of more than 20 categories, from makeup and skin care to pets, gaming, travel, health and more. Users can vertically scroll the content feed and double-tap on the screen to create “likes” for the content displayed. Continue reading Amazon Expands Its Release of ‘Inspire’ Video Shopping App

Amazon is giving Alexa an AI update, with a “more generalized and capable” large language model in development to power the device, CEO Andy Jassy told investors on the company’s Q1 earnings call. While Jassy addressed updates to the company’s AI and machine learning tech that is now facing increased competition, it was actually advertising that gave the company bragging rights this quarter. Amazon’s ad products had 21 percent revenue growth year-over-year, totaling $9.5 billion. As many digital companies struggle to maintain ad momentum in a restrained market, the results are impressive. Continue reading Amazon Has Ad Surge, Looks to Better LLM to Power Alexa

In his first letter to creators, YouTube’s new CEO Neal Mohan emphasized the company’s priority for the year ahead is to keep providing creators with tools to make money. YouTube is also focusing on experiments with generative AI, and alternative formats including Shorts and podcasts. “A little over 15 years ago, I visited a company with an interesting take on digital video. As I walked through YouTube’s small offices above a pizza parlor, I could see the promise of the platform” Mohan reminisced. “In today’s challenging macroeconomic climate, we’re offering opportunities to grow a business on our platform.” Continue reading YouTube CEO Mohan Emphasizes AI, Creators, New Features