Commerce News | TechCrunch

Amazon is fumbling in India

Manish Singh — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 19:56:19 +0000

Amazon's decision to overlook quick-commerce in India is now looking like a significant misstep.

Indian conglomerate Reliance slashed over 42,000 jobs last financial year

Manish Singh — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 06:30:54 +0000

Reliance, India's largest conglomerate, reduced its workforce by 11%, or more than 42,000 people, in the financial year ended March 2024.

Jumia plans to raise more than $100 million in secondary shares to drive stalled user growth

Tage Kene-Okafor — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 23:00:38 +0000

African e-commerce company Jumia is selling 20 million American depositary shares over the next couple of weeks, TechCrunch has learned. The at-the-market transaction is to take advantage of strong results despite a volatile market. Given Jumia’s share price of around $5.70 when the stock market opened on Tuesday, the e-commerce company could potentially raise approximately […]

PayPal makes quick guest-checkout solution Fastlane available to US businesses

Ivan Mehta — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

PayPal said on Tuesday that it is making its quick guest-checkout solution, Fastlane, available to all U.S. merchants after testing it with select businesses for a few months. Businesses will initially have to use the company’s payment processing services, such as PayPal Braintree or PayPal Complete Payments, to use Fastlane. The company started testing Fastlane […]

Amazon’s India chief resigns amid intensifying competition

Manish Singh — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 12:39:03 +0000

Manish Tiwary, the head of Amazon’s India operations, is leaving the firm “to pursue an opportunity outside of the company” as the U.S. e-commerce giant grapples with mounting pressure from competitors in one of its crucial international markets, TechCrunch has confirmed. Tiwary, who took over as country manager in late 2020, is departing as Amazon […]

GrubMarket has acquired Good Eggs

Ingrid Lunden — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 09:08:52 +0000

Sources with knowledge of the deal said it was an all-stock transaction that valued Good Eggs slightly above its previous valuation of $22 million.

Flipkart blitzes into India’s 10-minute quick commerce battle

Manish Singh — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 14:10:59 +0000

India’s fast-growing quick commerce market is getting a new deep-pocketed entrant: Walmart-owned Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce firm. Flipkart has started to roll out Flipkart Minutes, its quick commerce service, in parts of Bengaluru. The new service offers customers the ability to have a wide range of items, from grocery to smartphones, delivered to them within […]

DSA vs. DMA: How Europe’s twin digital regulations are hitting Big Tech

Natasha Lomas — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

While both the DSA and DMA aim to achieve distinct things, they are best understood as a joint response to Big Tech's market power.

Indian startups gut valuations ahead of IPO push

Manish Singh — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 12:36:14 +0000

Ola Electric and FirstCry are set to test investor appetite with public listing, both pricing their shares below their previous valuation asks.

TechCrunch Minute: Investors pour money into non-alcoholic beverages

Anthony Ha — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Startups are attracting serious funding to provide fun, alcohol-free drink options at the bar and in other social contexts. Earlier this year, canned water company Liquid Death announced that it has raised $67 million in new funding at a $1.4 billion valuation. And Athletic Brewing Company, which describes itself as America’s largest non-alcoholic brewery, said […]

Spain’s antitrust watchdog fines Booking.com nearly $450M for unfair terms and restricting rivals

Natasha Lomas — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 18:17:30 +0000

The CNMC opened an investigation of Booking.com back in October 2022, following complaints by the Spanish Association of Hotel Managers and the Regional Hotel Association of Madrid.

Egypt’s Cartona raises $8.1M even as investors pull back from B2B e-commerce in Africa

Tage Kene-Okafor — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:00:00 +0000

When Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform Cartona last raised money in 2022, global and local investors were eager to invest in African startups solving the supply chain and operational challenges for retailers and suppliers in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. Two years on, investors aren’t as enthused anymore as the business models of such startups, […]

Qoo10’s CEO pledges personal assets worth $58M to compensate Korean merchants affected by its liquidity crisis

Kate Park — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 07:59:55 +0000

During an emergency hearing held by the South Korean government, Young-bae Ku, Qoo10's founder said he would secure the amount over the next 30 days.

Singaporean e-commerce firm Qoo10’s Korean units face probe due to payment delays to merchants

Kate Park — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 12:58:50 +0000

The e-commerce market in South Korea ranks as one of the largest in the world, but it’s also proving to be a precarious one. On Thursday, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission announced that it had launched an investigation into two major South Korean e-commerce platforms owned by Qoo10 — Ticket Monster (TMON) and WeMakePrice — […]

Google’s latest Privacy Sandbox gambit could pit user choice against tracking

Natasha Lomas — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 14:11:47 +0000

Google is no longer proposing to deprecate third-party tracking cookies in Chrome, instead suggesting that users be given an option to deny tracking.

EU to investigate Delivery Hero and Glovo over food delivery cartel concerns

Natasha Lomas — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 11:08:35 +0000

The EC has announced an investigation into Berlin-based food delivery giant Delivery Hero and its Spanish subsidiary, Glovo, citing cartel concerns.

Swiggy turns Minis into a link-in-bio platform

Ivan Mehta — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 13:09:56 +0000

Indian food delivery and quick commerce startup Swiggy is pivoting one of its smaller businesses, Swiggy Minis, into a link-in-bio service.

Amazon Prime Day 2024 sales hit record $14.2 billion

Ivan Mehta — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 14:52:06 +0000

Amazon’s Prime Day event clocked record sales this year, as U.S. consumers spent $14.2 billion across July 16 and 17, according to Adobe Analytics. This marks an 11% jump from last year’s $12.7 billion total. Buyers spent $7.2 billion on day one of the 2024 online event, up 11.2% from a year prior. Adobe Analytics […]

US buyers spent $7.2B on the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day sales event

Ivan Mehta — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 15:42:14 +0000

Adobe's report noted that consumers spent $7.2 billion on the first day as compared to $6.4 billion on the first day in 2023.

Some teens under 18 may have have access to TikTok Shop, despite adults-only policy

Sarah Perez — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 00:00:33 +0000

The tests indicate there are loopholes in TikTok's ability to apply its parental controls and policies effectively in a situation where the teen user originally lied about their age, as many likely do.