The IRS is building its own online tax filing system allowing taxpayers to directly send electronic returns to the government at no cost, bypassing commercial options like TurboTax. In a pilot test planned for next year, the IRS aims to offer an alternative to the $14 billion tax-preparation industry.
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Shein, one of the largest fashion retailers, has launched a marketplace in the U.S., expanding its offerings beyond fashion and becoming a hybrid retailer and marketplace. With sales reaching $30 billion in 2022 and projecting global GMV to grow to $80 billion in 2025, Shein aims to become a top online retailer in the U.S. […]
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Bed Bath & Beyond, once a thriving retail powerhouse and popular home furnishings destination, is now facing bankruptcy. The company’s revenue has declined, and its stock price has fallen by nearly 70% year over year. With so much uncertainty surrounding the company’s future, many wonder how things went wrong. According to insights from retail experts cited by CBS News, Bed Bath & Beyond made three key mistakes that contributed to its decline.
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Amazon has implemented a $1 fee for return drop-offs to UPS stores, but only if there is a free alternative location, such as Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh, within the same distance. The move has led some industry experts to speculate that this is the start of the end for free returns.
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eBay has expanded the real estate it devotes to ads on search results pages, creating even more opportunities for sellers to promote their listings with Promoted Listings AdvancedBETA. This expansion offers three additional premium placements on the search results page, increasing the total placements to seven. Promoted Listings Standard ads will also benefit from this change, appearing in these same Advanced slots in addition to other places on and off eBay.
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Baymard Institute has published a report outlining eight key ways to optimize e-commerce websites for better user experience in 2023. The report, which is based on 110,000 hours of large-scale usability testing, offers recommendations for highlighting core products and brand features on the homepage, offering supplementary pages about the brand and product attributes, and having a “Best Sellers” category. The report also suggests improving the on-site search, using high-quality product images, providing enough product information, and offering a guest checkout option.
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eBay UK has launched a new feature that allows sellers to create and share custom posts on various social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest). This feature is currently only available for eBay UK sellers. However, eBay US sellers can stay tuned for a likely announcement on the US Seller Announcement board.
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Amazon’s FBA Donations program allows sellers to donate their unwanted products to charity, including returns and overstock FBA inventory. In 2022 alone, sellers donated almost 100 million products through the program. Now, sellers who used the program can access a donation certificate through Seller Central, which reports the inventory they donated in the previous year. The certificate contains the quantity and description of the donated inventory and can be used to determine tax benefits with the help of a tax advisor.
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OnTrac and LaserShip, two leading e-commerce parcel carriers, have jointly launched a new brand identity and will be marketed under OnTrac. The rebranding initiative, including a new name, logo, website, and visual identity, comes after the companies were brought under shared ownership in 2021.
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