E-Commerce

Alibaba's sales for Singles Day, China's equivalent of Cyber Monday, passed the $9 billion mark late Tuesday, topping last year's record of around $5.9 billion. The total, measured as gross merchandise volume, was announced via Alibaba's Alizila.com Twitter account, using the hashtag #1111sale. It said that 42.6 percent of sales were generated via mobile. Singles Day — so named because the date Nov. 11 has four singles (11/11) — was started as an inside joke between university students, but has morphed into China's equivalent of Cyber Monday.

Amazon.com, Best Buy, eBay, Newegg, Sears … the list goes on. The e-commerce space is becoming flooded with marketplaces, but in a good way. Selling on marketplaces can be one of the quickest ways to access more online shoppers, expand your brand exposure and grow online revenue (globally and domestically).

This summer, Lucky, the 14-year-old "magazine about shopping," made a surprising announcement: it was merging with e-commerce company BeachMint and spinning off from Condé Nast as an independent company. In addition to the existing print magazine, the new Lucky Group will include a website with a heavy e-commerce focus, set to launch early next year. The Lucky Group's president, former L'Oréal marketing executive Gillian Gorman Round, sat down with Adweek to talk about the marriage of magazines and online shopping, what she likes in an ad and Lucky's new direction. 

H&M's websites experienced early disruptions amid high demand from shoppers for its latest guest collection by designer Alexander Wang. "It's been extremely popular among our customers, with many people queuing in all our markets," H&M spokesman Hacan Andersson said, adding 500 people had been waiting outside the retailer's store in Sydney. Earlier, the company's websites gave a message saying shoppers should try again later to gain access amid high demand for the collection. H&M, usually known for fast fashion at inexpensive prices, has used celebrity collections as a marketing tool to stoke sales each November since 2004.

Forget UPS and the Postal Service, your next Amazon.com package may arrive in a taxi. The e-commerce giant this fall tested package delivery by licensed cab in San Francisco and Los Angeles using taxi-hailing mobile app Flywheel, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon is studying the broader use of taxis as delivery vehicles, those people said. Taxis represent Amazon's latest experiment to speed package shipments to compete more directly with brick-and-mortar retailers, and to seek alternatives to UPS, FedEx and USPS after shipping delays last Christmas.

eBay sent an email to members of its eBay Main Street initiative reminding them to vote and helping them find their voting information. The letter included a link to a page on the eBayMainStreet.com website where eBay said its industry "has much at stake in this election," and that elected officials have the ability to positively or negatively shape legislation affecting eBay and its members. eBay has weighed in on many issues affecting e-commerce and has years of experience marshalling its sellers to lobby on its behalf. 

Sewing machines hum inside a spacious clothing boutique where the wife and son of lululemon athletica's founder hope to capture the retail magic that turned the yogawear maker into a stock market darling. Meet Kit and Ace, the brainchild of billionaire Chip Wilson's wife, former lululemon lead designer Shannon Wilson, who started the new streetwear venture with his son J.J. Backed entirely by Wilson family money, Kit and Ace has started with one store in the heart of Vancouver's artsy Gastown neighborhood.

Amazon.com's CEO Jeff Bezos has a knack for harnessing product reviews to get consumers to buy online. Lisa Diaz unknowingly became part of that marketing push last month after posting a comment on how much her son would like a train set shown on an Amazon social media page. The company took her feedback — along with that from 400,000 other moms who post on one of the company's Facebook pages — and distilled it into a "Mom Picks 2014" list of 50 top toys and games for the holidays.

In a move echoing the founding days of Overstock.com, the company has purchased the entire inventory of online jewelry company Bidz.com, out of foreclosure. "We don't want to lose sight of where we come from," said Overstock President Stormy Simon. "When we have opportunities to bring our customers extraordinary deals like this, we make it happen." Several Brink's armored trucks transported  the high-end jewelry, which was estimated at more than $89 million, from California to Overstock's Utah distribution center in preparation for sale on the website. 

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