Players gonna play, haters gonna hate — and Taylor Swift wasn't the only one shaking it off this week. No, when people are declaring war on each other over burger emojis, short sellers are coming for Shopify and holiday shoppers are staying home, "shake it off" is the only and best option. Well, that and throwing approximately 20,000 Christmas parties.  Read More...

With attention spans getting shorter, videos keep eyes on the page — and may be a key to funneling those eyes through to a product page and purchase, according to Allon Caidar, TVPage CEO and founder. Why send a customer down a three-click path to purchase when a video has sold them on the product? It's easier to let them buy straight from the video, a strategy Facebook is trying out and one that TVPage endeavors to bring to other brands hoping to increase eCommerce traffic.  Read More...

As retailers look to compete with Amazon every which way they can, Karen Webster says they might want to consider a 92-year-old business model that transformed how consumers purchased products. Launched in 1926, the Book of the Month Club turned consumers into members and gave them great deals when buying a curated selection of books. That business and its membership model went south as Amazon’s sales went north, but it's making a comeback. New platforms using membership models are finding riches in curated retail niches that Amazon, with its scale, isn’t serving. According to Webster, it’s an irony that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Read More...