Latin America, led particularly by Brazil, is continuing rapid growth in its online economy, according to a new study by Internet Retailer. And the boom in ecommerce is good news not only for Latin American Internet retailers, but also for some prominent U.S.-based companies as well -- especially Amazon.com.
Alibaba, the Chinese Internet commerce giant coming to U.S. markets soon in the form of an initial public offering, just unveiled which exchange the much-anticipated stock will trade on. The New York Stock Exchange won the big name in yet another step toward a huge IPO.
On Thursday, Amazon released a relatively strong quarterly earnings report, with revenues and sales that were better than expected. But soon after, shares in the largest ecommerce company in the world dropped precipitously, down nearly 10 percent at the end of trading on Friday. What gives?
Ecommerce, with Amazon.com leading the charge, has already decimated lingering brick-and-mortar retail stores that sell electronics and tech widgets. Now, with its new Amazon Dash gadget, the world's largest online retailer is signaling it's serious about going after your grocery store, too.
On Thursday, office-supply retailer Staples joined the crowd of brick and mortar retailers clearly hurt by a tepid holiday shopping season and competition from online ecommerce. But Staples' attitude appears to be "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
