WebProNews

Category: Retail & eCommerce

eCommerce, Online Retail & Retail News

  • New E-Commerce Benchmark Study Out

    MarketingSherpa and eBay’s Magento have a new E-commerce Benchmark Study out, which utilized data from 3,000 hours of research, survey responses from 4,346 marketers, interviews with “key e-commerce leaders,” and a review of academic works related to e-commerce. It has nearly a hundred charts looking at various points of analysis aimed at illustrating trends, those with the most prevalent marketplace strategies, and insights into successful tactics.

    The research found that email marketing and organic search were the most frequent sources of e-commerce traffic across all revenue ranges.

    While the percent receiving significant traffic from each channel was mostly consistent across product categories, percentages were increased for those using email in the apparel market and using referrals in business services. Jewelry and gifts, publishing, computer software, and business services are using content marketing less than other categories.

    Among other key findings were that those lacking robust reporting tools giving a “360-degree view” of all aspects of a customer purchase and profile are significantly hindered when it comes to growth and optimization.

    It also found that companies with a testing and optimization strategy based on extensive historical data saw higher median conversion rates than those that test based on intuition, best practices or that don’t do any testing.

    Additionally, the research found that margins are generally either holding steady or rising for the majority of companies.

    The paper was led by Diana Sindicich, PhD, Senior Director of Data Sciences for MECLABS, the parent company of MarketingSherpa.

    You can find the whole report here.

    Image via MarketingSherpa

  • Gartner Releases Supply Chain Top 25, Apple Leads For 7th Consecutive Year

    Gartner Releases Supply Chain Top 25, Apple Leads For 7th Consecutive Year

    Gartner has released its 10th annual Supply Chain Top 25, and Apple is at the top of the list for the seventh year in a row. McDonald’s came in second for the second consecutive year.

    A couple of new companies entered the list this time: Seagate and Kimberly-Clark.

    The composite score is calculated using the following equation: (Peer Opinion*25%) + (Gartner Research Opinion*25%) + (ROA*25%) + (Inventory Turns*15%) + (Revenue Growth*10%).

    “2014 marks the 10th year of our annual Supply Chain Top 25 ranking,” said Stan Aronow, research vice president at Gartner. “As we reach this milestone, we have several longtime leaders with new lessons to share and a number of more recent entrants from the high-tech, consumer product and industrial sectors in the Top 25.”

    Gartner points out three trends for supply chain leaders including: understanding and supporting the fully contextualized customer; a convergence of digital and physical supply chain delivering total customer solutions; and supply chain as trusted and integrated partner. Gartner elaborates on each of these in a press release.

    Image via BusinesWire

  • Google Announces Google Play Payment Improvements And Expansions

    Google Announces Google Play Payment Improvements And Expansions

    Google announced the addition of PayPal support for Google Play in 12 countries as well expanded carrier billing and gift card availability.

    The company says sales of apps and games on Google Play are already up by over 300% versus last year, with two-thirds of them happening outside of the U.S. These announcements are aimed at fueling that momentum.

    Users in the following countries can now use PayPal as a payment option: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United States, United Kingdom.

    Google Play product manager Ibrahim Elbouchikhi writes, “When you make a purchase on Google Play in these countries, you’ll find PayPal as an option in your Google Wallet; just enter your PayPal account login and you’ll easily be able to make purchases. Our goal is to provide users with a frictionless payment experience, and this new integration is another example of how we work with partners from across the payments industry to deliver this to the user.”

    Google has expanded the carrier billing option, which lets people simply have payments billed to their phone bill, is being expanded into seven more countries for a total of 24. The following countries can now use that: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and US. You can see the specific carriers here.

    Google also announced that developers based in 13 new countries can now sell apps on Google Play. These include Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey. Google’s buyer currency is also now available in 28 new countries.

    Image via Google

  • eBay Expands In Latin American Market

    eBay Expands In Latin American Market

    eBay just announced the launch of new Spanish and Portuguese-language versions of its website for customers in Latin America.

    The e-commerce giant already has over 2 million people in Latin America using its site in English and with U.S. dollars, but now they’ll be able to shop localized versions with local promotions and currencies in addition to native languages.

    As long as eBay has been around it’s hard to believe they’re just doing this in 2014, but better late than never.

    “Over the past year, eBay has started to build a presence in Latin America, partnering with PayPal on a variety of efforts, and understanding what matters most to shoppers in the region,” said Wendy Jones, vice president of global expansion and cross border trade for eBay. “Latin America is one of the fastest-growing commerce markets, and we are innovating the eBay experience for our customers there, delivering more relevant, engaging experiences – in their local language and currency – to better enable them to shop the world.”

    “The launch of a localized eBay in Latin America marks the next step in the company’s ambitious, multi-year journey to accelerate geographic expansion and cross-border trade in BRIC and emerging markets,” eBay said in its announcement. ” In 2012, eBay launched the first of its localized experiences in Russia, the eBay Moda fashion mobile app, which was translated into Russian with currency conversion in rubles. In April 2013, eBay launched the Russian version of eBay.com, enabling Russian consumers to access eBay’s global inventory of more than 250 million listings in their local language and currency. And, in September 2013, eBay rolled out the first of its localized experiences in Latin America, with the Portuguese-language eBay Moda fashion mobile app.”

    The new experiences will be available from the desktop and mobile.

    Online review service Yelp also recently expanded its offerings in Latin America.

    Image via eBay

  • U.S. Desktop E-Commerce Spending Up 12% From Last Year

    U.S. Desktop E-Commerce Spending Up 12% From Last Year

    comScore put out new findings indicating that desktop-based e-commerce in the U.S. has grown 12% versus the same period last year.

    According to the firm’s estimates for Q1 2014 U.S. digital commerce sales, desktop e-commerce spending reached $56.1 billion during the quarter. That’s actually the eighteenth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and the fourteenth of double-digit growth.

    That’s not to say mobile commerce isn’t contributing significantly. M-commerce spending from smartphones and tablets added $7.3 billion for the quarter, growing by 23% versus a year ago. That brings the grand total for digital commerce spending in the U.S. to $63.4 billion for the quarter by comScore’s figures.

    “Q1 e-commerce and m-commerce spending growth have seen a modest acceleration versus the fourth quarter, which is a positive sign in light of overall softness in consumer discretionary spending across the broader U.S. economy during the early part of the year,” said comScore chairman emeritus Gian Fulgoni. “As we look ahead to the remainder of 2014, we hope that signs of improved consumer sentiment and a strengthening job market will help further bolster digital commerce. In addition, with several key consumer tech product upgrade cycles and new product introductions expected in the back of the year, there would appear to be continued momentum for the market throughout the year barring any unforeseen economic troubles.”

    According to comScore, the top-performing product categories were Apparel & Accessories, Consumer Packaged Goods, Sport & Fitness, Digital Content & Subscriptions, and Home & Garden. Each of these grew by 13%.

    Desktop e-commerce specifically accounted for 11.7% of consumers’ discretionary spending, which comScore says is the highest quarter on record.

    Image via comScore

  • eBay Partners With Invaluable For Live Auctions

    eBay announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Invaluable to bring over 2,000 auction houses to eBay buyers.

    Invaluable has its own live online bidding platform letting collectors and dealers around the world bid in real time. It provides auctioneers with marketing and ecommerce solutions with Invaluable itself as well as with its AuctionZip property. It also gives them access to its own auction management software.

    “Invaluable works with many of the premier brick-and-mortar auction houses around the globe, and they were the natural partner for us to work with to bring live auctions back to the eBay platform,” said Gene Cook, GM of emerging verticals for eBay Marketplaces. “We’re excited to bring Invaluable’s incredible selection of unique, high-end artwork, antiques and collectibles to eBay’s global community.”

    “Invaluable’s online live auction marketplace makes one-of-a-kind merchandise from thousands of Invaluable and AuctionZip auction houses around the globe accessible to online bidders,” said Invaluable CEO Rob Weisberg. “In this exclusive partnership, eBay and Invaluable will rapidly scale the live auction industry by providing online buyers with virtual access to auction house salerooms from the convenience of their home, office or their mobile device.”

    eBay will be launching a destination for arts and collectibles in the coming months. It will use Invaluable’s platforms for auction catalogs, which will be promoted through eBay, and to its users.

    There will be special events, and shoppers will be able to participate in traditional live auctions.

    Image via Invaluable

  • f8 Talk Deals With Leveraging Facebook For Ecommerce

    f8 Talk Deals With Leveraging Facebook For Ecommerce

    Facebook has released a number of discussions from its f8 conference last week on YouTube. If you weren’t able to attend, but are interested in using Facebook to help your ecommerce business, you might want to give this one a watch.

    As the video description explains:

    Learn about our view on the changing ecommerce landscape, and how Facebook’s solutions can help ecommerce merchants drive sales across devices.

    You can find more videos from f8 here.

    Image via YouTube

  • Google Shopping Express Expands To Two More Areas

    Google Shopping Express Expands To Two More Areas

    Google announced on Monday that it is expanding Google Shopping Express, its same-day product delivery service, to Manhattan and West Los Angeles. So far, it has only been available in the Bay Area and the Peninsula & San Jose area.

    “Suddenly realize that you’re designated snack mom tomorrow and don’t have time to run to the store?” writes Jenna Owens, General Manager of Operations of Google Shopping Express. “Or need to bring a new board game to this week’s game night but would rather avoid traffic altogether? Whether you’re in need of some pretzels or a game of Monopoly, Google Shopping Express offers convenient same-day delivery from some of your favorite local stores, delivered to your door in a matter of hours.”

    “With Google Shopping Express, there are no surcharges or mark-ups, products cost exactly what they would in-store,” she writes. “You can also take advantage of in-store discounts and accrue loyalty points by providing your store rewards card information.”

    Consumers in Culver City, Inglewood, Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica, Venice, West Los Angeles, and Westwood can use Google Shopping Express with stores like Costco, Guitar Center, L’Occitane, Smart & Final, Staples, Target, Toys“R”Us/Babies“R”Us, and Walgreens. Manhattan users can shop with Babies“R”Us, Costco, Fairway Market, L’Occitane, Staples, Target, and Walgreens.

    Google says it will be adding other parts of LA (Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista and West Hollywood) as well as Queens and Brooklyn in the coming months. The company is also looking to add more national and local merchants.

    Google is giving users six months of free, unlimited deliveries for a limited time. The offer expires at the end of June.

    Last week, Google put out an infographic showing what San Francisco area shoppers have been using the service for the most.

    Amazon is also expanding its same-day delivery service. More on that here.

    Images via Google

  • Amazon Lets You Add Items To Your Cart With A Twitter Hashtag [#AmazonCart]

    Amazon has released a new Twitter integration that lets customers add items to their cart from Twitter.

    To use it, connect your Twitter account to Amazon, reply with #AmazonCart to any tweet containing an Amazon product link, and finish the purchase on Amazon whenever you’re ready.

    “By connecting your Twitter and Amazon accounts, you are telling Amazon that #AmazonCart requests coming from your Twitter account should be added to your Amazon.com Shopping Cart,” the company explains in a FAQ. “Without that link, Amazon would not know to which customer’s Cart to add the item. To edit your connection preferences, visit your Social Settings or opt out of having Amazon respond to your #AmazonCart requests here (your accounts must be connected in order to opt out).”

    Remember, you’re not actually buying an item when you reply to a tweet with the hashtag. You’re simply adding it to your cart. You can buy it or remove it from your cart later.

    Amazon sends reply tweets from @MyAmazon letting you know if the item was successfully added, if it was out of stock, or how you can finish checking out later.

    Note that people will be able to see your #AmazonCart replies given that Twitter is public (unless, of course, you have your timeline set to private). You may want to avoid adding a new television to your cart on Twitter, and then tweeting about your upcoming vacation.

    This is not the first time Twitter has let users buy things using hashtags. The company partnered with AmEx on a similar concept last year.

    Image via YouTube

  • Google Acquires Retail Solution Makers RangeSpan

    Google Acquires Retail Solution Makers RangeSpan

    Google has acquired RangeSpan, a company that made solutions to get the right products from suppliers to the right retailers. Here it is explained:

    Here’s a demo of its search:

    A message on the RangeSpan site says:

    We are very happy to announce that Rangespan is joining Google. We will continue to work on services for shoppers and retailers at Google, and we’re super excited about the opportunities to come.

    As part of the change, we will wind down Rangespan’s services. We’ve already begun working individually with each of our retailers and suppliers on this process.

    According to TechCrunch, which spoke with founder Ryan Regan, Google will use the acquisition to add big data inventory management to Google Shopping.

    Terms were not disclosed.

    Image via YouTube

  • Which Social Networks & Types Of Posts Are Working For B2B?

    Which Social Networks & Types Of Posts Are Working For B2B?

    B2B Marketing recently released its Social Media Benchmarking Report for 2014, and pulled some key findings together into an interesting infographic.

    It looks at the social networks and types of posts that B2B businesses are using, and what’s working. LinkedIn has a sizable lead over Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Google+ in the “most used” department, and LinkedIn is helping these companies drive revenue far more than the other platforms, though it’s second to Twitter when it comes to boosting brand awareness.

    After many years of businesses facing this challenge, difficulty proving ROI is still the biggest challenge by far. Only 16% are able to demonstrate ROI completely or most of the time, though 44% said they can some of the time compared to 34% who said rarely or not at all.

    Video was found to be the best performing content, followed by written copy, then images. The marketing team is posting to the social channels much more often than experts within the companies or the senior management team.

    The entire report is for sale here.

    Via Marketing Charts

    Image via B2B Marketing

  • Sriracha One Of The Most Popular Same-Day Orders On Google Shopping Express [Infographic]

    Sriracha One Of The Most Popular Same-Day Orders On Google Shopping Express [Infographic]

    As Amazon has expanded its same-day delivery service to additional cities, Google is showing what people buy the most with theirs.

    The company has put out a new infographic looking at what San Francisco Bay Area shoppers are buying using Google Shopping Express. These range from soup to soil.

    “in a single day, people around the Bay Area buy enough cat food through Google Shopping Express to feed about 1,500 cats!” says Jenna Owens, General Manager of Operations on Google Shopping Express. “While a lot of people are buying everyday essentials, they’re also using the service to buy some rather unexpected items like Sriracha hot sauce and tennis balls, which are among some of the most popular products ordered.”

    “But not all neighborhoods around the Bay Area are filling their carts with the same items,” says Owens. “For instance, in San Francisco, people in Potrero Hill buy more cereal than any other neighborhood, while shoppers in Bernal Heights buy the most sunscreen. People in The Marina love getting protein powder delivered on the double, while Mountain View shoppers buy the most rock climbing gear. And when it comes to same-day spreads, people in San Jose buy more mayonnaise than any other city, while Palo Alto tops the list of Nutella purchases.”

    No word on when Google Shopping Express might expand into more cities. Perhaps Amazon’s expansion will help kick it into gear. Right now it’s only available in the Bay Area and the Peninsula & San Jose area.

    Image via Google

  • Groupon Launches ‘Basics’ Bulk Shopping Service

    Groupon Launches ‘Basics’ Bulk Shopping Service

    Groupon just launched an online bulk-shopping service called Groupon Basics. The company says this brings “warehouse scale to online shopping.”

    “From vitamins to shaving supplies, Groupon shoppers can purchase their favorite products in large quantities and have them delivered right to their doorstep without a membership or monthly fee,” a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews. “Basics includes many top household brands such as Gillette, Dove, Airborne, Pantene and Burt’s Bees.”

    “Basics is an exciting expansion of our Groupon Goods online product business,” the spokesperson adds. “By adding this service to our marketplace, we’re providing shoppers with yet another reason to always check Groupon first.”

    The product has been in beta for less than two months, and the company says it’s been pleased with the initial results.

    “In the coming months, we will continue to aggressively build out the existing categories as well as expand into packaged and canned grocery items,” the spokesperson says.

    You can browse the Groupon Basics shopping experience here. It’s available via the Groupon mobile app as well, under the Goods tab.

    The company will release its quarterly earnings next week.

    Image via Groupon

  • Best In-Ear Headphones Chosen By Consumer Reports

    Deciding what the best in-ear headphones are is a contentious topic. After all, sound quality and comfort is largely subjective for a lot of people. That doesn’t mean professional critics can’t try to sort out the best from the junk though.

    Consumer Reports recently put out a list of what it thinks are the best in-ear headphones available today. The exhaustive test saw the critics at Consumer Reports looking at over 150 wired in-ear headphones to determine which one is the best. While a winner is chosen, the magazine does offer a variety of excellent options for all kinds of budgets.

    Starting off, Consumer Reports says the best in-ear headphones are the Polk Audio Nue Era. The magazine cites the headphones excellent sound quality and lightweight as standout features. The magazine also says it likes the tortoise shell design. The Polk Audio Nue Era headphones are a little on the pricey side at $100, but you can usually get a pair cheaper via Amazon or eBay.

    If you want something a little more extravagant, Consumer Reports recommends the Bose QuietComfort 20i. It also has excellent audio quality, but the real standout feature is the noise canceling hardware. Like all things Bose, you’re going to have to spend a lot more than what you’re accustomed to. The QuietComfort 20i retails for $300.

    Let’s say that the above two in-ear headphones are too rich for your tastes. It’s understandable. After all, not everybody has a few Benjamins lying around to spend on some headphones. You want good audio quality at an affordable price, and Consumer Reports has just that. The magazine rated the $10 Panasonic RP-TCM125 rather highly saying that it has excellent sound quality for the price. The only thing it’s lacking is an integrated volume control button so those using these in-ear headphones on a mobile device will have to adjust the volume via the device.

    On a personal note, I highly recommend the Sennheiser CX 300-II in-ear headphones. Out of all the in-ear headphones I’ve used, it packs the best bass. It also comes with three different sizes of rubber cushions so that it fits all ear sizes. The only downside compared to the in-ear headphones above is that it doesn’t have any hardware control buttons or built-in mic. If you need any of that, you’ll want to consider one of the above options. If you put sound quality above all, Sennheiser is an excellent alternative.

    Image via Sennheiser

  • PayPal Just Revealed Its New Logo

    PayPal Just Revealed Its New Logo

    PayPal announced today that it has a new logo, and is altering its brand identity. Behold:

    “When PayPal was first founded in 1998, our image was designed for the online world…making it easier to pay and get paid online…right as consumers were considering e-commerce for the first time,” says Christina Smedley, Vice President, Global Brand at PayPal. “Today, online is just one of the ways we show up to our consumers, merchants and developers, along with in-store, on mobile and elsewhere. To reflect the dozens of ways we make it easier and safer for you to use your money every day, we’re pleased to share our new logo, designed to exemplify that simplicity, convenience and security in this new omni-channel world.”

    “With the help of award-winning design firm, fuseproject and feedback from people who use our products every day, our new brand identity flexes to fit all screen sizes, from wearables and mobile to the biggest, flattest high-definition TVs,” she adds. “It’ll be more legible and recognizable in both type and colors and will easily extend to be usable across the look/feel of various systems, and in the 193 markets we serve worldwide. Connection is a motivating principle behind the redesign — connection to money, to people and between people. It was important to evoke connection that was human and approachable, not too technical.”

    You’ll see the new look immediately on the PayPal site, as well as at Saks.com and zulily.com. It will also appear on all checkout buttons, apps, and PayPal Here devices throughout the year.

    Image via PayPal

  • The RetailMeNot Story Told In Google Talk

    The RetailMeNot Story Told In Google Talk

    RetailMeNot Founder, President and CEO Cotter Cunningham recently spoke at Google as part of the company’s “Talks At Google” series. The talk is called “The Unicorn Club,” and Google just made it available on YouTube.

    The Unicorn Club, according to TechCrunch, refers to “U.S.-based software companies started since 2003 and valued at over $1 billion by public or private market investors.”

    Cunningham talks about the company’s story and how it became so successful.

    More recent Talks At Google here.

    Image via YouTube

  • Etsy Launches iPhone App Just For Sellers (Android Coming Later)

    Etsy Launches iPhone App Just For Sellers (Android Coming Later)

    Etsy just announced the launch of a new iPhone app specifically for sellers called (appropriately) Sell on Etsy. An Android version will come later this year.

    “Etsy sellers are conducting more business from their mobile devices than ever before, and we’re focused on making it easier, faster and more efficient for our sellers to run their shops from wherever they are,” a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews. “Etsy sellers are not the typical mobile user. They’re multitasking at home, teaching in a classroom, working in studios, picking up kids from school — not tethered to a desktop. They rely heavily on mobile devices to manage their Etsy shops. Dedicated solely to the needs of sellers, Sell on Etsy makes it easier for sellers to live their lives and run their businesses with the flexibility, independence and autonomy that they want.”

    The app enables sellers to manage their shop activity feed with purchases, feedback and favorites. They can also manage open orders and review completed ones, as well as create, edit, and publish listings, communicate with buyers, access shop stats, and receive notifications on sales and feedback.

    “With Sell on Etsy, sellers now have an additional tool to help grow their Etsy shops and ensure their Etsy business fits seamlessly into their lives,” the spokesperson says.

    The app has five main sections: Dashboard, Your Items, Orders, Conversations, and Accounts & Settings. There’s also a handy link to switch to the Etsy app.

    Sell on Etsy

    The dashboard is divided into Shop Activity and Shop Stats.

    Your Items lets you add and manage listings, renew expired listings, and search your items by keywords or filters. Listing variations aren’t supported for now. You’ll have to manage those through the desktop.

    The Orders section is divided into Open Orders and Completed Orders, where you can mark them as shipped, add tracking details, print receipts, and contact the buyer.

    Conversations lets you read, respond, or create new conversations with members. There’s a “Snippets” feature, which lets you save commonly used phrases for your communications (also handy).

    Accounts & Settings is pretty self-explanatory. It’s divided into Info & Appearance, Shop Policies & Shop Reviews.

    The app is available in the App Store. It works on iOS 6 and above. There isn’t a native iPad app, but you can download it on your iPad, and tap the 2x on the bottom right of the app window to magnify it.

    More on the Etsy news blog.

    Image via Etsy

  • Amazon Unveils ‘Prime Pantry,’ A New Grocery Service For Prime Members

    Amazon Unveils ‘Prime Pantry,’ A New Grocery Service For Prime Members

    In December, we heard that Amazon was working on a new offering called “Pantry,” which would offer Amazon Prime members about 2,000 grocery products (at first).

    Now, the company has revealed the offering under the specific brand name “Amazon Prime Pantry,” and it is indeed a new way to order groceries from the online retail giant.

    Here’s Amazon’s official description:

    Prime Pantry is a new shopping experience on Amazon.com. Prime members can shop popular household essentials and have them conveniently delivered.

    Adding your first Prime Pantry item to Cart starts a Prime Pantry box. As you shop, you see that each Pantry item tells you what percentage of a Pantry box it fills based on its size and weight. Pantry boxes are large and can hold up to 45 pounds or four cubic feet of household products. As you check items off your list, we continuously track and show you how full your box is.

    You can buy as much or as little as you want for a flat $5.99 delivery fee per Prime Pantry box. Save gas, save money, save time.

    You can buy food, packaged foods, cookie supplies, beverages, personal care products (like bath/beauty), household supplies (like cleaning products and paper products), and pet supplies. You know, groceries.

    This is not to be confused with Amazon’s same-day grocery delivery service Amazon Fresh, though as that expands, a merger between the two offerings doesn’t seem out of the question.

    You can browse the Prime Pantry store here.

    Maybe one day you can have a drone bring you a roll of toilet paper when you realize that you’re out. The company is already working on its 7th and 8th-generation Prime Air models.

    Image via Amazon

  • Apple Earnings Released: Revenue $45.6 Billion, Net Profit $10.2 Billion

    Apple Earnings Released: Revenue $45.6 Billion, Net Profit $10.2 Billion

    Apple just released its earnings report for its fiscal 2014 second quarter, ended March 29th with revenue of $45.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $10.2 billion. That’s compared to $43.6 billion and net profit of $9.5 billion, respectively for the same period last year.

    CEO Tim Cook said, “We’re very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services. We’re eagerly looking forward to introducing more new products and services that only Apple could bring to market.”

    The company beat analysts’ expectations.

    It expects revenue for its third quarter to be between $36 billion and $38 billion.

    Apple also announced that its board of directors has authorized another “significant increase” to Apple’s program to return capital to shareholders, utilizing a total of over $130 billion of cash by the end of next year.

    “We’re confident in Apple’s future and see tremendous value in Apple’s stock, so we’re continuing to allocate the majority of our program to share repurchases,” Cook said. “We’re also happy to be increasing our dividend for the second time in less than two years.”

    Here’s the earnings release in its entirety:

    Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2014 second quarter ended March 29, 2014. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $45.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $10.2 billion, or $11.62 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $43.6 billion and net profit of $9.5 billion, or $10.09 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 39.3 percent compared to 37.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 66 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

    “We’re very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services”

    “We’re very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re eagerly looking forward to introducing more new products and services that only Apple could bring to market.”

    “We generated $13.5 billion in cash flow from operations and returned almost $21 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the March quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “That brings cumulative payments under our capital return program to $66 billion.”

    Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2014 third quarter:

    • revenue between $36 billion and $38 billion

    • gross margin between 37 percent and 38 percent

    • operating expenses between $4.4 billion and $4.5 billion

    • other income/(expense) of $200 million

    • tax rate of 26.1 percent

    Apple will provide live streaming of its Q2 2014 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on April 23, 2014 atwww.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq214. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company’s estimated revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, other income/(expense), and tax rate. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company’s reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company’s products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product introductions and transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company’s gross margin; the inventory risk associated with the Company’s need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components and services essential to the Company’s business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the effect that the Company’s dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; risks associated with the Company’s international operations; the Company’s reliance on third-party intellectual property and digital content; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the Company’s dependency on the performance of distributors, carriers and other resellers of the Company’s products; the effect that product and service quality problems could have on the Company’s sales and operating profits; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; and unfavorable results of other legal proceedings. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2013, its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 28, 2013, and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 29, 2014 to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.

    Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

    NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple’s PR website (www.apple.com/pr), or call Apple’s Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

    © 2014 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

    Apple Inc.

    UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

    (In millions, except number of shares which are reflected in thousands and per share amounts)
    Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
    March 29,
    2014    		 March 30,
    2013    		 March 29,
    2014    		 March 30,
    2013
    Net sales $ 45,646 $ 43,603 $ 103,240 $ 98,115
    Cost of sales (1) 27,699 27,254 63,447 60,706
    Gross margin 17,947 16,349 39,793 37,409
    Operating expenses:
    Research and development (1) 1,422 1,119 2,752 2,129
    Selling, general and administrative (1) 2,932 2,672 5,985 5,512
    Total operating expenses 4,354 3,791 8,737 7,641
    Operating income 13,593 12,558 31,056 29,768
    Other income/(expense), net 225 347 471 809
    Income before provision for income taxes 13,818 12,905 31,527 30,577
    Provision for income taxes 3,595 3,358 8,232 7,952
    Net income $ 10,223 $ 9,547 $ 23,295 $ 22,625
    Earnings per share:
    Basic $ 11.69 $ 10.16 $ 26.31 $ 24.09
    Diluted $ 11.62 $ 10.09 $ 26.16 $ 23.90
    Shares used in computing earnings per share:
    Basic 874,757 939,629 885,415 939,273
    Diluted 879,528 946,035 890,490 946,626
    Cash dividends declared per common share $ 3.05 $ 2.65 $ 6.10 $ 5.30
    (1) Includes share-based compensation expense as follows:
    Cost of sales $ 110 $ 87 $ 219 $ 172
    Research and development $ 300 $ 239 $ 589 $ 463
    Selling, general and administrative $ 286 $ 249 $ 569 $ 485
    Apple Inc.

    UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

    (In millions, except number of shares which are reflected in thousands)
    March 29,
    2014    		 September 28,
    2013
    ASSETS:
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 18,949 $ 14,259
    Short-term marketable securities 22,401 26,287
    Accounts receivable, less allowances of $88 and $99, respectively 9,700 13,102
    Inventories 1,829 1,764
    Deferred tax assets 4,014 3,453
    Vendor non-trade receivables 6,120 7,539
    Other current assets 7,528 6,882
    Total current assets 70,541 73,286
    Long-term marketable securities 109,239 106,215
    Property, plant and equipment, net 15,120 16,597
    Goodwill 2,055 1,577
    Acquired intangible assets, net 3,928 4,179
    Other assets 5,106 5,146
    Total assets $ 205,989 $ 207,000
    LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY:
    Current liabilities:
    Accounts payable $ 18,914 $ 22,367
    Accrued expenses 15,984 13,856
    Deferred revenue 8,310 7,435
    Total current liabilities 43,208 43,658
    Deferred revenue – non-current 3,164 2,625
    Long-term debt 16,962 16,960
    Other non-current liabilities 22,476 20,208
    Total liabilities 85,810 83,451
    Commitments and contingencies
    Shareholders’ equity:
    Common stock and additional paid-in capital, $0.00001 par value: 1,800,000 shares authorized; 861,745 and 899,213 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 21,496 19,764
    Retained earnings 98,934 104,256
    Accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss) (251) (471)
    Total shareholders’ equity 120,179 123,549
    Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $ 205,989 $ 207,000
    Apple Inc.

    UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

    (In millions)
    Six Months Ended
    March 29, 2014 March 30, 2013
    Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the period $ 14,259 $ 10,746
    Operating activities:
    Net income 23,295 22,625
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash generated by operating activities:
    Depreciation and amortization 4,031 3,280
    Share-based compensation expense 1,377 1,120
    Deferred income tax expense 2,059 1,957
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Accounts receivable, net 3,401 3,846
    Inventories (65) (454)
    Vendor non-trade receivables 1,419 1,510
    Other current and non-current assets 14 1,269
    Accounts payable (2,375) (4,422)
    Deferred revenue 1,414 1,541
    Other current and non-current liabilities 1,638 3,658
    Cash generated by operating activities 36,208 35,930
    Investing activities:
    Purchases of marketable securities (90,360) (81,163)
    Proceeds from maturities of marketable securities 10,869 9,243
    Proceeds from sales of marketable securities 80,241 49,188
    Payments made in connection with business acquisitions, net (559) (299)
    Payments for acquisition of property, plant and equipment (3,367) (4,325)
    Payments for acquisition of intangible assets (163) (429)
    Other (23) (93)
    Cash used in investing activities (3,362) (27,878)
    Financing activities:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock 341 275
    Excess tax benefits from equity awards 363 502
    Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards (430) (588)
    Dividends and dividend equivalents paid (5,430) (4,984)
    Repurchase of common stock (23,000) (1,950)
    Cash used in financing activities (28,156) (6,745)
    Increase in cash and cash equivalents 4,690 1,307
    Cash and cash equivalents, end of the period $ 18,949 $ 12,053
    Supplemental cash flow disclosure:
    Cash paid for income taxes, net $ 5,369 $ 4,258
    Cash paid for interest $ 161 $ 0
    Apple Inc.
    Q2 2014 Unaudited Summary Data
    (Units in thousands, Revenue in millions)
    Q2’14 Q1’14 Q2’13 Sequential Change Year/Year Change
    Operating Segments Revenue Revenue Revenue Revenue Revenue
    Americas $14,310 $20,098 $14,052 – 29% 2%
    Europe 10,230 13,073 9,800 – 22% 4%
    Greater China (a) 9,289 8,844 8,213 5% 13%
    Japan 3,963 4,948 3,135 – 20% 26%
    Rest of Asia Pacific 2,627 3,633 3,162 – 28% – 17%
    Retail 5,227 6,998 5,241 – 25% 0%
    Total Apple $45,646 $57,594 $43,603 – 21% 5%
    Q2’14 Q1’14 Q2’13 Sequential Change Year/Year Change
    Product Summary Units Revenue Units Revenue Units Revenue Units Revenue Units Revenue
    iPhone (b) 43,719 $26,064 51,025 $32,498 37,430 $22,955 – 14% – 20% 17% 14%
    iPad (b) 16,350 7,610 26,035 11,468 19,477 8,746 – 37% – 34% – 16% – 13%
    Mac (b) 4,136 5,519 4,837 6,395 3,952 5,447 – 14% – 14% 5% 1%
    iPod (b) 2,761 461 6,049 973 5,633 962 – 54% – 53% – 51% – 52%
    iTunes/Software/Services (c) 4,573 4,397 4,114 4% 11%
    Accessories (d) 1,419 1,863 1,379 – 24% 3%
    Total Apple $45,646 $57,594 $43,603 – 21% 5%
    (a) Greater China includes China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
    (b) Includes deferrals and amortization of related non-software services and software upgrade rights.
    (c) Includes revenue from sales on the iTunes Store, the App Store, the Mac App Store, and the iBooks Store, and revenue from sales of AppleCare, licensing and other services.
    (d) Includes sales of hardware peripherals and Apple-branded and third-party accessories for iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod.


    Image via Apple

  • Etsy Announces Acquisition Of Grand St.

    Etsy Announces Acquisition Of Grand St.

    Etsy announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring creative technology marketplace Grand St. Its team, including co-founders Amanda Peyton, Joe Lallouz, and Aaron Henshaw, will join the company.

    Grand St. gives makers of hardware products a place to list their creations. It reviews and approves all listings before they go live, so not everything submitted appears. Customers can pre-order items one to six months in advance. It offers early beta access to some technologies.

    “Grand St. connects independent hardware makers with passionate buyers, harnessing a wave of innovation happening outside the mainstream consumer electronics industry,” says Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson. “What unites Etsy and Grand St. is a shared vision of the way making is changing, and we’re excited to learn from their community.”

    “As we’ve seen here at Etsy, shoppers are increasingly interested in unique and innovative goods, especially when they know and can be involved in the story behind the product,” he adds. “At the same time, it’s becoming easier than ever for independent makers and designers to bring ideas to market and find a global audience. Grand St. gets this — that’s why we’re such a good fit.”

    The Grand St. team says it intends to change “very little” about its site and experience in the near term. It will continue to operate its services at grandst.com, and will continue to launch new features. In fact, it says it has some on the way.

    “As you may know, Etsy is an amazing company for handmade goods and a true pioneer in both marketplace development and the maker movement,” the Grand St. team writes. “We have always admired them from afar, especially their dedication to craft and their commitment to their B Corp certification.”

    “We are very excited to be part of a company with such overlapping values, where we’ll have a chance to accelerate our mission of helping independent makers grow and scale,” it says.

    The deal is still subject to closing conditions. Terms were not disclosed.

    Image via Grand St.

  • Report: People Buy Less From Amazon In Online Tax States

    Researchers from Ohio State have published a paper on the “Amazon Tax,” saying that “only Amazon.com has been affected”.

    A bunch of states have implemented laws that that demand sales tax on online purchases. Items sold by Amazon and shipped to the following states are subject to the tax: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

    Some of these states have specific tax regulations related to the sales of wireless devices. These include California, Nevada, and Massachusetts, and Amazon explains it all here.

    The researchers say, “We find that households living in these states reduce Amazon expenditures by 9.5%, implying an elasticity of –1.3. We find the effect to be more pronounced for large purchases, for which we estimate an elasticity of –3.2. Further, we find that the decline in Amazon purchases is retailers and a 19.8% increase in purchases at the online operations of competing retailers.”

    Amazon explains, “If an item is subject to sales tax in the state to which the order is shipped, tax is generally calculated on the total selling price of each individual item. In accordance with state tax laws, the total selling price of an item will generally include item-level shipping and handling charges, item-level discounts, gift-wrap charges, and an allocation of order-level shipping and handling charges and order-level discounts.”

    “The amount of tax charged on your order will depend upon many factors including Identity of the seller, type of item purchased, and destination of the shipment,” it says. “Factors can change between the time you place an order and the time of credit card charge authorization, which could affect the calculation of sales taxes. The amount appearing on your order as Estimated Tax may differ from the sales taxes ultimately charged.”

    You can read the full report here.

    Via Bloomberg

    Image via Amazon