Social Media

The splitting up of the eBay empire continues.

eBay has completed the previously announced sale of its eBay Enterprise division, which helps retailers enhance their online presence and e-commerce capabilities, to a consortium led by private equity firm Permira for $925 million. The consortium of buyers has separated eBay Enterprise into four distinct businesses:

Two new offerings from Pinterest make the visually-oriented social media platform even more accessible for e-commerce.

First, Pinterest is launching a new feature called Pinterest Shop. Every day, Pinterest will offer what it calls “hand-picked” product selections. The curated assortments will include products from major retailers like Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, as well as from smaller boutique retailers.

Pinterest will roll out Pinterest Shop for desktop and mobile in the next couple of weeks.

Every day, it seems there is news of another large retailer opening a tech innovation center, launching a new engagement channel, or otherwise making its mark as an IT innovator. But while the big guys get all the attention, a lot of smaller retailers are also doing some very interesting and innovative things with technology.

Here are three recent examples of small retailers launching large initiatives in technology innovation:

Poler Outdoor Stuff activates Instagram indoors

The Finish Line Inc. is continuing its efforts to become an omnichannel lifestyle experience with a new social media campaign.

For the second year in a row, Finish Line customers will be able to demonstrate their basketball skills via social media platforms by using the hashtag #theFundamentals on Twitter and Instagram, or submitting them via Snapchat. The digital entries will be judged by a group of NBA athletes.

Retailers, are you prepared for the millennial effect?

Born roughly between 1980 and 2000, millennials, are poised to cause a tidal shift in the retail industry because of their spending power and unique characteristics that greatly influence how and what they purchase. According to Advertising Age, millennials will spend more than $200 billion annually starting in 2017 and $10 trillion in their lifetimes.

Although social commerce is still relatively new, it appears to be quickly gaining acceptance with consumers.

According to a new survey of more than 1,500 U.S. consumers from Citi Retail Services, social commerce, or the concept of using social media to drive sales, is evolving and growing at a faster pace than all other online channels. And shoppers are buying in.

A new e-commerce integration will empower online retailers to sell goods directly through Instagram.

Springbot, an e-commerce marketing platform designed for online stores, has integrated with Instagram to allow the creation of customized shopping pages through a Magento or Shopify merchant’s Instagram profile. Springbot already provides the tracking of revenue attribution for retailers on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.