“Amazon is expanding a new cash advance service for sellers next year, part of a growing crop of short-term financial services catering to e-commerce businesses amid a drop in venture spending. Starting in early 2023, hundreds of thousands Amazon sellers can receive between $500 to $10 million to help cover short-term costs, like inventory. The service, launched in partnership with Parafin and rolled out in a pilot this fall, doesn’t require minimum payments. Instead, the seller makes biweekly payments of 1% to 15% of their sales that period, plus a fixed fee.”

“Amazon is beginning to offer its Amazon One palm payment shopping experience at more Whole Foods Market stores. On Tuesday, Nov. 8, two Whole Foods Market locations in the Irving and Highland Village suburbs of Dallas became the first Whole Foods Market stores in the Dallas area to offer the Amazon One palm-based payment system that allows customers the option to use their palm to pay for purchases. In the coming weeks, all 16 Whole Foods Market locations in the larger Dallas-Fort Worth area will offer the Amazon One palm payment option to its customers. This includes Whole Foods Market stores at Richardson, Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Bellingham, Colleyville, University Place, Arlington, Highland Park and Fairview. More than 65 Whole Foods Market stores across California recently rolled out Amazon One following previous launches in Seattle, Austin, and select stores in New York and Los Angeles.”

“Today, Amazon launched a new financing solution, a merchant cash advance, provided by Parafin–a U.S.-based provider of growth capital for sellers. This secure financing option ties payment on the cash advance to a portion of sellers’ future sales for a fixed capital fee and provides eligible Amazon sellers with easy and quick access to capital when they need it, paired with flexible payment plans. With this program, sellers can access capital in a matter of days with transparent and capped rates, no fixed term, no personal guarantee, no credit checks or excessive paperwork, and no late fees. The program rolls out to some U.S.-based businesses today, and it will be available to hundreds of thousands of eligible sellers by early 2023. This new merchant cash advance, through which eligible businesses can access capital from $500 up to $10 million, provides sellers with financing opportunities to expand their businesses, protect margins, develop new products, grow inventory, and efficiently manage cashflow. A flexible payment schedule is determined by a fixed percentage of the seller’s Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) until the funding is paid off, with no minimum payments, no interest (only a fixed capital fee), and no collateral required—unlike a traditional loan. Payments are only required during periods that a seller has made sales, and the fixed payment rate ultimately protects them during periods of slow or no sales. This financing option will provide sellers that have been selling on Amazon.com for at least three months with an additional solution for their financial needs alongside the existing financing solutions portfolio of term loans, interest only loans, and lines of credit provided by Amazon and its third-party financing partners.”

“Amazon announced Tuesday it’s adding Venmo as a payment option at checkout. The feature will begin rolling out in the Amazon app and on amazon.com starting Tuesday, before launching for U.S. users by Black Friday on Nov. 25, Amazon said.   Venmo, owned by PayPal, is a popular payment service that allows users to send money to each other. It has increasingly expanded beyond its peer-to-peer functionality, with more online retailers adding Venmo as a form of payment, such as Shopify and Lululemon. Users add their Venmo account as a form of payment on their Amazon account, then select Venmo as their payment option during checkout. The partnership will give Amazon shoppers more options to pay for their order. The company currently accepts credit and debit cards, store cards, HSA and FSA accounts, as well as EBT cards.”

“Amazon is making its Amazon One palm payment shopping experience available at a new set of Whole Foods Market stores. More than 65 Whole Foods Market stores across California will soon offer the Amazon One palm-based payment system that allows customers the option to use their palm to pay for purchases. This is the first broad roll out of Amazon One at Whole Foods Market stores following previous launches in Seattle, Austin, and select stores in New York and Los Angeles.”

“Amazon launched a new wallet for global sellers to manage payouts more easily. It will roll out to sellers over the next few months. In a post on the About Amazon blog, Max Bardon, Vice President of Amazon Worldwide Payments, shared that the initial launch is available to a select number of small businesses. “We plan to collect feedback from sellers and continue to refine this tool over time.” Account maintenance is free, but when sellers convert and transfer funds, volume-based currency conversion and international transfer fees will apply. It plans to add capabilities including third-party payments and foreign exchange rate tools in the future.”

“Amazon is opening two more Amazon Fresh high-tech grocery stores, including the first location in New York. About a week after introducing a new Amazon Fresh store in Arlington, Va. (the site where Amazon is currently constructing its “HQ2” second headquarters complex), the retailer is opening locations in Oceanside, N.Y. and Norridge, Ill. Amazon Fresh stores are designed from the ground up to offer a seamless shopping experience, with extra features for members of the Amazon Prime paid loyalty program.”

“Amazon announced Thursday that Prime Day shoppers can take advantage of a special Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) offer during its two-day sale. Approved Prime members will have the ability to choose from three BNPL plans for purchases of $50 or more. Customers can choose to finance their purchases over three, six, or 12 equal monthly payments at 0% interest. Amazon partnered with Affirm last year, with Affirm becoming the only BNPL provider for Amazon. The new deal follows the current Affirm promotional 0% APR offer, which began June 28, 2022, and ends July 11, a day before Prime Day begins. Normally the BNPL plans provided through Affirm carry an APR of 10% to 30%. Which, if you get 20% or 30% when you choose to finance, is a bit high. However, having a 0% APR can be a great way to avoid interest charges. Just be sure you’re paying your payments on time, as missing a payment will negatively impact your credit scores.”

“Amazon has expanded in many ways throughout the years, and now the e-commerce giant has launched a brick-and-mortar clothing store. The Amazon Style fashion retail space has opened at The Americana at Brand shopping mall in Los Angeles. The new concept offers a selection of apparel, shoes and accessories. The items featured in the store also have QR codes providing information from sizing to customer ratings, the company said.”

“Amazon Go, the tech giant’s cashierless store concept, is ready for its move to the suburbs.  The company is opening a new Go store in Mill Creek, Wash., on Tuesday morning, which it says will target customers living in suburban areas.  Like its other Go stores, customers won’t need to visit a cash register when they’re ready to check out. They grab what they need and leave.”