“Americans are getting more signals that it is safe to visit bars and restaurants again. The reopening will test whether new tipping norms continue after evolving during the Covid-19 pandemic. Card-payment data indicate that Americans tipped more during the pandemic . The share of transactions processed by Square Inc. that included a tip increased to 66% on March 1 from 63% a year earlier. The gross amount in payments processed by its sellers was $29.8 billion for the first quarter of this year . The most significant change in gratuities occurred with orders made online or over the phone. For those types of transactions, tipping frequency jumped from just below 50% to nearly 87%, a possible sign that Americans have become more willing to add a gratuity for takeout orders and other services performed remotely.”

“Bolt , the leading checkout experience platform, today announced the launch of Bolt SSO Commerce™, the first single sign-on checkout experience that helps retailers engage directly with their customers by turning anonymous, guest shoppers into logged-in account holders whose insights and feedback brands can use to offer more personalized shopping experiences…With Bolt SSO Commerce, a shopper can create both a Bolt account for one-click checkout and a store account for the retailer through a simple checkbox option.”

“Today I’m talking to Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify. Shopify is one of those companies that makes the modern internet go — it makes software that allows businesses of all sizes to set up online stores, and from there it can handle everything from shipping orders to financing loans for expansion. The company went public in 2015, and as online commerce has exploded during the pandemic, it’s been on a tear ever since — it just posted $988 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2021, a 110 percent increase from last year. But while things are going extremely well right now, I was very curious to talk to Finkelstein about how he sees competition from the tech giants — a lot of online shopping starts with targeted ads on Facebook, which is building out its own shopping platforms.”

“Paytronix Systems, Inc., the most advanced digital guest experience platform , today announced that it is making it easier for consumers to order food directly through Google Search and Google Maps. Now, an integration with Paytronix Order & Delivery enables brands to offer consumers ordering via their Google accounts. Participating restaurants receive online orders for pickup or delivery directly from Google. Guests simply search for the restaurant and tap the “Order Online” button on the restaurant’s Business Profile on Search and Maps. From here, the restaurant menu appears, and they can place their order and checkout — all directly on Google.”

“Swedish payments firm Trustly said on Monday it has no timeline set for when it will list, after delaying its IPO plans following comments by the country’s financial supervisory authority about the company’s due diligence process. In April, Trustly announced plans to list on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange in a move that could have valued the company at over $10 billion. However, less than two weeks after its announcement the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA) said that the company should perform customer due diligence on some consumers using Trustly’s payment initiation service to make payments to merchants.”

“Over the course of the last few years, Mailchimp morphed from a basic newsletter platform to a fully fledged marketing company. And while the service already offered integrations with a number of e-commerce sites, it is now launching its own online stores for small and medium businesses, as well as a new appointment booking service. These new services will be part of MailChimp’s new “Websites & Commerce” plans, which starts with a free tier that offers most of the basic functionality. Users on the free plan will pay a 2% transaction fee. For $10/month, Mailchimp will remove its own branding and users will get access to email and chat support and only pay a 1.5% transaction fee, while those who opt for the “Plus” plan at $29/month will only pay a 0.5% transaction fee per order.”

“Argentina-based e-commerce giant MercadoLibre Inc is planning to double its workforce this year and invest $1.1 billion to expand its warehouse space and services in Mexico, spurred on by a pandemic-driven boom in online shopping… The investment figure is nearly triple the $420 million MercadoLibre spent last year in Mexico, a rapidly growing market where it is battling to stay ahead of global giant Amazon.com Inc and other rivals. The investment will help MercadoLibre double its warehouse space and boost fintech services such as consumer credit, the company said in a statement, adding that it will create more than 4,700 jobs in the country.”

“The online payment method iDEAL, will bring its payment service to the next level. Currence, the brand owner of iDEAL, partners with Payconiq International to deliver a major upgrade version of the Dutch’s most popular online payment scheme. Today, iDEAL is responsible for more than 900 million transactions per year.  The new solution is based on Payconiq International’s state-of-the-art payment platform and will optimize payment flows for a seamless user experience (UX) and smoother merchant integration. The cooperation will enable iDEAL to adopt and launch Payconiq’s innovative services for example by connecting payments with digital loyalty programs.”

“AEVI and Mastercard Payment Gateway Services (MPGS) announced an expanded partnership today to use their combined technologies and reach to simplify the omnichannel shopping experience. AEVI integrates payments and data across all customer channels by providing an open platform that is both device and solution independent. This platform, combined with MPGS’ encompassing digital gateway services, provides merchants another choice that brings payments straight to where the customer is – across multiple touchpoints in-store and online.”

“A LITTLE OVER a decade ago Patrick and John Collison founded Stripe, a company in Silicon Valley that helped other tech startups accept online payments . It has since outgrown them all. On March 14th the firm said it had closed a fundraising round valuing it at $95bn—three times its valuation a mere 11 months ago, and enough to make it America’s biggest-ever unlisted firm. Stripe is not the only company cashing in on the check-out business, as the digital payments revolution finally takes off in America.”

“Founded in 2010 by Korean-American billionaire Bom Suk Kim, Coupang rose to prominence after launching its guaranteed same-day or next-day delivery service in the East Asian country. SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund owns 35.1% of Coupang…Coupang operates an online marketplace sells everything from fresh groceries to toys, as well as food delivery app Coupang Eats.”

“Buy something online during the pandemic? So has pretty much everyone: US e-commerce experienced 10 years of growth in the first three months of 2020. And chances are, you bought at least one of those things on Amazon . Amazon’s success is well earned—it played a significant role in shaping how we shop online. Obsession with customer satisfaction drove innovation such as fast shipping and streamlined ordering, which are now industry standards.”

“The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue is splitting off its e-commerce business into a separate entity and raising $500 million to capitalize on the explosive growth in online shopping, according to company executives. The separation allows Saks.com, which has about $1 billion in annual sales, to raise money to fuel its growth. E-commerce has taken hold during the coronavirus pandemic, and the valuations of other luxury online retailers such as Farfetch Ltd. have soared.”