Ecommerce news: Amazon Prime Day and Etsy billing

In the news this week: Amazon's announced the date for Prime Day 2018, changes to Etsy payments and billings have been delayed, and Shopify's new app, Ping. 

Amazon Prime Day 2018 announced

Amazon’s annual shopping event, Prime Day, will take place from midday on 16 July and run through until midnight on 17 July, 2018. The number of countries that can purchase Prime Day deals has increased to include: UK, US, Spain, Mexico, Japan, India, Italy, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium, Austria and, new this year, Australia, Singapore, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Etsy payment changes delayed

Changes to how Etsy charges sellers that were due to come into effect at the beginning of July have now been postponed until later this year. In April, Etsy announced that they would be combining sellers’ payment account and bill, so that sellers could see how much they had made and what fees and taxes they were charged in one place. They were also looking to automatically deduct Etsy fees and applicable taxes from sellers’ earnings.

Etsy has now updated their announcement, saying that they have taken on board sellers’ feedback, and are making changes to how the redesigned payment account will work.

Read the full announcement about changes to Etsy billing and payments here.

Shopify Ping

Shopify has launched a new app, Shopify Ping, to help retailers manage customer communications on social platforms. The app will bring conversations from Facebook Messenger, Rep.ai and Chatkit, in to one place, and has Shopify’s virtual assistant, Kit, built in.

Kit is designed to help retailers create and manage their marketing activities. Retailers will now be able to run Facebook and Instagram ads, email campaigns and retargeting campaigns through the new app, Shopify Ping.

Learn more about Shopify Ping here.