Epic Games has launched Fab, an online marketplace for buying, selling, sharing and discovering digital assets. Fab supports different types of creators with content for use across Unreal Engine, Unity 3D and Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). Developers will be able to access Fab in the Unreal Engine 5 Editor, while “Fortnite” creators can look forward to tapping game-ready assets through Fab in UEFN. Epic says Fab will eventually support all game engines. It’s live now on the Web, though the Fab UEFN integration “is undergoing maintenance” while the Unreal Engine 5 Editor implementation is “coming soon.” Continue reading Epic’s Fab Marketplace Has Open Approach to Digital Assets

California’s “click to cancel” bill has become law, making it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. Companies that offer online or in-app sign-ups will now have to make canceling or unsubscribing available online or in-app as well. Assembly Bill 2863 was signed into law this week by Governor Gavin Newsom, though companies have until the middle of next year to comply. Consumers have long complained about companies making it easy to sign up but difficult to cancel services. This law ensures consumers can easily exit from services “without being trapped by confusing processes or hidden fees.” Continue reading California Enacts Laws for Sub Canceling, Digital Downloads

Cloudflare has released AI Audit, a free set of new tools designed to help websites analyze and control how their content is used by artificial intelligence models. Described as “one-click blocking” to prevent unauthorized AI scraping, Cloudflare says it will also make it easier to identify the content bots scan most, so they can wall it off and negotiate payment in exchange for access. Helping its clients toward a sustainable future, Cloudflare is also creating a marketplace for sites to negotiate fees based on AI audits that trace cyber footprints on server files. Continue reading Cloudflare Tool Can Prevent AI Bots from Scraping Websites

Walmart is acquiring Vizio in a deal valued at $2.3 billion. The retail giant is following a template established by Amazon by expanding into entertainment media and connected TV advertising. The majority of Vizio’s growth from the last five years has come from ads on its WatchFree+ platform, which offers more than 260 channels, Walmart said touting a deal point. Vizio’s primary business is manufacturing value-priced TV sets. It also makes soundbars. The deal will instantly vault Walmart into a mix of players including Amazon, Roku, Samsung Ads and Google’s YouTube. Continue reading Walmart Bolsters Advertising Business with Vizio Acquisition

After announcing in 2020 plans to launch a movie and TV show rental marketplace, media streaming platform Plex is finally taking the plunge. Following what has been described as “false starts,” including delays due to COVID-19, news broke at CES 2024 that the company will go public with its rental offering in February. The streaming media software maker has confirmed it will enter the TVOD (transactional video on demand) market to augment the ad-supported streaming that is its primary revenue source. Plex reportedly has “most studios” onboard, though it has yet to specify which ones. Continue reading FAST Platform Plex to Roll Out Movie, TV Rentals Next Month

Walmart has doubled the size of its Marketplace platform in the past 18 months, with about 100,000 active sellers. Now, the company — which receives seller applications at the rate of about 20,000 per month, about 10 percent of which get approved — feels it is within striking distance of Amazon. Some say Walmart has been emulating the moves of the Seattle-based e-retail giant, including now adding sponsored video ad units in time for the holiday shopping season. The Walmart+ online brand has been emphasizing convenience, membership, free delivery and even a Paramount+ Essential plan, similar to Amazon’s approach of offering Prime Video. Continue reading Walmart Extends E-Commerce Push, Adds Sponsored Videos

TikTok had a high-profile at New York Fashion Week, courting the marketing departments of companies including Gucci, Madewell and H&M at a splashy event at the East Village restaurant Cathédrale, decorated with mannequins bedecked in TikTok-inspired togs and a video wall featuring the “little luxuries” touted by TikTok users. While TikTok has succeeded in making itself a mandatory advertising outlet for many brands, the Fashion Week outreach was part of the platform’s effort to transition to a sales platform in its own right as after a year of testing it finally rolls out TikTok Shop for all U.S. users. Continue reading TikTok Shop Rolls Out to U.S. Users Following Year of Testing

TikTok is making a big push into e-commerce with a plan to sell made-in-China products to consumers. The move sets up a rivalry with popular shopping platforms Shein and Temu to bring Chinese goods to the U.S., while the overall approach replicates the successful “Sold by Amazon” program. As with leading online marketplace Amazon.com and the companies it represents, TikTok will warehouse and ship items — ranging from clothing, electronics and kitchenware — for Chinese merchants, handling checkout, marketing and after-sale services. TikTok plans to debut its American shopping program in August. Continue reading TikTok Offering Chinese Goods via U.S. E-Commerce Market

Shein is aiming to take on e-commerce powerhouse Amazon. The Singapore-based fast-fashion phenomenon is branching out from its own branded apparel to become a marketplace where third parties can merchandise their wares — everything from designer clothing to small appliances and maternity products. The 11-year-old company recently launched its expanded marketplace in Brazil, Mexico and the U.S., and has Europe in its sights. The U.S. is a huge market for the company, accounting for an estimated $8 billion in 2022 sales, or about a quarter of its business, largely due to teenage appetite for its $5 skirts and $10 jeans. Continue reading Shein Reaches Beyond Fashion & Beauty to Take on Amazon

Canon USA is preparing to launch a curated photography marketplace for NFTs called Cadabra that is expected to go live in the U.S. later this year and expand globally thereafter. Canon previewed Cadabra at the annual NFT.NYC show, revealing few details other than it will mint its NFT transactions on the Ethereum blockchain and allow participating photographers to offer physical prints along with their NFT drops, which Canon will fulfill. Although some NFT marketplaces require customers to make purchases with specific cryptocurrencies, Canon says Cadabra will support credit and debit cards along with cryptocurrency wallets. Continue reading Canon Will Launch Ethereum-Based NFT Art Market Cadabra

LG Electronics has launched a non-fungible token platform, LG Art Lab, available in the U.S. on the company’s smart TVs running webOS 5.0 or later. Accessible from the home screen, the LG Art Lab lets users buy, sell and enjoy digital artwork transacting as NFTs. Based on the enterprise-grade public Hedera network, the LG Art Lab uses onscreen QR codes and works via Wallypto, LG’s new cryptocurrency wallet for smartphones. The platform includes a discovery feature, LG Art Lab Drops, which profiles artists, previews upcoming works and includes a real-time Live Drops countdown clock to keep purchases on track. Continue reading LG Electronics Offers NFT Art Marketplace via Its Smart TVs

Intellectual property protection is leveraging the power of AI using search. MarqVision is a firm built around monitoring e-commerce and general content platforms policing IP rights, with particular attention to blockchain and NFTs. The Los Angeles-based startup has raised $20 million in Series A funding to further its goal of detecting counterfeits and having them removed from points of online distribution and sale. Originally incubated at Y Combinator, MarqVision has put together a client base that spans from luxury brands LVMH, Ralph Lauren and Baccarat to the more populist Pokémon. Continue reading MarqVision Raises $20 Million to Help Monitor and Protect IP

In the wake of the European Union’s strict new digital-competition laws, Amazon has proposed settlements in two EU antitrust cases. The U.S.-based e-commerce giant says it will stop using non-public data it obtains from the activities of independent sellers on its marketplace to inform its own business decisions in competition with those sellers. A separate investigation found Amazon to be self-dealing with regard to its Buy Box and Prime plans, resulting in a commitment to give third-party sellers equal treatment. The commitments would remain in force for five years, monitored by a trustee reporting to the European Commission. Continue reading Amazon Offers Concessions to Call Off EU’s Antitrust Probes

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced updates to Shops, a new version of an existing Facebook feature that lets retailers upload product catalogs to their Facebook page or Instagram profile. Users can access Shops on the retailer’s page or, by clicking on an ad, will land on the retailer’s Facebook-located Shop. Zuckerberg stated that Shops will eventually be available on Messenger and WhatsApp as well. The company relies on several AI systems, including GrokNet, which can “segment, detect and classify images.” Continue reading E-Commerce: Facebook Reveals AI-Powered Shops Feature

This week, Walmart announced that it will start offering free, next-day delivery on select online orders over $35 without any added membership fee. This announcement comes after a similar one from rival retailer Amazon just last month. Amazon, the lucrative e-commerce giant, announced that it is investing $800 million in its warehouses and delivery infrastructure with the goal of cutting the speed of its Prime deliveries from two days to just one. For now, Walmart’s quicker deliveries will only be available in select markets.

Continue reading Walmart Offers Next-Day Delivery to Compete with Amazon