Latest news with #ecommerce
Entrepreneur
an hour ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Tata Steel Expands Digital Platform to Empower MSMEs
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Tata Steel has rolled out a broader version of its e-commerce platform, DigECA, opening access to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the company announced in a press release. Previously limited to channel partners, DigECA is now aimed at emerging corporate accounts (ECAs), a category under which Tata Steel classifies MSMEs. The platform is designed to streamline how these businesses purchase flat steel products, including Tata Astrum, Tata Steelium, and Galvano. The launch marks a significant step in Tata Steel's digital strategy, building on the foundation laid by its earlier B2C portal, Aashiyana. DigECA offers MSMEs direct transactional capabilities and real-time visibility into product availability, order status, and delivery, removing the dependence on traditional distribution chains. According to the company, the intent is to offer a more efficient and transparent supply experience, tailored to the evolving needs of smaller businesses. Since its pilot in the fourth quarter of FY25, DigECA has onboarded over 2,000 ECA customers and registered notable progress in gross merchandise value. Tata Steel attributes this early growth to the platform's focus on reducing friction in the procurement process, from inquiry through to post-supply support. Prabhat Kumar, vice president, marketing & sales (Flat Products) at Tata Steel, said the expansion of DigECA is part of a larger shift toward customer-centric digital solutions. "At Tata Steel, we are committed to enhancing customer satisfaction through digital innovation," he said in a statement. "With the launch of DigECA for our ECA customers, we are simplifying the steel buying experience and strengthening their direct engagement with Tata Steel. The platform is designed to enable a more connected and efficient relationship between customers and our distribution network, helping us better align our offerings with evolving market needs." While DigECA's focus remains on flat steel products, its long-term aim appears to be more ambitious, deepening the company's presence across India's MSME ecosystem and modernizing how industrial buyers interact with major steel producers.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Help For Small Merchants
Business is changing, quickly, and small to mid-size businesses in particular are looking for new tools that will keep them competitive as we start to integrate the fruits of AI into our business models. We've been hearing quite a bit about how this works at MIT. Some of this is on display at the Lincoln Laboratory, for example, with the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. But we're also hearing from researchers about innovations in the private sector. For example, Christian Umbach of Autopilot talked about the development of autonomous agents for e-commerce. Noting the existence of some 7 million brands selling on Amazon, he characterized the bulk of them as 'digital mom and pop shops' that are simply trying to stay competitive. 'It's a hell of a job, because you have to deal about everything from logistics to product listings to advertising,' he said, explaining that the company wants to build fully automated systems for small to midsize users. According to his numbers, these implementations deliver a 20% increase in sales with this automation. 'For us at Autopilot, it's critical to empower these small and medium enterprises,' Ubach said. 'They're the backbone of our economies, and we can make them more independent by using automation and AI to actually help them drive more profits, and balance the playing field with companies like Amazon … a small merchant would never in the world have the ability to compete on an AI level.' That's a little about how outside parties can assist smaller merchants, the small shops that populate broader levels of the U.S. economy, but what about some other solutions? Daphne Pariser, PhD, is the CEO and cofounder of Heron AI, a firm that is building AI tools for business. 'I believe that entrepreneurs change the world, but I believe that entrepreneurship should have fewer barriers to changing the world,' she said at a recent IIA event. 'I believe that analytic software shouldn't be a barrier. In fact, it should be so easy to use, anybody can use it and walk away empowered to make data-driven decisions about their business to help it grow.' She explained how the offerings helps with tasks like the handling of unpaid invoices, assisting startups in breaking through barriers. Those are good ideas, but what else goes into assisting business? There's this Lincoln Lab licensing program that helps with a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) where a federally funded research institution partners with private sector stakeholders. The site provides this list of relevant research areas: autonomous systems and robotics, synthetic biology, energy, quantum computing, advanced electronics and sensors, and cybersecurity. You can also view eligibility data and more. That's a little about what MIT is doing, but that's not all. On this blog, and elsewhere, I am chronicling a lot of the helpful insights and program introductions we are hearing from all of our expert speakers, in town and at far-away conferences, throughout each year. There are many education-related things happening, too, to help the new generation survive the mammoth changes that are to come. So stay tuned.
Finextra
2 hours ago
- Business
- Finextra
Issuers must take urgent action against fraud as chargebacks escalate: By Frank Moreno
Recent data shows that issuers and merchants are struggling with rising chargeback abuse. With all indicators pointing to the already considerable problem growing by a further 24% by 2028, financial institutions (FIs) must act or risk losing both customers and profits. According to the Mastercard's 2025 State of Chargebacks report, abuse of chargebacks is a rapidly growing problem, with both merchants and FIs taking a significant hit. And things are about to get worse. Worldwide, issuers and merchants have seen a 10% increase in chargeback volume in the past year. This rise has been driven by a rapid growth in digitization as consumers lean into the convenience of e-commerce. In addition, the ease of disputing transactions at the click of a button has seen FIs in both the U.S. and UK experiencing a 30% to 40% increase in consumer dispute volumes via their digital channels. In fact, the report suggests that over the next five years, global chargebacks volume is set to grow from $261 million in 2025 to reach $324 million in 2028. For the U.S., this means chargebacks will total a staggering $20.47bn in just three years. For issuers, the picture looks even bleaker. Globally, only 28% of their chargebacks are legitimate disputes, while a whopping 72% are fraudulent (59% being third-party fraud, while 13% is first-party fraud). Card issuers face a complex set of challenges One of the biggest challenges facing FIs when it comes to third-party card-not-present (CNP) fraud that fuels chargebacks is aging infrastructure. Legacy systems are limited in their ability to handle this type of fraud due to outdated architectures, fragmented data, and reliance on rigid rule-based detection. Many systems are also still heavily reliant on manual investigation processes. Tracking fraud is another major headache. The same research found that not all FIs track whether the fraud is first-party or third-party. Misclassification and underreporting could lead to inadequate response strategies and higher operational costs, with FIs burdened by time-consuming and expensive investigations. In fact, some FIs report that they need one full-time employee for every $13,000 to $14,000 in incoming annual cardholder disputes. Issuers can attest: first-party fraud is especially hard to pinpoint. What's more, the cardholder's history may show no prior suspicious activity. Responding to a customer dispute by suggesting that they are lying or committing fraud will hardly help FIs maintain good relationships with their hard-won customers. In the U.S., for instance, FIs and merchants only win around half of their disputes and, in the absence of forensic proof, they are likely to issue the chargeback – even if the suspicions are valid. Take action early to avoid future pain Many Fis may not be aware what a significant role an effective 3DS program could play in the fight against chargebacks. Stopping fraud at the point of authentication is the low-hanging fruit in reducing the cost of chargebacks. With the right 3DS access control server (ACS) and modern authentication methods, FIs can combat first-party fraud with forensic proof that the transaction was legitimately authenticated. Moreover, they can tackle third-party fraud by simply detecting fraud more effectively – without adding friction. To reduce the impact of first-party fraud, cryptographic device binding technology is able to link each customer's account to a specific device and app, creating a unique digital signature for every transaction. This allows FIs to prove that a transaction was performed from the legitimate user's device, enabling banks to present strong, tamper-proof evidence to refute first-party fraud claims. To battle third-party fraud, 3DS programs that harness risk-based authentication (RBA) and low- or no-friction authentication methods empower FIs to use strong security that improves the cardholder experience and increases transaction success. However, an FI's 3DS approach should be part of a broader, multi-layered fraud prevention strategy that includes context-aware authentication not only to detect fraud across banking and payment channels more effectively, but also to recognize customers across channels to deliver consistent, streamlined experiences. Creating a better experience There has never been a more urgent time for FIs to consider how to update their chargeback reduction strategy. 3DS is an under-appreciated tactic in that regard. If issuers or merchants are concerned that fraud prevention will add friction that negatively affects transaction success, they are using the wrong fraud prevention authentication tools. Automated tools and AI learning models can help eliminate overall friction for consumers and improve the digital experience, while also providing more effective fraud detection. With robust authentication and clear transaction context, it becomes possible to dramatically reduce fraud and increase transaction success rates. While chargeback abuse and fraud are persistent challenges, new opportunities are available to issuers to combat increasingly sophisticated attempts in their earliest stages with the right combination of 3DS solutions, risk insights authentication, and modern authentication methods. FIs must act now – failure could risk further eroding already pressured margins, and customers looking to competitors that deliver more secure and user-friendly payment experiences.
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Can Amazon Stock Double by 2030?
The stock of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has delivered life-changing gains for investors who got in early enough. It's up nearly 200,000% over its lifetime and 900% over the past 10 years. Everyone is talking about what it's doing in artificial intelligence (AI) today and how that could jump-start sales growth. There's a huge long-term opportunity, but can Amazon stock double over the next five years? Growth drivers everywhere With all of the AI hype, let's not forget that Amazon's main business, for now at least, is e-commerce, where sales were $94 billion in the 2025 first quarter, accounting for more than 60% of total revenue. The company has a hold on U.S. e-commerce, and it's taking many actions to protect that moat and keep its dominant spot. Its Prime members count on that part of the business for their essentials purchases and more. It controls about 40% of the total U.S. e-commerce market, with the next-highest competitor, Walmart, at only around 6%. CEO Andy Jassy said that although it could be affected by new tariffs, shoppers tend to choose retailers they trust when there's uncertainty. And its huge base of sellers and product assortment mean that shoppers are likely to find the items they need at the price they want on its platform. As usual, Amazon reported increasing delivery speed in the 2025 first quarter, and it has made a number of changes to its logistics network to keep that up. It changed from a national network to a regional one, it keeps more of its highest-selling products closer to more shoppers, and uses AI throughout its business to determine fast and cheap shipping options. The company is testing new processes in a pilot distribution center that's cutting 25% of processing time and is on track to deliver 25% cost savings at peak times. E-commerce overall is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% through 2029, according to Statista, and as the leader in the industry, much of that will land on Amazon's platform. Beyond e-commerce, the company has launched a hugely successful advertising business that leverages its unmatched e-commerce platform for consumer exposure to ads. It also now offers an ad-supported streaming tier on Prime Video through its ad business, with strong results so far. The next tech frontier The company sees its biggest opportunities right now in AI, which it has used in e-commerce for years to determine consumer preferences and show products that shoppers are looking for. That leads to greater sales conversion and lower returns, since consumers find what they actually want. It takes that a step further by showing side-by-side comparisons on price and features. But the breakout segment is Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing business, which has been an incredible growth driver for years. And although sales have drastically decelerated over the past few years from percentage growth in the 30s to the mid to high teens, AWS is still responsible for the majority of total company operating income -- 63% in the first quarter. It's also where management is releasing its generative AI business, which it sees as the wave of the future. The AI operation is already a multibillion-dollar business, but management sees it going much higher. As the technology becomes a standard component of all app development, more business clients will need to get onto the cloud, where most of the app development is happening. Amazon has a lead in cloud services, with 30% of the market, and this should provide a boost for AWS in addition to exploding as its own business. How high can Amazon stock go? Assuming the stock maintains its current valuation, doubling in price means doubling revenue. To double revenue in five years, it would need to increase sales by a CAGR of only 6%, which is lower than its current growth. Not only is it possible for the stock to double over the next five years, but it also can do it even faster if its CAGR is higher than 6%, or if its valuation goes up. The stock is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 35, close to its lows, giving it room for some valuation expansion. In any case, Amazon looks like a solid bet for growth over the next five years. Should you invest $1,000 in Amazon right now? Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Amazon wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $891,722!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to172%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Regulator to Probe Amazon Over Delayed Payments to Suppliers
The UK's supermarket regulator is investigating Inc. over delayed payments to the online retailer's suppliers. The Groceries Code Adjudicator said Friday it has reasonable grounds to suspect Amazon has breached rules relating to payments, based on evidence from a range of sources. The company could face a fine of as much as 1% of its annual revenue in the UK if a breach is confirmed.
