Etsy acquires Elo7, known as the ‘Etsy of Brazil,’ for $217M 
On the heels of Etsy’s huge deal to acquire Depop to open the door to more social selling, target younger users and deeply expand in Europe, the crafty marketplace has announced another significant deal to build out its reach, this time in Latin America. Etsy has announced that it will acquire Elo7 — commonly referred to as the “Etsy of Brazil” for its popular marketplace for crafty creators — for $217 million. 

Highlights from Shopify Unite 2021 (And What They Mean for Merchants) 
At Unite 2021, Shopify’s annual partner and developer conference, Shopify introduced the biggest set of infrastructure investments in its history. This has opened up brand new opportunities for small business owners to sell in even more unique and customized ways. 

Amazon sets a new tone as Jeff Bezos era comes to an end
Amazon added two new entries to its vaunted “leadership principles,” a list of more than a dozen business philosophies meant to guide employee decisions and goals. Many of Amazon’s leadership principles have existed since the company’s earliest days, such as “Customer Obsession” and “Invent and Simplify,” and are the foundation of its corporate culture. The newest additions possess a distinctly different tone, adopting the theme of prominent criticisms that have been levied against the company..

Retail workers are quitting at record rates for higher-paying work 
Americans are ditching their jobs by the millions, and retail is leading the way with the largest increase in resignations of any sector. Some 649,000 retail workers put in their notice in April, the industry’s largest one-month exodus since the Labor Department began tracking such data more than 20 years ago. 

EU 2021 VAT Changes for Ecommerce Businesses
On 1 July 2021, the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) made changes to value-added tax (VAT) obligations. The changes will affect businesses that sell goods from one EU country to another (known as distance selling) as well as businesses that sell goods which are imported from a non-EU country and delivered to an EU shopper. There are also changes to the rules for business to consumer services. 

Livestreaming ecommerce takes baby steps in the US
Livestreaming ecommerce is still searching for its entry point into the US market, but mobile marketplace NTWRK is making headway in the space. The platform is expanding rapidly: Last week, it announced the launch of three new shoppable shows and hosted the first virtual Sneaker Con.

Lollipop AI launches online grocery marketplace where you can build your own recipes 
Lollipop AI, the new British online grocery marketplace, is launching its public beta today to do that, and it’s been created by a serial UK entrepreneur who was there at the start of successful UK startups Osper, Monzo and Curve.

Amazon Maintains Lead in Cloud Infrastructure Market 
Amazon. com Inc. maintained a large lead in the market for cloud infrastructure, which rents computing, storage and networking capability to users, research firm Gartner Inc. said on Monday. In 2020, Amazon Web Services, the tech giant’s cloud computing arm, generated more than twice the cloud infrastructure revenue as No. 2 player Microsoft Corp., Gartner said in a new report.