E-commerce

On Thursday, January 15, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed the recently passed Main Street Fairness legislation into law, thereby leveling the playing field for the state’s Main Street retailers.

In response to news that Amazon had fired its Vermont affiliates because of a 2011 e-fairness law that could potentially kick in this year, ABA and Advocates for Independent Business have launched an e-mail campaign asking Vermont indie retailers to contact Gov. Peter Shumlin in support of the law.

Late last week, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner dashed any hopes Main Street retailers had of getting a federal e-fairness solution passed during the lame-duck Congressional session.

Seventeen small business owners representing 21 stores in Ohio have sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner to express their strong disappointment regarding his lack of support for sales tax fairness.

For many online shoppers, high shipping charges from retailers are a deal breaker. Increasingly, retailers large and small — including indie booksellers — are taking a close look at their policies in order to respond to consumer preferences.

Retailers setting earlier shipping deadlines this holiday season; Report highlights top cities supporting African American literature; Marvel Comics now available on Kobo; 2014 Kirkus Prize winners announced

Illinois state officials have announced that Amazon will be building a distribution center in the state and it’s expected that the online retailer will be receiving tax credits from the state. Under a new law that went into effect in August, Amazon is obligated to collect and remit sales tax to the state beginning January 1, 2015.

In an October 9 cover story, the New Republic editor Franklin Foer likens Amazon to the monopolies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but says it’s a newer “species” of monopoly, one that needs to be addressed by a “robust regulatory state.”

Because having an online presence is essential to contemporary bookselling, ABA has created a special offer for members that have not previously been IndieCommerce stores.

RosettaBooks inks deal with Ingram Publisher Services; Best Little Bookshop goes beta; Binc Foundation honored, names new Board members; Finalists for 2014 Thurber Prize announced

Last week, the EU Commission launched a preliminary investigation of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association’s antitrust complaint against Amazon, and France’s “Anti-Amazon” law went into effect.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge brought by the Direct Marketing Association regarding the constitutionality of a 2010 Colorado law requiring out-of-state retailers to either collect and remit sales tax for purchases made by Colorado residents or to inform their Colorado customers that they owe use tax on the purchases they have made.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, which places a ban on state and local taxation of Internet access. The Marketplace Fairness Coalition urged the committee to treat e-fairness with the same sense of urgency.

Here is a look at the list of steps and procedures for site migrations to Drupal 7 as defined by the IndieCommerce team. There are two stages to the upgrade: Content Migration and Order Migration.

Here is news of Drupal 7 upgrade group assignments, education sessions and one-on-one meetings at BEA, and more.