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Descartes Systems Group acquires shipment management SaaS provider Supply Vision for $16 million CAD (BETAKIT)
Descartes announced its purchase of Supply Vision last week as the former looks to expand its offerings for logistics service providers (LSPs) through an active acquisition strategy.
Amazon to widely launch 'Buy with Prime', says offering improved merchant sales (REUTERS)
Amazon will widely roll out a feature by end-January that allows online merchants outside its platform to use the e-commerce giant's payment and delivery services, as it takes on rising competition from Canada's Shopify.
The product has increased shopper conversion rate by an average of 25%, meaning that many more people placed an order when 'Buy with Prime' was available versus when it was not.
BC holds consultations on employment standards for gig workers as Uber, Lyft offer own visions (BETAKIT)
The next steps for regulating gig work are uncertain, says BC's parliamentary secretary for the sustainable economy.
Uber public policy head wants Ontario to move ‘faster and further’ on gig economy (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Uber’s vice-president and global head of public policy wants Ontario to speed up its efforts to deliver gig economy legislation and act on its pitch to boost gig worker benefits.
“We would like to go further and faster and more quickly than perhaps the government is ready to do,” said Andrew Byrne, in an interview with The Canadian Press during a visit to Toronto this week.
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TikTok Parent ByteDance’s E-Commerce Volume Surged in 2022, Internal Data Show (THE INFORMATION)
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is making inroads in e-commerce. Consumers in China last year spent 1.41 trillion yuan, or $208 billion, buying things on ByteDance’s Douyin video app, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, an increase of 76% from 2021, according to two people with knowledge of the internal data. Meanwhile, shoppers on TikTok in Southeast Asia more than quadrupled their spending, a metric known as gross merchandise volume, to $4.4 billion, the people said.
Interac’s CTO on how to hire for technical roles (BETAKIT)
Speaking with BetaKit, Henderson explained how he approaches technical hiring from a process perspective and his advice for other CTOs or heads of talent looking to recruit.
GoBolt lays off five percent of staff shortly after $75 million raise, citing worsening consumer demand (BETAKIT)
The cuts come about a month after GoBolt announced a $75 million CAD Series C financing round to support its North American market expansion plans and grow its fleet of electric vehicles.
Flexport to lay off 20% of its global workforce (CNBC)
“While we are looking forward to what’s to come in 2023, we must also make hard decisions necessary to set us up for long-term success. We are overall in a good position, but are not immune to the macroeconomic downturn that has impacted businesses around the world.” Flexport wrote in a memo to employees.
BDC Capital report finds Canadian VCs are hiring more diverse candidates but facing difficulties with talent retention (BETAKIT)
The report’s findings are encouraging on the career advancement side of the equation: women and visible minorities account for at least half of promotions at 72 percent and 53 percent of Canadian VCs who provided answers, respectively.
Shopify puts huge Toronto office space up for sublease (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
The e-commerce company’s lease is for 348,103 square feet, spanning seven floors of a newly built office, residential and retail complex, according to documents marketing the new space.
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