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Shopify Inc. shares continued their rally Aug. 1 after the Canadian e-commerce company reported second-quarter sales that beat analysts’ average estimate and gave a more optimistic full-year outlook.

A trade association representing wholesale distributors is pressuring lawmakers not to approve increased government spending on a highly lucrative e-commerce contract the group says favors Amazon.com.

Same-day shipping is becoming more common for online shoppers, but for smaller merchants it can be a logistical nightmare. That’s where Shopify Inc. can step in, says Ric Kostick, CEO of 100% PURE.

Kroger has unleashed a flurry of initiatives to ensure it won’t get thumped in a post-Amazon-buying-Whole-Foods world, but its biggest gamble is a partnership with British online grocer Ocado Group to build as many as 20 automated grocery warehouses in the United States.

Internet searches for “Canceling Amazon Prime” were 18 times higher June 15 — the beginning of Amazon.com’s two-day sale — than the previous day, according to search engine monitoring firm Captify, suggesting shoppers did not want to make a long-term commitment to the giant online retailer.

Online shopping has become the second-biggest chunk of the $520 billion U.S. retail market, after overtaking grocery stores and restaurants in June.

Amazon.com on March 9 hinted that fighting counterfeits was a reason for its sudden and unexplained purge of thousands of vendors that sowed panic among longtime suppliers.

Amazon.com abruptly stopped buying products over the past two weeks from many of its wholesale vendors, encouraging them to instead sell their products directly to consumers on Amazon’s marketplace.

Costco Wholesale Corp. may be a latecomer to e-commerce, but consumers love it even more than Amazon.com, according to a customer satisfaction survey released Feb. 26.