8 hours Ago By Mike Isaac
This year was supposed to be a banner moment for digital commerce companies. Klarna, the digital payments giant, was gearing up for an initial public offering. So was Chime, the financial services company.
And StubHub, the online ticketing business, had about pursuing an I.P.O.
But after President Trump unveiled this week, companies across the industry scrambled to deal with the fallout. Among other moves, Klarna, Chime and StubHub all paused their I.P.
O. plans, aiming to wait out the market volatility, people with knowledge of the matter said. And companies that provide online sellers with payment processing services, like Shopify, are lobbying for changes to Mr.
Trump’s tariff policies and advising customers on how to weather potential economic difficulties. Stripe, a payments start-up, and Block, a payments and money transfer services company formerly known as Square, are making similar moves. It might seem counterintuitive for tariffs to bring pain to digital commerce companies, which sell goods or provide services online.
But these businesses are set to be affected in roundabout ways. Retailers like Amazon, which act as clearinghouses for online merchants, could feel the effects if fewer people buy foreign exports on their platforms. And companies like Klarna profit from fees they charge small businesses for processing digital payments, which could be in serious jeopardy if people buy fewer items online.
“If this game of chicken continues through 2025 and even longer, this is going to be very painful for the entire retail industry,” said Sucharita Kodali, an analyst for Forrester who covers retail and e-commerce. “It’s going to be bad for everyone.” We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
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