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Global politics are dividing the world of e-commerce, forcing companies to make tough decisions about their strategies for the U.S., India and other regions.

Among the lessons David Hijirida learned at the online giant: Companies are often so focused on competitors that they neglect their own customers.

Thanks to big tech companies, the business world is moving to third-party platforms, or online marketplaces where buyers pull sellers' products off digital shelves. A growing number of financial institutions — including BBVA, Citi and community banks like Eastern — say they can't afford to sit out the trend.

Retailers are aggressively competing to bring new delivery technologies to market, ranging from autonomous vehicles to gig economy apps.

CEOs on the hot seat. Banks fighting to stay independent. Comfortable players ripe for disruption from Amazon and others. It is shaping up as a riveting year.

Readers this year responded to Mick Mulvaney's leadership at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the banking industry's role in the national gun debate, Rep. Maxine Waters' upcoming leadership of the Financial Services Committee, the influence of tech companies like Facebook and Amazon on financial services and much more.

India has tightened rules regarding how foreign e-commerce platforms are allowed to sell goods in one of the fastest growing online markets, a potential blow to companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart.

The tech giants, along with Apple, PayPal and others, are calling on the Federal Reserve to build a backbone for real-time payments, rejecting large banks’ claims that the task is best left to the private sector.

Instacart will begin separating itself from Whole Foods and eventually no longer let its customers order from the Amazon-owned grocer through its app or website,

Amazon and Shopify will likely improve and expand the “last mile” for e-commerce orders, putting the heat on UPS and FedEx, according to Radu Spineanu, co-founder and CEO of Two Tap.