Amazon News

Exclusive: Amazon Has Drawn Thousands To Try Its AI Service Competing With Microsoft, Google

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud division of Amazon, has attracted thousands of customers to try out its AI service, Amazon…

Amazon Lowers iRobot Deal Price by 15% After Roomba Maker Incurs Fresh Debt

Amazon.com has reduced the price it will pay for iRobot, the maker of Roomba vacuum cleaners, by approximately 15% to around…

Person's palm over the Amazon One screen while checking out from Whole Foods

Are Consumers Ready To Pay by Palm?

Amazon is bringing Amazon One palm recognition capabilities to all 500+ Amazon-owned Whole Foods stores nationwide by year-end in a major expansion of the payment technology. Does payment through palm recognition offer enough convenience to offset privacy and security concerns?

Amazon’s Palm Payment Tech Is Coming to Every Whole Foods in the US

Amazon is expanding its palm payment technology, Amazon One, to all Whole Foods stores in the U.S. by the end of…

Amazon Used 11.6% Less Plastic for Shipping Last Year and Is Phasing Out Those Blue and White Plastic Mailers

Amazon has reduced its use of single-use plastic packaging by 11.6% from the previous year, amounting to nearly 86,000 tons of…

Amazon reveals the top-selling item during its Prime Day extravaganza: Temptations cat treats.

During Amazon’s Prime Day sales event, the top-selling item based on units sold was Temptations Cat Treats, according to consumer data…

6-panel image about Amazon Prime Day

Amazon Sets Records on Prime Day in Spite of Competition

Even as consumers struggle with record-high debt and inflation, Amazon made more money than ever on Prime Day this year.

Amazon Prime Day sales rise as deep discounts tempt inflation-hit shoppers

Amazon’s Prime Day shopping event kicked off with U.S. online sales rising almost 6% to $6.4 billion compared to the previous…

Amazon dangles deeper ‘Prime Day’ discounts for stressed US shoppers

Amazon is aiming to entice U.S. shoppers during its annual Prime Day shopping event by offering deeper discounts on a wide…

Temu sellers are now even copying product photos, descriptions, and entire Amazon storefronts, lawsuits allege

Amazon sellers have accused sellers on the ultra-cheap marketplace Temu of copying their product listings, leading to declining sales. Wired reports…

Amazon partners with travel site Priceline in a first for Prime Day

Amazon is partnering with the travel booking site Priceline for the first time to offer Prime Day travel deals on products…

iPhone with Walmart logo on it

Walmart Invests in Tech To Stay Ahead of the Competition

Retail giant Walmart is constantly investing in new technology to stay ahead of the competition.

An Amazon manager who stole almost $10 million with fake invoices and used the money to buy a house, a Tesla, and a Lamborghini was jailed for 16 years

Kayricka Wortham, a former Amazon manager, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for creating fake invoices for vendors that did…

UPS Semi Trailers Lined Up at Warehouse

How Disruptive Would a UPS Strike Be For Retail?

Talks between UPS and its U.S. workers broke down early Wednesday morning with no further negotiations scheduled.

Leeds, UK - August 22, 2022. Aerial view of a large Amazon Prime distribution warehouse at Gateway 45 near the M1 motorway in Leeds, UK

Amazon Unveils New Fully Autonomous Mobile Warehouse Robots

Amazon has unveiled two new fully autonomous mobile warehouse robots, Proteus and Cardinal.

Will Local Coffee Shops and Florists Help Amazon Expand Its Last-Mile Capacity?

Amazon.com is looking to partner with local businesses like coffee shops, florists and auto parts stores to make deliveries in their communities.

Will Target and Walmart Outdo Amazon on Prime Day?

Target and Walmart want to use their store networks and omnichannel capabilities to outdo Amazon.com in the same week it holds its two-day Prime Day sales event.

Does Amazon Have More Riding on Prime Day This Year?

Amazon.com has made it official. Its annual Prime Day sales event will kick off on July 11 and conclude on July 12. The big question facing Amazon and all its rivals likely to run competitive promotions is whether consumers will use this as an excuse to increase their spending or sit it out as they continue to limit purchases due to inflation.

Are Victoria’s Secret and Amazon Meant to Be Together?

Victoria’s Secret is expanding its partnership with Amazon.com, selling its core intimates directly on the platform for the first time.

Should Amazon Add Mobile Phone Service as a Prime Perk?

Amazon.com is reportedly talking to wireless carriers about offering low-cost or free nationwide mobile phone service as a perk for Prime subscribers.

Does Amazon Have Something to Teach Retailers About Labor Contracts?

Amazon.com in the UK has developed a new type of labor contract for employees that gives them time off to match their kids’ summer vacations from school and breaks for Christmas and Easter.

Amazon Locker in NYC

Why Is Amazon Paying Prime Members to Choose Pickup Over Delivery?

Amazon.com is paying select Prime members $10 to pick up their online purchases rather than get home delivery.

High angle view of an Apple iPad2 displaying Pinterest homepage on a desk. Pinterest is a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections. iPad, the digital tablet with multi touch screen produced by Apple Computer, Inc."

Can Amazon Help Jumpstart Shopping On Pinterest?

Pinterest has reached a multiyear deal making Amazon.com its first partner on third-party ads, promising to bring more brands and relevant products to the platform.

Assorted streaming apps are seen on an iPhone, including Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Sling TV, Roku, and Hulu.

Is Streaming TV Retail Media’s Next Growth Driver?

The advertising potential of streaming platforms has entered the hype cycle as Netflix and Disney+ recently rolled out ad-supported streaming tiers.

Headquarters for Kroger, Albertsons, and Amazon.com

Would/Should Kroger and Albertsons Sell Hundreds of Stores to Amazon?

Kroger and Albertsons plan to sell between 250 and 300 stores to get approval from the Federal Trade Commission on the proposed merger between the two supermarket giants.

St. Jude patients and their families enjoy the Amazon patient event on Monday, September 23, 2019.

Should Amazon Have Ended AmazonSmile?

Amazon.com’s recent move to end its AmazonSmile charity donation program saw many beneficiaries frowning on social media.

Artificial Intelligence in a modern GPU card

Is Amazon’s Generative AI Push a Cloud Gamechanger?

Amazon.com’s cloud computing division last week released a suite of generative AI tools that can enable companies to build chatbots, generate and summarize text, and classify images based on a prompt.

Amazon Prime delivery van

Are Consumers Willing to Wait Longer to Have Their Online Orders Delivered?

How fast do consumers want their online orders delivered? Perhaps not as quickly as retailers think.

UPS worker handling Amazon box

Will Amazon Customers Revolt Over Return Fees?

Amazon.com has begun charging return fees on products brought to the UPS Store.

Amazon delivery trucks

Will Amazon’s Warning About ‘Frequently Returned’ Items Make It More Popular Than Ever?

Amazon.com may have devised a partial solution to curb the amount of product returns it receives: labeling “frequently returned” items in its online marketplace.

Photo: Unsplash / Maarten van den Heuvel

Is Free Shipping A Thing of the Past?

Retailers everywhere are dialing back free shipping policies and other efforts to maintain profit margins.

Amazon Go turnstiles

Amazon Gets Ready to Go to Court Over Its Biometric Data Collection

Technology that collects or utilizes biometric data has grown more prevalent in recent years for personal use in solutions like Apple’s Face ID and at retail.

Will Amazon Go ever get going?

Will Amazon Go ever get going?

Amazon.com announced last week that it plans to permanently close eight of its 28 Amazon Go convenience stores. The first Go opened in January 2018 and featured the debut of its “Just Walk Out” technology.

Where should retailers start with ‘generative’ AI?

Where should retailers start with ‘generative’ AI?

Amazon is believed to be behind the “generative” AI race between Microsoft and Google, which hosted media events in early February highlighting their generative AI technology. What advice would you have for retailers exploring generative AI systems like ChatGPT?

Amazon is trying to grow its clout in the same-day delivery market

Amazon is trying to grow its clout in the same-day delivery market

A new report says Amazon intends to become a significant force in same-day deliveries. How close it is to achieving that goal may surprise a few. Will same-day deliveries in major U.S. markets help Amazon recruit and retain Prime members?

Stale Amazon grocery stores need a fresh approach

Stale Amazon grocery stores need a fresh approach

An Amazon Fresh is not coming to a neighborhood near you just yet. The company will delay opening new Fresh stores until it figures out how to differentiate the locations from established competitors in the market. How do you evaluate Amazon’s strengths and weaknesses in the grocery vertical?

How do consumer brands really feel about buying ads from retailers?

How do consumer brands really feel about buying ads from retailers?

Consumer brands often feel as if they have little choice when it comes to purchasing ads from retail media networks, according to a new survey of its members by the Association of National Advertisers. How does consumer brand spending on retail media networks compare to other types of trading partner spending?

What does Amazon know about delivering groceries that others don’t get?

What does Amazon know about delivering groceries that others don’t get?

Amazon Prime members who have gotten their groceries delivered for free with a minimum purchase of $35 will now have to spend at least $150 if they want to avoid paying a fee starting on February 28. How do you expect Prime members will react to Amazon’s new requirements for free grocery delivery?

Amazon looks to undercut rivals with monthly Rx prescription plan

Amazon looks to undercut rivals with monthly Rx prescription plan

Amazon.com today introduced RXPass, a new subscription plan that enables Prime members to buy prescription medicines for more than 80 common health conditions delivered to their homes for $5 a month in total. Will RxPass be an attractive perk for Amazon Prime members and those considering  subscription?

Should Rent the Runway sell through Amazon?

Should Rent the Runway sell through Amazon?

Rent the Runway reached an agreement to sell its “Pre-Loved” luxury merchandise on Amazon.com, marking another major partnership for Rent the Runway and a big step into the resale market for Amazon. Does Rent The Runway or Amazon score a bigger win with their resale collaboration?

Will Best Buy customers be okay with its rewards program changes?

Will Best Buy customers be okay with its rewards program changes?

The good news if you are a My Best Buy rewards program member is that you will no longer be required to make a minimum purchase to receive free standard shipping on online orders. The bad news is that to get the perk, you’ll have to pay with the retailer’s high interest credit card. How do you expect Be​​st Buy customers to react to changes to its My Best Buy rewards program?

Amazon Prime and Shopify battle it out with extended services

Amazon Prime and Shopify extend their reach into each other’s territories

Amazon.com is looking for growth beyond its own platform. The company yesterday said it was making its “Buy with Prime” program, which offers the same easy checkout, free shipping and returns on its platform, available to third-party sellers for use on their own sites. What impact do you expect Buy with Prime to have in the U.S?

Is now the time for retailers to double down on cloud investments?

Is now the time for retailers to double down on cloud investments?

Microsoft last week was downgraded by UBS as field checks showed slower growth for cloud software providers, including Microsoft’s Azure unit. The downgrade comes as the cloud computing providers reported robust gains in the third quarter but warned of decelerating growth amid macro pressures. Have you seen retailers become more cautious with their cloud investments?

What’s up with the stalled Amazon Fresh openings?

What’s up with the stalled Amazon Fresh openings?

Throughout the U.S., a number of new Amazon Fresh stores have been built out, but are just sitting there, leading some to wonder if Amazon is quietly backing away from the Just Walk Out grocery concept. Do you see Amazon Fresh’s stalled openings as a temporary retrenchment or a sign Amazon may be reassessing the concept’s approach?

Unionization efforts may shift gears in 2023

Unionization efforts may shift gears in 2023

Shoppers planning to visit Macy’s Union Square flagship store in San Francisco for last-minute gifts on Christmas weekend were met with a picket line, as the store’s union went on strike for the two days before the holiday. Do you see the recent labor activism taking another step forward or retreating in 2023?

​​Is drone delivery really here for Walmart and Amazon?

Walmart Drone Delivery Breakthrough Incoming 99%

After a successful three-store pilot program, Walmart drone delivery has launched in a handful of markets, with plans to expand soon to six states. How confident are you that drone delivery will be sustainable and soon scale nationwide?

Will Amazon’s antitrust battles get worse before they get better?

Will Amazon’s antitrust battles get worse before they get better?

Amazon has made several commitments related to business practices in Europe as part of settlement over alleged unfair treatment of third-party sellers. Do Amazon’s concessions under the European Union settlement appear fair to Amazon and third-party sellers?

Just Walk Out – Just in time or just too soon?

Just Walk Out – Just in time or just too soon?

Amazon recently installed Just Walk Out (JWO) at a grocery retailer it does not own for the first time. 2023 will see even more buzz around the technology. Do you see Amazon’s Just Walk Out and similar checkout-free shopping technologies making a significant breakthrough in 2023?

Is porch piracy a retailer responsibility?

Is porch piracy a retailer responsibility?

Since November 23, Tom Ryan has been receiving weekly email warnings about package theft at his apartment building in New York City. The notes read, “The holidays are approaching and package thieves will be out in even fuller force than usual.” Should retailers hold consumers more accountable for stolen packages from doorsteps or apartment lobbies?

Will Super Saturday be the most super ever?

Will Super Saturday be the most super ever?

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for retail, perhaps the biggest. A record number of consumers are expected to go shopping tomorrow (AKA Super Saturday), according to a forecast by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. How important will Super Saturday be to retail’s final results for the 2022 holiday selling season?