Google is updating the look and format of product search pages so that feature images better resemble a digital store rather than a long list of links and text. Is adding images to Google Shopping search a game changer?

Why wait? Amazon.com announced today that “Black Friday-worthy deals” are available right now on its site. How do you expect the dueling sales promotions to play out between Amazon and the largest retail chains this holiday season?

Being an Amazon.com Prime member will no longer get you free two-hour deliveries from Whole Foods Market beginning on October 25. What will be the net effect of Amazon.com’s decision to charge Prime members for home deliveries from Whole Foods?

Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass has sought to create a unique identity for the chain since replacing Kevin Mansell in 2018. Yet just how much progress has been questioned by activist investors and industry watchers alike.  What do you see as Kohl’s brand identity and to what extent is it wrapped up in those of its partner brands?

Thrasio, the largest aggregator of third-party Amazon.com marketplace sellers, last week announced its three largest acquisitions ever and more deals in the works.  Do you see the trend toward third-party Amazon marketplace roll-ups gaining more momentum, slowing or imploding in the coming year?

Two new Whole Foods Market stores scheduled to open next year will be set up with Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology to enable customers to shop without having to stop at a physical checkout stand. What are the potential and limitations of Amazon’s Just Walk Out and similar technologies to provide cashierless experiences in stores?

Amazon reportedly plans to market its own branded TVs in the U.S., possibly as soon as October. How important is the introduction of Amazon-branded TVs to the company’s efforts to accelerate the use of Alexa-voice technology as a purchasing tool?

Amazon is investing in the development of a new service that will let customers experience live concerts and other audio events through its popular voice-activated devices. Do you see a live concert/live audio service increasing Amazon’s voice-assistant adoption?

Following a rush of other retailers adding the payment option, Amazon is bringing a buy now, pay later (BNPL) checkout option to its U.S. platform for the first time. Does the buy now, pay later (BNPL) trend offer more benefits than risks for retailers?

Amazon.com is planning to open several large retail stores in the U.S. that will be its take on the department store model. How would you expect a smaller box Amazon department store to look and operate compared to legacy retailers in the same channel?

Albertsons is following the playbook of some of the most cutting-edge figures in retail and launching its own subscription service with an important Amazon Prime-style perk. Will a membership program with unlimited free delivery work for Albertsons and its existing customers?

Canadian Tire Corp. has purchased a 25 percent stake in Ashcroft Terminal Ltd., British Columbia’s largest inland port, to support the retailer’s supply chain flexibility and sustainability goals. Is forming stronger connections with ports becoming more critical to support retail supply chains?

In the near future, Amazon shoppers that have a problem with a third-party marketplace seller will be able to bring their complaint directly to Amazon instead of having to take it up with the seller. Do you see Amazon’s decision to take on this responsibility somehow leading to a composition of more responsible third-party sellers?

Amazon and DoorDash, in two unrelated moves announced last week, plan to improve on their delivery offers, which will likely put more pressure on their respective rivals as the ongoing last mile competition continues on. Do you see demand for home deliveries picking up during the fall and winter months?

Global e-commerce sales conducted by voice assistants are expected to expand more than four-fold by 2023. Devices with screens, however, “will be imperative” to driving the growth. Do you agree that the lack of a screen is the primary barrier to the adoption of voice assistant technology for purchases?

Walmart in late July began handing out temporary pay increases to warehouse workers through January 2022 as it began preparing for a busy holiday selling season.  Do you see the shortage of warehouse workers as a temporary or long-term challenge for retailers?

Amazon.com is currently offering free two-hour deliveries of grocery orders from Whole Foods at no additional charge to Prime members. That, Bloomberg reports, is about to change. In what ways do you expect Prime members to react to Amazon’s $9.95 delivery fee for delivery orders placed with Whole Foods?

Amazon, which limited deliveries of some third-party sellers’ products at points last year, has since gone on a hiring spree while continuing to look for ways to expand its fulfillment capacity. Do you think Amazon will face ongoing fulfillment performance issues due to lack of warehouses and/or employees to staff them?

Stakeholders in most retail companies would be doing a happy dance after posting second quarter results that showed sales up 27 percent. For Amazon, however, the results showed a slowdown from more recent quarters. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Amazon through the rest of 2021 and into 2022?

In-store sales fell 30 percent last year, according to Bookshop.org, an online platform for indie book sellers supported by the American Booksellers Association. Online sales, however, jumped 700 percent. Do you see Amazon or its bookstore rivals making greater market share gains over the next several years?

Amazon.com has introduced a Brand Referral Bonus program that enables third-party sellers to earn a bonus averaging 10 percent of product sales for driving traffic to their Amazon listings from non-Amazon marketing campaigns. What do you think is behind Amazon’s Brand Referral Bonus, and is it a threat to its online competitors?

What makes an executive who worked his way up from collecting shopping carts at a Tesco to its corporate suite leave the company after 31 years? Perhaps an offer too good to turn down from Amazon. What will Tony Hoggett bring with him to Amazon from Tesco?

A recent look at Amazon.com’s partnering practices is making some say that the retail and technology juggernaut is asking too much of its suppliers and putting them in precarious positions. What do you think of Amazon’s practice of negotiating warrants in supplier contracts?

Amazon has already declared victory, claiming record-breaking sales for marketplace sellers during its Prime Day event last week. Was it, however, the biggest gainer among the major retailers that ran sales last week?  Are the 2021 Prime Day results a signal that Amazon’s history of rapid year-over-year growth is slowing down if not coming to an end?

More retail workers quit their jobs in April than in any single month since the Labor Department started tracking the industry’s job numbers going back more than 20 years. Do you see the numbers of workers currently quitting retail jobs as symptomatic of a wider industry challenge?

Amazon is expected to achieve a new sales record when its annual Prime Day event is complete. The same could be true for many of its rival retailers that have jumped onto Amazon’s sales promotion bandwagon over the past several years.  How are you expecting results to shake out when Prime Day and rivals’ events are done?

Amazon.com is putting its cashierless Just Walk Out (JWO) technology to use in a new full-sized Amazon Fresh store in Bellevue, WA. Do you think Amazon will roll out Just Walk Out technology to all its Fresh stores and perhaps even Whole Foods?

The novel coronavirus pandemic gave e-commerce adoption an unprecedented boost and brought huge sales increases to some retailers. New data suggests, however, that retailers of all sizes did not benefit equally from the e-commerce boom. What factors have created winners and losers during the months since the pandemic hit the U.S.?

GameStop went shopping for a new CEO and CFO and found them at Amazon. The retailer announced yesterday that it has named Matt Furlong as its new chief executive and Mike Recupero in its top finance role. What changes are you expecting from GameStop with the new leadership team and board that have been put in place?

A new grocery store in Minnesota is only staffed and open a few days each week for the general public, but members can visit any time — day or night. What do you make of Main Street Market’s hybrid staffed/unattended model and do you see other retailers implementing something similar?

Walmart is adding a new perk to its Walmart+ subscription program that promises members they’ll pay as little as $0 on select prescription medicines while receiving discounts on 85 percent of the thousands sold in the retailer’s pharmacies.  How popular do you expect the pharmacy perk to be with current Walmart+ members, and will it help drive new subscriptions?

Amazon.com announced last week the launch of Amazon Returnship, a new employment initiative focused on hiring professionals that have been unemployed or underemployed for at least a year. Are retailers missing a personnel opportunity by not actively recruiting individuals who have been out of the workforce for an extended period of time?

Amazon stated earlier this week that it supports the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, proposed legislation that would make the sale and consumption of cannabis products legal across the country. Why do you think mainstream chains that sell alcohol have yet to move into the legal weed business in states where it has been approved for recreational use?

Amazon is all about its customers, particularly its Prime members, but the retail and technology giant wants everyone to know (Congress and federal agencies) that its love for the small guy extends to its marketplace sellers. Have Amazon’s marketplace sellers become the biggest key to its sales success on Prime Day as well as the rest of the year?

Will Amazon take its pharmacy business from a purely online operation into physical store locations? It is, at the very least, mulling the possibility of this next step, according to reports. Do you think Amazon can effectively run brick-and-mortar pharmacies and compete in the markets where it opens them?

Petco believes its expansive store base not only offers differentiation against its online competitors, including Chewy and Amazon, but will ultimately help accelerate its online growth. How can Petco best tap its large store base as a competitive advantage against Chewy and Amazon?

Karl Racine, the attorney general of Washington, D.C., has filed a lawsuit against Amazon in federal court charging the retail and technology giant with exercising monopoly power. Do you see Amazon’s “Fair Pricing Policy” as being anticompetitive?

A new university study finds people will more readily use a chatbot if they perceive it to be friendly and competent and less so if it projects overconfidence and arrogance. The challenge, the authors say, is finding the right balance.  What will make households more comfortable using voice assistants for shopping, controlling smart devices and other advanced features?

Google went searching for a new platform to sell its consumer electronics products and found the answer in opening its own store in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.  Do you see physical stores as a viable means for Google to grow its hardware sales in the U.S.?

Niraj Shah, Wayfair’s CEO and co-founder, is confident that elevated demand for home goods and furniture will continue even as pandemic restrictions ease. Will strength in the home goods category continue post-pandemic and is Wayfair ideally positioned to take advantage of the momentum?

Toy stores are still mostly about getting kids to beg their parents to buy them something. Small toy store chain Camp NYC, however, has launched a new model that puts the buying power into the hands of the children. Will Present Shop prove successful for Camp NYC, or is it more likely to create a backlash against the retailer?

Amazon’s management wants the world to know that the company is serious when it comes to the health and safety of its workers with a comprehensive physical and mental health program intended to make Amazon the safest place to do manual work on the planet. What do you think of Amazon’s WorkingWell program?

Whole Foods Market announced last week an organizational realignment that includes fully centralizing product buying. Does shifting to centralized buying offer more benefits or risks for Whole Foods?

Nike sent out an internal memo last week calling on U.S. employees to return to work at world headquarters in Beaverton, OR at least three full days a week, with the option to work up to two days remotely. What benefits and challenges will a hybrid workweek likely present for Nike?

Amazon.com has made significant progress over the last year in last-mile fulfillment with its vans crisscrossing neighborhoods with greater frequency. Where are Amazon’s largest logistics advantages as it builds out its internal network?

Amazon and Walmart are both planning to expand delivery services that give them access to the homes of customers.  Will Americans’ experiences during the pandemic and a return to pre-pandemic normalcy create the conditions for programs like these to be successful?

Amazon Inc., including its online marketplace of third-party sellers, will overtake Walmart to be the largest retailer in the U.S. by 2025, according to a new report. Do you think total sales made through Amazon’s stores and online platforms will surpass those of Walmart by 2025?

A university study finds that the five-star online review system has become increasingly less useful because most products are now rated positively. Can five-star rating systems be reimagined to become more granular and beneficial to consumers?

Amazon has opened a hair salon in its latest bricks-and-mortar experiment, allowing the online giant to test new technologies, expand its B2B business with haircare professionals and potentially explore the haircutting opportunity. What do you think is behind the opening of Amazon Salon?

Amazon.com recently launched a new tool, “Manage Your Customer Engagement (MYCE),” that allows some third-party sellers for the first time to market directly to the platform’s customers. How much value does the tool offer brands selling on Amazon’s third-party marketplace?