Amazon.com is offering to pay some of its customers for access to their data in efforts to improve ad targeting, offering $2 dollars per month to a select group of users who choose to participate in an invite-only ad verification program. Do you think that Amazon’s customers will be willing to let the platform track their ad data for $2 a month?

Amazon has long been the main go-to place for online product search, but a recent Washington Post article finds that it is no longer giving customers what they want because advertisements are muscling out the real search results. Do you see Amazon’s practice of displaying ads in search results reducing the faith that shoppers have in the site?

Echo devices continually rank among Amazon.com’s best sellers, but the Alexa business is reportedly bleeding money and management is facing questions about the initiative’s viability. Do you eventually see voice shopping taking off, or do see other ways to drive incremental revenue from Alexa-enabled devices?

Will it be Amazon or Asda that joins Etsy, Kroger and Publix into the finals of the 2022 edition of the RetailWire Christmas Commercial Challenge?  What is your critique of the Christmas spots from Amazon and Asda?

A study finds online prices are on average 13 percent less expensive on Amazon.com than other leading U.S. retailers across 15 categories, narrowing from 14 percent lower in 2021 and 16 percent in 2020. Is price still the primary reason consumers choose to shop on Amazon?

Gap is for sale on Amazon.com. Gap made “thousands” of its items available last week at Amazon.com/Gap with the promise of “fast, free Prime delivery.” Does the Gap or Amazon gain more from their new selling partnership?

For online shoppers expecting online deliveries from Saks Off 5th, less will be up in the air  thanks to a new feature the retailer is implementing. Saks Off 5th is implementing a Guaranteed Delivery Date for thousands of items. Do you think a solution like Guaranteed Delivery Date at Saks Off 5th is a necessity for retailers doing e-commerce?

The Walt Disney Company last week launched a “limited test” in the U.S. that will allow Disney+ subscribers to shop exclusive merchandise from franchises like “Star Wars,” “Black Panther” and “Frozen” through the Disney+ app. How would you rate the viability of selling themed merchandise alongside certain Disney+ shows and films?

Amazon on Tuesday said that it is adding the Venmo peer-to-peer (P2P) payment service to the options it provides shoppers purchasing goods from its platform. Where do you see the P2P market in the U.S heading and what will it mean for retailers and consumer direct brands?

Amazon plans to hire Hawaiian Airlines to fly packages on 10 leased Airbus SE jets around the U.S. while taking a stake in the carrier. How much of an edge does Amazon gain from its airplane and air hub investments?

Amazon.com knows it has an employee turnover problem, and internal documents acquired by Engadget put a price on what that costs the company — $8 billion a year. What will it take to lower Amazon’s high employee turnover rate?

Amazon last week held its second Prime Day event of the year and, as it turned out, the sales promotion may not have been the kickoff to the holidays that the retail and technology giant was hoping for. Do you see the results of Amazon’s Prime Early Access event as a bellwether for the company’s 2022 holiday season performance or that of the larger retail industry?

Amazon finds itself coming off as a corporate bully when its private label teams find small and growing brand products and then produce knockoff versions that it sells at a considerable discount. Does Amazon’s approach to developing private label products differ from most other retailers?

New research forecasts that imports to American ports will fall to the lowest level in nearly two years by the end of 2022. How do you explain the forecasted drop in imports at the nation’s ports?

Mimicking on-demand working, Schnucks has introduced a “Schnucks Flexforce” option at select St. Louis-area stores that lets associates select both their shifts and preferred store locations. What do you think of Schnucks Flexforce and the potential to bring more of an on-demand working option to retail selling floors?

Amazon.com yesterday said it will invest $1 billion over the next year to raise the pay of frontline workers and that it was introducing a new perk that would give these employees early access to a portion of their paychecks.  What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Amazon.com when it comes to recruiting and retaining frontline employees?

Amazon.com has joined the growing ranks of retail stores and sites running major sales promotions before Halloween in an effort to capture a greater share of the dollars that Americans will spend on Christmas gifts this year. Do early sales promotions suggest a nervousness on the part of retailers about the 2022 holiday season?

A GroupM study estimates advertising accounts for five percent of Amazon.com’s revenues from commerce-related activity and rated that as a “reasonable target” for other retailers working to catch up. Is it realistic for retailers to set a goal of getting about five percent of sales from advertising?

Amazon.com introduced a new “Tailored Audiences” tool that allows sellers on its platform to send emails to repeat customers, recent customers and high-spend customers at the Amazon Accelerate conference last week in Seattle.  What do you think of Amazon’s Tailored Audiences tool and the effectiveness of email retargeting campaigns?

Temu has officially launched its website in the U.S. The Chinese e-commerce marketplace features a wide variety of inexpensive products in many categories. What do you see as Temu’s major challenges as it enters the U.S. market?

Many retailers saw dollar sales slow and profit margins drop over the first six months of the year and some have responded to this situation by cutting back on capital expenditures. Should retailers currently struggling with sales and profits seek to increase or decrease their capital expenditures at this time?

Gap and American Eagle Outfitters have joined Amazon, Walmart and Target in peddling logistics services to third-party retailers. But there are concerns over their ability to recruit prospective customers due to data privacy qualms and competitive reasons. What do you think of the opportunities for Gap and American Eagle Outfitters as 3PL providers?

Peloton, which seemingly overnight went from boom to bust, last week reached a deal to sell through Amazon.com’s U.S. website, marking its first wholesale selling relationship. Do you see more of an upside or downside to Peloton’s deal to sell on Amazon and possibly with other retailers?

Amazon last week said it would stop offering its Amazon Care in-person and virtual health service at the year’s close, signaling a major reset amid its pending purchase of a line of primary care clinics. What do you think is behind Amazon’s decision to shutter Amazon Care?

Walmart is looking to add video streaming as a perk for joining its Walmart+ subscription plan, according to numerous reports. Is a video streaming deal what Walmart+ needs to compete with Amazon Prime?

Amazon.com on Friday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire iRobot, the maker of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, in an all-cash transaction valued around $1.7 billion. What do you think is the strategy behind Amazon’s deal to acquire iRobot?

Walmart has launched a program selling refurbished appliances and consumer electronics that it says will offer high-quality products at a fraction of the cost of buying them new. Do you expect sales of refurbished electronics to get a significant boost as a result of inflation?

CVS has arguably been the driving force behind America’s acceptance of health clinics in retail stores. Now, the chain is looking to take the next step with retail clinics staffed by doctors. Do you think CVS will be able to acquire and scale a primary care provider quickly enough to catch up with Walgreens’ VillageMD rollout?

The Texas grocery powerhouse H-E-B is piloting a new form of self-checkout at one location that might remind shoppers of a trip to the airport. Do you see the Fast Scan self-checkout that H-E-B is piloting having any advantage over other options on the market?

Amazon Prime members in 10 cities can now buy merchandise from local retailers in their market and get their orders delivered the very same day. Will same-day delivery for well-known retailers entice other chains to sell on Amazon’s platform?

Amazon yesterday said that it has reached a deal to acquire One Medical, a “technology-powered national primary care organization” that combines in-person, digital and telehealth services to care for patients. What do you think of the retailer-led pushes into primary healthcare?

Amazon.com yesterday filed lawsuits against the administrators of more than 10,000 Facebook groups that it says recruited people to post fake reviews on its site in exchange for money or free products. Is the public’s perception of the validity of reviews on Amazon’s site affected by legal action it takes to find fraudsters?

Amazon.com has considered exiting its private label business altogether in order to alleviate regulatory pressures, according to multiple reports. Is Amazon’s use of national brand data to inform its private label decisions different from the way other retailers handle that information?

Amazon.com is officially calling this week’s Prime Day sales event a success. The retail and technology giant said that shoppers purchased more items in what it has labeled as the “biggest Prime Day event” in its history. Did anything around Amazon’s sales performance this week or that of its rivals surprise you in any way?

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum, Jason Buechel said one of his goals as the next CEO of Whole Foods Market is “to reconnect to many parts of our heritage as a company.” What advice would you have for Jason Buechel as he prepares to take over as CEO of Whole Foods?

Walmart will not be launching a special sales promotion next week to match Amazon’s Prime Day. Do you think retailers should run head-to-head events with Prime Day as Target is doing or take a page from Walmart’s plan?

Amazon.com’s Prime membership already comes with plenty of perks, and now the company is adding more. Will a free GrubHub+ membership, sneak peeks and other new perks be incentive enough to add big numbers to Prime’s membership ranks?

Amazon Prime Day, to take place between July 12 and 13, is expected to be less robust than pre-pandemic years due not only to inflation concerns but possibly less investment from Amazon. Will Amazon’s marketing efforts or supply chain and inflationary pressures have the bigger impact on Prime Day performance this year?

Amazon has introduced a new Store Analytics offering that taps its cashier-free checkout technologies to provide insights into the in-store performance of vendors’ products and ad campaigns.  What do you think of the value of store analytics tied to Just Walk Out technology for brands as well as for Amazon or stores licensing the technology?

H-E-B is just oh so slightly better at online grocery than Amazon. That’s the finding from the first annual “eCommerce Retailer Preference Index” from dunnhumby. What characteristics set apart the top players in e-grocery?

Retailers looking to reduce costs and clear out warehouses and stores of excess inventory are telling customers to just keep those unwanted purchases. Do you expect to see a significant uptick in the number of items that retailers tell customers to keep rather than return?

Amazon.com’s size and huge rate of employee turnover appear to be setting up the retail juggernaut for a strange hiring problem — it is on the way to running out of people who are willing to work at its warehouses.  Do you see Amazon averting this looming labor crisis, and how?

Target is bringing back Deal Days, its answer to Amazon.com’s Prime Day, with big discounts and gift card rewards on product categories across its stores and target.com. How do you expect Target’s Deal Days, Amazon Prime Day and other July sales events by large retailers to stack up against their 2021 results?

Amazon.com is holding its Prime Day event on July 12 and 13 with promises of offering its lowest prices ever on select products from its own lines and those of top brands. Do you think there is more pressure on Amazon to have a great Prime Day in 2022 than there has been in years past?

H&M Group has been testing the use of smart mirrors in fitting rooms and on the sales floor at its COS Beverly Hills store and now plans to extend the technology to more stores this year. Will advances in artificial intelligence, new features or reduced costs eventually make smart mirrors more prevalent on selling floors?

Amazon Fashion yesterday introduced its Virtual Try-On for Shoes, which uses augmented reality technology to help customers visualize how they will look in footwear from a variety of angles. Do consumers trust augmented reality try-on technology in making purchasing decisions?

Friday’s announcement that Dave Clark, Amazon.com’s CEO of Worldwide Consumer, would be resigning, effective July 1, set off speculation that the retail group’s recent trips-ups were to blame. Is Dave Clark’s exit a harbinger of major changes for Amazon’s retail businesses?

Amazon is slamming federal legislation that would bar the company from giving preference to its products over items sold by other sellers on its site. Does Amazon unfairly give preference to products it sells versus those sold by third parties on its marketplace?

Shopify is often seen as an alternative for independent sellers frustrated with Fulfillment by Amazon’s changing inventory rules and increasing seller costs. Will acquiring Deliverr potentially make Shopify a more serious competitor to Amazon relative to fulfillment and inventory management?

Amazon is testing a new program that leverages its Flex gig economy driver network to bring deliveries to consumers’ doorsteps from malls.  What do you think is behind Amazon’s test of same-day delivery from malls?