Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal | June 28, 2021 Amazon has spent billions of dollars to get within easy shipping distance of U.S. consumers. However, as a new research report points out, traditional-retail rival Target is already there. MarketWatch has a story, which noted Amazon's spending just in 2020 to build out infrastructure. Much of the $35 billion investment went toward improvements in fulfillment, adding new distribution centers, sorting facilities and locker h

CSA | June 23, 2021 The numbers are starting to come in for Amazon Prime Day 2021. Total online revenue surpassed $10.9 billion in online revenue recorded on Cyber Monday, the largest single online shopping day in U.S. history. The first day of Prime Day is the biggest online sales day in the U.S. for 2021 so far, followed by the second day. However data from Numerator shows the average Prime Day order size was $44.75, down 18% from $54.64 on Prime Day 2020 and 24% less than

WWD | April 29, 2021 Amazon's first quarter earnings report, the e-commerce giant easily beat expectations on earnings and revenue, with sales growth 44 percent year-over-year. Revenue blew past the $104.47 billion expected by more than $4 billion, clocking in at $108.52 billion, and net sales hit $108.5 billion, a significant jump compared to the $75.5 billion from the first quarter of last year. Boasting more than 200 million paid Prime members worldwide, the company believ

Forbes | April 20, 2021 Amazon will be opening its first-ever hair salon. “We have designed this salon for customers to come and experience some of the best technology, hair care products and stylists in the industry,” said John Boumphrey, U.K. country manager at Amazon. The Amazon Salon will be take over a two-story property in Spitalfields, one of East London’s trendiest retail destinations, and include high-tech spins on traditional salons. Augmented reality (AR) technolog

The Street | April 12, 2021 Amazon launched a new private-label food and snack brand, called Aplenty. The brand features hundreds of products, including pita chips, crackers, and mini cookies, as well as condiments, frozen foods, baking needs and more, media reports say. The brand offerings will be available online and in-store at Amazon Fresh. The Aplenty brand follows several trends that have developed amid the pandemic, such as increase in own brand product development and

WWD | February 2, 2021 Amazon’s earnings announcement went over its largest quarter by revenue ever — $125 billion in sales — alongside the news that chief executive officer and founder Jeff Bezos will step away as CEO to become executive chair of the Amazon board in the third quarter of 2021. Judging by the numbers, he’s going out on a high note. With revenue that shot past the $100 billion revenue threshold, a first for the company, Amazon Inc. shattered expectations for t

Bloomberg | January 5, 2021 Amazon announced buying 11 used Boeing 767-300 planes for its fast-growing air cargo operation. Aircraft is coming from Delta Air Lines Inc. and WestJet Airlines Ltd. The WestJet aircraft are currently being converted from passenger to cargo use and will join Amazon’s fleet this year. The Delta jets will start flying routes in 2022. By the end of next year, Amazon expects to have more than 85 planes in service, a spokesperson said. Seattle-based Am

Forbes | November 17, 2020 Amazon unveiled Amazon Pharmacy for customers to buy prescription drugs on its site with Prime members getting unlimited, free two-day deliveries. The news took a toll on shares of drugstore chains CVS Health, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Rite Aid. Nearly 70% of consumers who regularly take prescription medication said they pick up prescriptions at their local pharmacies with 29% saying they get it by mail, almost three-fifths of Amazon Prime memb

Retail Dive | November 4, 2020 Amazon's new 2020 holiday ad, features 17-year-old French ballet dancer Taïs Vinolo. The ad follows Vinolo as she practices as lead in a ballet performance which is then postponed due to COVID-19. As the pandemic makes for an uncertain holiday season, Amazon's ad campaign is meant to convey the communal resilience shown throughout this year, said Simon Morris, vice president of global creative. Marketing takes on a unique role to recreate holida

Numerator | October 28, 2020 Amazon Prime Day is officially over this year and even with the two-month delay, Amazon's biggest sale event of the year delivered in spades. Usually scheduled for a mid-July date, Amazon Prime Day ran from October 13th through October 14th this year but the event didn't skip a beat. Some of the major takeaways from our Amazon Prime Day 2020 Report include: 36% of U.S. Households shopped on Prime Day, a significant increase from 23% in 2019 Near

Forbes | September 15, 2020 Many luxury brands have rebuffed Amazon in the past because they want to have more control over the customer experience. But Alex Bolen, CEO of Oscar de la Renta, points out “This idea that you don’t want to speak to a customer where she’s spending a lot of her time is a mistake.” Amazon launches its Luxury Stores experience, with Oscar de la Renta as the first brand to open a storefront. “Luxury Stores is currently offered in the U.S. by invitatio

Progressive Grocer | September 4, 2020 Amazon is expanding its partnership with department store chain Kohl's in a big, new way. Kohl's will now allow an Amazon grocery store to occupy space at a Kohl's store in La Verne, California. The approximately 37,000-square-foot grocery store will be separated by a wall connecting to the existing Kohl’s next door. There's no timetable yet for when the store would open. Since 2017, Kohl's has been reducing selling space in some stores

Forbes | September 2, 2020 Walmart announced yesterday that it plans to debut its new Walmart+ subscription service on September 15, 2020. For $98 per year, Walmart+ members will have access to a number of shopping benefits with Walmart, including an Amazon Prime-like “unlimited” amount of free deliveries from its stores. Compared to Amazon Prime: Walmart+ is cheaper. Walmart+ is $98 per year, while Amazon Prime goes for $119 per year. Walmart also gives a 15-day trial period

Retail Dive | August 27, 2020 Amazon’s long-anticipated supermarket in Woodland Hills, California, opened Thursday morning, the company announced in a blog post. The store, which carries the Amazon Fresh brand, will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Amazon Fresh customers can use Amazon’s automated Dash Cart technology to avoid the checkout line. They can also employ the company’s Alexa technology to handle shopping lists and find their way around the store. The store offe

Retail Dive | August 21, 2020 Amazon is now fulfilling orders referred to it by the new Toys R Us' website. Consumers browsing products on toysrus.com are now sent via a "view price now" or "check availability" button to Amazon's website, where they can make purchases. A little more than a year after its resurrection, and the new Toys R Us is still modest in scale. The retailer is back as a joint venture between TRU Kids and its intellectual property with the former chief me

Retail Dive | August 19, 2020 Fulfillment for e-commerce requires three times the warehousing space of traditional brick-and-mortar store inventory, given the greater variety of SKUs and space-intensive shipping and parcel operations. With e-commerce growing in the pandemic, supply chain players are scooping up space where they can find it, especially if it's close to areas with high population density. Experts see multiple reasons for e-tailers such as Amazon to make this mo

CNBC | August 11, 2020 As consumer shopping habits change, America’s shopping malls have anointed many saviors: food halls, movie theaters, gyms. Grocery stores could be next on the list. Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the U.S., hinted at the idea on an earnings call Monday evening. The comments came on the heels of a report that said Amazon was in talks with Simon to open warehouses at some of its shuttered Sears and J.C. Penney locations. “The important thi

CNN Business | July 28, 2020 London (CNN Business)Amazon has started offering free grocery deliveries to Prime members in London and the surrounding area as it seeks to cash in on Britain's coronavirus-induced online shopping boom and take on stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury's and Ocado. Amazon Fresh, the company's grocery delivery service, will offer same-day delivery in most areas on orders over $51.51 placed before 9 p.m. The minimum order value has also been lowered to $19

Retail Dive | July 15, 2020 The Dash Cart is the latest example of how Amazon is using its technology muscle to stand apart from established retail competitors as it builds out its grocery and convenience store footprint. And it comes at a time when quick, contactless shopping is of the utmost importance to consumers. While other retailers are offering scan-and-go programs that require shoppers to scan each product barcode as an alternative to conventional checkout lanes, the

Forbes | July 15, 2020 Prime Day, Amazon’s made-up shopping holiday, has predictably run every July since 2015. Variations on the theme have occurred - the duration of the event, the price that brands pay to run deals, the exact date in July that the holiday fell. But in 2020, all sense of tradition has been thrown out the window. COVID-19 first threw Amazon’s supply chain into disarray in April, when the company had to limit both inbound inventory and customer orders to some