News
From Amazon to Alibaba, Grocers' Agony Is Endless
Taking the Online Cake China leads in the development of grocery home shopping. China may have got there first in debuting alternatives to the traditional grocery store. BingoBox, which dispenses with the usual checkout lines, opened in southern China in mid-2017, ahead of the January 2018 public launch of...
China's AI-powered corner store goes global
In May, we reported that China's tech giants are sharing their secret sauce with mom-and-pop shops around the country, helping them join the digital revolution with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and e-commerce technologies.
What's next: The Chinese are taking their digitalization-in-a-box concept abroad — with the potential to fuel...
Trying to get VC money from SoftBank? Here's what you need to know about Masayoshi Son's ...
Trying to get VC money from SoftBank? Here's what you need to know about Masayoshi Son's strategy. Startups backed by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son's Vision Fund are reporting back on what it's like to be part of the SoftBank "Family" and there's a few key takeaways. Next, the Japanese...
Why Amazon, Rival Retailers Are Uniting Over US Postal Service
Many U.S. retailers may hate and fear Amazon.com , but their shared interest in making sure the U.S. Postal Service continues to offer "Reliable and affordable" package delivery - critical to all retailers in this age of growing e-commerce - tops all that regular business enmity. Trump's comments have...
What Amazon should be doing in Australia, according to sellers
Before Amazon actually did launch in Australia, the sheer size and influence of the retail powerhouse in overseas markets led to wild speculations about the impact of its launch. Would, like in the US, Amazon end up accounting for 44% of Australia's e-commerce sales? Or, would we reach the...
Starbucks stares down a buzzy, homegrown Chinese competitor
Now there is Luckin Coffee, a brazenly cool, VC-funded startup in China that, in an astonishing nine months, has swollen to more than 650 locations, a $1 billion valuation, and lots of buzz. Luckin often delivers coffee to offices in 18 minutes, or even faster. She added, "True, Luckin...
FANG Stocks Are Big, But Asia's Tech Giants Carry Even More Sway
Three of Asia's big stock markets are each dominated by a single tech giant, a dynamic that fueled strong gains last year but is now becoming a source of frustration for some investors. Tencent Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in South Korea and Taiwan Semiconductor...
eBay Continues to Fight Flea Market Image
When John Donahoe took over from Meg Whitman as CEO, he displayed his disdain for eBay's "Flea market" image. Tarman, who holds a law degree and has a background in the financial services industry, said, "We're under no illusions of the challenges that we have to reenergize our brand...
Merch by Amazon launches in UK and Germany
The Merch by Amazon service has launched in the UK and Germany. Merch offers creatives and artists a chance to upload their artwork and imagery to Amazon and then they can be printed on demand of everything from t-shirts to aprons. The designers get a commission for every item...
Will Pinduoduo Disrupt China's E-Commerce Market?
Pinduoduo ranks a distant third in China's e-commerce market with a 5% share, but it uses a disruptive strategy that targets Alibaba and JD's soft spots. Pinduoduo keeps its prices low by focusing on generic brands and lower-income, third-tier and lower cities, which account for nearly two-thirds of its...
Amazon patents AR goggles 'that spy on warehouse workers' every move'
Amazon is already under fire for its working conditions and paying the lowest UK corporation tax for five years - just £4.6m in 201 or six per cent on profits of £72m as sales soar to £8.8bn as high streets struggle. According to the patent, filed in the US...
Inside Tokyo's epic electronics store: Apple vs. Microsoft; plenty of Google Home; no Amazon Echo
Founded in 1960, Yodobashi is a consumer electronics retail giant that operates a ridiculous 9-story store in the heart of Akihabara. The first floor features a showdown of sorts between longtime rivals Apple and Microsoft. The juxtaposition - and lack of activity on the Microsoft side compared to Apple...
Google staff unhappy with plan to build search engine for China that complies with censorship rules
Word that Google is crafting a search engine to meet China's draconian censorship rules has sparked widespread employee anger at the company which has responded by limiting workers' access to documents about the project, a report said on Friday. "There's been total radio silence from leadership, which is making...
Alibaba-owned Lazada looks to 'crush' competition, goes on charm offensive to win over online ...
A sense of wanderlust and desire to share the spoils of their trips with others led Ms Lee and her boyfriend to start a modest online business selling travel essentials, customisable world maps and other knick knacks. The 27-year-old architectural designer left her job to co-found Trippy Travelers and...
Skip the store: Kroger unveils direct-to-consumer grocery marketplace
The company's Ship service will launch in four cities and offer more than 50,000 shelf-stable and bulk products, with free delivery on orders over $35.
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Amazon creates USPS lobby with other retailers to influence postal service policy
For months, President Donald Trump has been accusing Amazon of ripping off the U.S. Postal Service. Amazon and other retailers have formed The Package Coalition to influence policymakers on issues related to USPS and package delivery. The Package Coalition says its mission is to work "With policymakers and the...
Square now lets developers use its Reader to build custom checkout experiences
Square, the company you know from your favorite coffee shop's checkout counter, is opening to developers its Reader hardware. Using the new Square Reader SDK, developers will be able to build their own custom checkout and point of sale experiences, no matter whether that's a self-ordering kiosk, a mobile...
You Won't Miss Brookstone, But You Should
During the height of the mall era, Brookstone carried gadgets that were both sublime and absurd, often at the same time. "Brookstone has always been a place of discovering new things," says Brookstone public relations director Paul Donovan. "Brookstone has always been a place you go when you don't...
Interview with Goodwill Industries International Director of online and mobile on managing an omni-channel retail experience with a purpose.
In this interview I sepak with Adam Stiska Director of Mobile and Digital Strategies at Goodwill Industries International on managing a multi-stakeholder commerce and online technology strategy. One of the hidden gems in retail is the "Thrift" sector where the dynamics of sourcing, inventory management and discovery are fundamentally...
America Needs a Blockchain Strategy ASAP
Little has been written about the blockchain's potential uses in the national security space, where blockchain technology could be enormously useful. First, a brief introduction to the basic technology: The blockchain is a decentralized ledger distributed across a network of computers, or nodes, that records transactions in real time....