Welcome to RepricerExpress’ weekly round-up of the top five stories from the world of Amazon and ecommerce.
Why Amazon is driving force behind Asda-Sainsbury’s merger: Sarah Butler at The Guardian reports that Amazon is the biggest fear for supermarkets. Sainsbury’s boss, Mike Coupe, has long made clear that his real concern is the online giant, which is now the world’s second biggest company, valued at $740bn compared with Walmart’s $264bn. Coupe admitted that his 2016 acquisition of catalogue store Argos was intended partly as a way to fight off the increasing threat from Amazon. Continue reading…
Amazon to add 2,000 jobs in Boston: Sara Salinas at CNBC reports that Amazon is adding 2,000 jobs to its Boston tech hub in fields including cloud computing and speech science. Boston is one of the tech giant’s largest footholds and is a finalist to win the company’s second headquarters. Amazon has been paying visits to each of the 20 North American finalists. Continue reading…
Amazon introduces Prime Book Box, a subscription service for kids: Ben Fox Rubin at CNET reports that on Tuesday, Amazon introduced Prime Book Box, a subscription service that offers curated boxes of hardcover books for kids up to age 12. Customers can pick whether to receive the boxes every one, two or three months. Each delivery costs $23, which Amazon says can save people up to 35 percent off list price. The US-only service is available by invitation only to Prime members, a restriction Amazon usually sets for some newer programs it still wants to test out with the public. Continue reading…
Amazon and Walmart may battle for India’s Flipkart: BBC News reports that Amazon is reportedly seeking to take a 60% stake in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart, which would challenge Walmart’s interest in the company. News of Amazon’s offer comes days after reports that Walmart was close to a deal of its own for Flipkart. Walmart has been expanding its online offerings and is looking to gain a presence in India. Amazon’s duelling bid was reported by CNBC-TV18, the Indian affiliate of business news channel CNBC. The three companies have not commented on the report. Continue reading…
Amazon launches Wag, its own line of pet products: Steven Musil at CNET reports that Amazon on Wednesday launched its own brand of pet products, called Wag, adding to the internet retailer’s expansive list of private-label brands, which has grown to include diapers, clothing and even mid-century furniture. The Wag brand debuted with dry dog food, with other pet products to be added later. Like some other Amazon private-label brands, Wag products are available to purchase only by Amazon Prime subscribers, who pay an annual fee to free two-day shipping and other benefits, such as access to music, movies and TV shows. Continue reading…
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