Welcome to our weekly roundup of the top five Amazon news stories of the week.
Amazon Prime membership exceeds 100 million: Tonya Garcia at MarketWatch reports that Amazon Prime has reached 101 million members, according to estimates by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. The group says 62% of Amazon’s U.S. customers are members of the Prime program. Members spend an average of $1,400 annually versus $600 per year for non-members. Continue reading…
Amazon is inviting sellers to private meetings at CES to promote a premium support service that costs up to $60,000 a year: Eugene Kim at CNBC reports that Amazon is busy meeting sellers to promote a new support service that costs between $30,000 and $60,000 a year. The meetings are part of Amazon’s effort to engage directly with its third-party sellers and help improve their overall selling experience on its site. Continue reading…
Amazon alert tells you when there’s a burglar lurking outside your door: Mark Blunden at The Evening Standard reports that the Amazon Ring system allows CCTV and motion sensors to learn about unusual situations outside the home, so it can tell the difference between children playing, a dog frolicking and a wrongdoer lurking. An infrared camera would trigger floodlights and play a message warning: “You are being recorded. The police have been summoned. You should flee immediately.” Video would be beamed to the homeowner’s phone. According to a patent application, the system is “behaviourally aware”, evaluating what is happening in front of it using artificial intelligence. Continue reading…
Shareholders are pushing Amazon to stop selling its facial recognition tool: Colin Lecher at The Verge reports that after controversy over where Amazon will sell its facial recognition tool, a shareholder proposal is pressuring the company to stop offering the product to government agencies until a civil rights review can be completed. Organized by corporate activists at the nonprofit Open MIC, the proposal asks Amazon to halt sales until “an evaluation using independent evidence” concludes that civil rights aren’t being violated. Continue reading…
Amazon hits back at claims it is to blame for falling author earnings: Alison Flood at The Guardian reports Amazon has called the conclusions of a recent report into US author earnings flawed, after the Authors Guild suggested that the retail giant’s dominance could be partly responsible for the “a crisis of epic proportions” affecting writers in the US. The report highlighted the statistic that median income from writing-related work fell to $6,080 (£4,730) in 2017, down 42% from 2009. Continue reading…
Bonus: The Resellers Guide to FBA: February
Quote of the week:
“A champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.”
Serena Williams, Tennis player
Have a great weekend!
