Discover the top Amazon news stories in December 2019 that caught our eye.
December 16-22
Amazon blocked sellers from using FedEx and now we know why: Richard Kestenbaum at Forbes reports that earlier this week, Amazon announced that sellers on its site will not be permitted to use FedEx for deliveries to Amazon Prime customers. The Wall Street Journal reported a “decline in performance” as the reason for the change but Amazon did not give specifics about what that decline was. Continue reading…
Apple, Google and Amazon decide to ‘play nice’ over smart home tech: BBC News report that tech giants Apple, Google and Amazon have announced they are teaming up in an effort to make smart home tech easier to use. The firms, along with the Zigbee Alliance, will work together so that smart home products are compatible with many different smartphones and voice assistants. Ikea is among other companies involved. Continue reading…
Where the money is really made at Amazon: Sooraj Shah at BBC News reports that Andy Jassy may not be famous like his boss Jeff Bezos, but he runs Amazon Web Services (AWS), perhaps the most important part of the Amazon empire. AWS sells data storage and processing for companies that don’t want the headache of running their own IT infrastructure. It’s a business known as cloud computing and it has only been around 10 or 15 years. Its rapid expansion means AWS supplied 70% of Amazon’s profits in its most recent quarter. Continue reading…
Amazon seeks out first Irish warehouse as Brexit date looms: Jack Sidders and Peter Flanagan at Bloomberg reports that Amazon is seeking its first warehouse in Ireland to fulfil orders currently shipped from the U.K., people with knowledge of the plan said, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to lead Britain out of the European Union. The online retailer is scouting sites with about 100,000 square feet (9,290 square meters) of space and has evaluated options on the outskirts of Dublin. Continue reading…
Premier League Boxing Day football on Amazon Prime Video: Robert Jones at T3 reports that Amazon Prime Video is streaming nine Premier League football games on Boxing Day and, unknown to many people, they can all be watched for free. There are nine games being live-streamed on the day itself, with a 10th following on December 27, and right here we run through which teams are playing, at what time they are playing, and how you can get a piece of the action for nothing. Continue reading…
December 8-15
Amazon extends its holiday shopping window with one-day shipping and new stores: Ben Fox Rubin at CNET reports that on Wednesday, Amazon unveiled its shipping cutoff times for this year’s holiday season, with the company using its growing footprint of stores and one-day shipping service to extend its sales right up to Christmas. Continue reading…
Amazon breaks into Champions League with German deal: Mark Sweney at The Guardian reports that fresh from the success of streaming top-flight English football for the first time, Amazon has sets its sights on Europe’s premier club competition, securing exclusive German rights to a package of Champions League matches. Amazon’s deal in Germany is akin to its move to break the stranglehold on Premier League rights held by Sky and BT in the UK. Continue reading…
Amazon told to answer Deliveroo deal concerns in five days: BBC News reports that the competition watchdog has said it may be forced to launch an in-depth investigation into Amazon’s plans to invest in food delivery firm Deliveroo. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was worried the tie-up could increase delivery prices. The regulator gave the two firms five days to address its concerns about competition in the food delivery space. If they fail to impress the watchdog, the $575m (£437m) deal could ultimately be blocked. Continue reading…
What is Amazon Connect? John Brandon at TechRadar reports that Amazon Connect is a customer contact centre that runs in the cloud. It’s omnichannel in that you can use Connect with multiple telecom providers. All of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) features you’d expect are available, and Amazon Connect can sync with services like Salesforce if that’s the CRM provider you normally use. One of the key features of Amazon Connect is that it uses a pay-as-you-go model. Continue reading…
Amazon has a secret Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker video. Here’s how to watch it: Erin Carson at CNET reports that Amazon has a nearly two-minute video with the cast and director J.J. Abrams reflecting on the ending of a story that started decades ago. It’s stashed in a few different spots. One way to find it is to go to Amazon.com and type “#TheRiseofSkyWalker” in the search bar. Continue reading…
December 1-8
Premier League streaming on Amazon Prime – was broadcaster’s debut a success? BBC reports that it was a historic moment in Premier League football this week as a whole round of fixtures were streamed online via Amazon Prime. After decades of traditional broadcasting methods, this was a step into the unknown and a glimpse at what the future of watching football at home could look like. Amazon say it was “one of the biggest-ever streaming events in the UK”. Continue reading…
Amazon has three million active sellers: Joe at Marketplace Pulse reports that there are close to 3 million active sellers on Amazon marketplaces worldwide, an increase of 17.7% in a year. A seller is active if they have products listed for sale. Less than 10% of the active sellers were able to achieve $100,000 in yearly sales, and only 1% reached $1 million in sales. Continue reading…
Image credit: Marketplace Pulse
Cyber Monday was the biggest shopping day in Amazon’s history: Jordan Valinsky at CNN Business reports that Monday was Amazon’s biggest shopping day in the company’s history. Amazon rarely releases exact numbers, but it said Tuesday that shoppers ordered “hundreds of millions” of products between Thanksgiving and Monday. It said customers bought more items around the world on Monday than on any other day in Amazon’s two-plus decades of existence. Cyber Monday has been Amazon’s top sales day for several years, outpacing the previous Prime Day and Black Friday. Continue reading…
Amazon Prime one-day shipping apparently doesn’t mean one-day delivery: Jason Del Rey at Vox reports that Amazon acknowledged on Thursday that some customers’ orders are experiencing shipping delays as the company battles high demand and winter storms. “We are off to a record-breaking start to the holiday season and on peak shopping days, delivery promises vary and may be longer than normal based on order volume and the fulfillment and delivery capacity available in a given area,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Recode. Continue reading…
Sussex mum wins Amazon Small Business of the Year: Elaine Hammond at The Worthington Herald reports that a mum who turned down a Dragons’ Den investment and was told she would live to regret it has won Amazon Small Business of the Year. Hazel Reynolds, chief executive of Gamely Games, said the card game business she founded had carried on in its own unique way and by Christmas, will have sold more than 100,000 of its family-friendly party games.
Quote of the month:
“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.”
Jim Rohn
