Amazon has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate its delivery drones beyond visual line of sight of the pilot, removing a key roadblock to its eventual goal of deploying aerial fulfillment for Prime customers in less than a half hour.
Walmart+, the $98 per year subscription program the company insists isn’t competing with Amazon Prime when it is, will launch Sept. 15, offering free same-day delivery on 160,000 items. Monthly membership is $12.95, similar to Prime, and a 15-day free trial is available. Members of Delivery Unlimited will automatically revert to Walmart+.
Ware2Go, a UPS-owned provider of fulfillment on demand through partnership with warehouse owners, via an integration with Google Shopping, lets merchants offer free shipping early in the search and discovery process on Google, aimed at increasing conversion. Ware2Go handles fulfillment through its partner network.
Amazon has finally opened the doors of its hybrid Amazon Fresh store in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles, a futuristic blend of digital and physical challenging traditional grocers that had been put on hold this spring due to the COVID-19 crisis. Customers can breeze through checkout and navigate the store via Alexa.
Nike is shutting out nine of its retail partners as the company continues a major focus and shift toward direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales, according to a note from Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Sam Poser. The nine retailers are Belk, Dillard’s, Zappos, Boscov’s, Bob’s Stores, Fred Meyer, EBLens, VIM and City Blue.
As e-grocery adoption continues to grow, with 60% saying they had bought online in the past month, up from 52% in March, Walmart has surpassed Amazon as the most-shopped online grocer, according to weekly data published by Coresight Research. There was also a dip in those reporting avoidance of public places and malls.
Walmart said its ecommerce sales nearly doubled in the second quarter, rising 97% to over $10 billion as it reaped the benefits of major digital investments and initiatives over the past several years amid a massive surge in pandemic-influenced online buying.
Third-party sellers sold on average more than 6,500 products per minute on Amazon Marketplace in the past year, with over 450,000 sellers utilizing Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA). In recent months, however, FBA has been placing restrictions due to pandemic volumes. One option is using Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN); here’s how it works.
Amazon is working with Simon Property Group, the largest owner/operator of shopping malls in the country, to convert some shuttered J.C. Penney and Sears anchor stores into local fulfillment centers to augment its already massive network and facilitate last-mile speed, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Kroger plans to launch a marketplace this fall through a partnership with French platform provider Mirakl, adding 50,000 items from sellers initially to its assortment, including toys and household goods in addition to specialty foods, international foods and natural and organic items. The marketplace is an expansion of Kroger Ship.