Salesforce may be looking to make its largest acquisition to date, possibly snapping up Slack, the popular corporate message platform.
Slack helped define the corporate messaging market and is used by organizations of all sizes. Recently, the company has faced increasing competition from Microsoft Teams, which has eclipsed Slack’s user base.
Nonetheless, Slack is still wildly popular and continues to strike deals with major companies. In February, IBM announced it was deploying Slack to all 350,000 of its employees. Similarly, in June AWS announced it was deploying Slack to all of its employees. In return, Slack migrated its voice and video calling services to Amazon’s Chime platform.
The AWS deal also spurred talk that Amazon might be interested in acquiring Slack. Despite Microsoft Teams’ larger market share, Slack is seen as the safe choice for companies that compete with Microsoft and don’t want to rely on a rival for their corporate communication. Given that AWS and Microsoft are the first and second-largest cloud providers, Slack seemed like a natural choice for AWS.
It appears Salesforce may be interested in purchasing the message platform, however, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The talks appear to be preliminary, and therefore may ultimately come to nothing. Should the a deal be struck, however, it would be the largest in Salesforce history, since Slack is currently valued at $17 billion.
Salesforce and Slack already integrate with each other. Given that both companies are locked in heated competition with Microsoft, joining forces may make sense. Salesforce, in particular, has been under increased pressure lately, with some analysts believing Microsoft’s open approach to data gives it a significant advantage over Salesforce. Microsoft has also partnered with C3.ai and Adobe to target Salesforce’s core CRM business.
It remains to be seen if the talks will bear fruit, but it is also possible Saleforce’s interest could spark renewed interest from other parties, such as AWS. Larger companies content to partner with an independent Slack may not want to see it come under the control of a possible competitor. This, in turn, may motivate them to make a move of their own.
Walmart is taking aim at one of Amazon’s biggest benefits, fast shipping, by using its stores to speed up delivery.
Amazon Prime is one of the biggest advantages Amazon has, providing free two-day shipping on many products. Many of its competitors have struggled to match its ability to get products in customers’ hands so quickly.
Walmart is preparing to just do that, however, with plans to use its stores to speed up delivery for online shoppers. The company’s decision comes amid one of the most unique holiday seasons, as many shoppers turn to online shopping as a result of COVID-19.
The overall experience should be relatively seamless for most customers, while shipping times may be reduced to as little as same day.
“While our customers won’t see a change in the app or a new service they need to select, they will notice that they aren’t finding themselves checking for shipping updates or sweating arrival times of gifts,” writes Tom Ward, Senior Vice President, Customer Product. “They simply notice their orders are arriving super-fast, even the same day, and maybe in a Walmart bag from a store rather than a Walmart box from Walmart.com.”
Amazon has a complicated relationship with its employees and the latest reports are not likely to help the situation.
With an employee base closing in on 1.2 million, Amazon has been a source of reliable employment for many during the pandemic. At the same time, the company has often been criticized for its climate policies and for not doing enough to protect its workers from COVID.
Now employees have another reason to be angry at the company, as a report from Motherboard shows the company has used Pinkerton detectives to counter unionization efforts, as well as monitor environmental and social groups.
The documents show Amazon analysts closely monitor the labor and union-organizing activity of their workers throughout Europe, as well as environmentalist and social justice groups on Facebook and Instagram. They also indicate, and an Amazon spokesperson confirmed, that Amazon has hired Pinkerton operatives—from the notorious spy agency known for its union-busting activities—to gather intelligence on warehouse workers.
At a time when Amazon is already under scrutiny, this latest revelation is not likely to do the company any favors.
AWS has unveiled the AWS Network Firewall in an effort to help customers protect their cloud-based virtual networks.
AWS is currently the top cloud platform, with 31% of the cloud computing market. One of AWS’ biggest strengths is the breadth and depth of services the platform offers.
The company is building on that with its latest announcement, AWS Network Firewall, “a high availability, managed network firewall service” for virtual private clouds (VPC). The new service complements the other firewall capabilities AWS currently provides, such as “Security Groups to protect Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances, Network ACLs to protect Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) subnets, AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect web applications running on Amazon CloudFront, Application Load Balancer (ALB) or Amazon API Gateway, and AWS Shield to protect against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.”
The AWS Network Firewall can be setup with just a few clicks, and the company touts its ability to scale as needed, eliminating the need to manage additional infrastructure.
“With AWS Network Firewall, you can implement customized rules to prevent your VPCs from accessing unauthorized domains, to block thousands of known-bad IP addresses, or identify malicious activity using signature-based detection,” writes Channy Yun is a Principal Developer Advocate for AWS. “AWS Network Firewall makes firewall activity visible in real-time via CloudWatch metrics and offers increased visibility of network traffic by sending logs to S3, CloudWatch and Kinesis Firehose. Network Firewall is integrated with AWS Firewall Manager, giving customers who use AWS Organizations a single place to enable and monitor firewall activity across all your VPCs and AWS accounts. Network Firewall is interoperable with your existing security ecosystem, including AWS partners such as CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and Splunk. You can also import existing rules from community maintained Suricata rulesets.”
The news is a welcome addition to AWS’ cybersecurity services and will help customers keep their VPCs even safer.
Amazon has migrated the majority of Alexa to the next generation of its custom silicon chips.
Last year, Amazon was reported to be working on the next generation of its ARM-based custom silicon, as it works to improve cost, performance and efficiency. The company’s latest effort is the AWS Inferentia, with four NeuronCores. The NeuronCores are designed to speed up deep learning operations, making them an ideal option for powering Alexa.
“Today, we are announcing that the Amazon Alexa team has migrated the vast majority of their GPU-based machine learning inference workloads to Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Inf1 instances, powered by AWS Inferentia,” writes Sébastien Stormacq. “This resulted in 25% lower end-to-end latency, and 30% lower cost compared to GPU-based instances for Alexa’s text-to-speech workloads. The lower latency allows Alexa engineers to innovate with more complex algorithms and to improve the overall Alexa experience for our customers.
“AWS built AWS Inferentia chips from the ground up to provide the lowest-cost machine learning (ML) inference in the cloud. They power the Inf1 instances that we launched at AWS re:Invent 2019. Inf1 instances provide up to 30% higher throughput and up to 45% lower cost per inference compared to GPU-based G4 instances, which were, before Inf1, the lowest-cost instances in the cloud for ML inference.”
This has been a big week for custom silicon, between Apple unveiling its first Macs running on its M1 chip Tuesday, and now AWS’ announcement.
“It’s a question of understanding what’s hybrid as opposed to pure public,” says IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. “I look at both Microsoft and Amazon as likely partners in this journey, not as being the one and two. In the hybrid world, the question is where does the client want to decide where the workload runs? They can run it on Amazon, they can run it on Microsoft, they can run it on IBM, or they can run it on private. What is the technology platform that goes across all of those? Red Hat gives a great answer to that technology platform.”
“There are many capabilities people need around integration and cybersecurity,” adds Krishna. “We’ll bring those to bear. Then we will bring our services to bear for those clients who would like to get that help both in improving the skills of their own people or for us to do the work for them. That is why you see us report $24 billion dollars in the trailing 12 months on total cloud revenue. That’s a hybrid market and not a singular public cloud market.”
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna On Hybrid Cloud: Microsoft and Amazon Likely Partners
AWS has announced it is opening a cloud computing region in Switzerland, expanding its already large footprint on the continent.
As the leader in the cloud computing market, one of AWS’ biggest advantages is its worldwide reach. The company currently “spans 77 Availability Zones within 24 geographic regions around the world and has announced plans for twelve more Availability Zones and four more AWS Regions.” The existing regions include France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and the UK, with Spain coming online in late 2022 or early 2023.
The company plans to bring the Switzerland region online in the second half of 2022.
“The upcoming AWS Europe (Zurich) Region will give our customers the choice and flexibility for where to store and process their data,” writes Amazon CTO Werner Vogels. “As always, our customers retain ownership of their data and control over its movement, so even the most security- and compliance-sensitive companies interested in keeping their data in Switzerland will now be able to innovate faster utilizing the AWS Cloud.”
The news is good news for AWS’ Swiss customers and helps the company continue its strong international support.
Just days after the DOJ filed an antitrust case against Google, the FTC may be planning a similar case against Facebook.
Tech giants are under more scrutiny now than at any time since Microsoft’s landmark antitrust case in 2001. The DOJ filed a case against Google over its search and search advertising business. The CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter have also been called to testify before Congress, in some cases repeatedly.
Now, according to Politico, the five FTC commissioners have met to discuss an antitrust case against Facebook. The company has repeatedly been accused of stifling competition by purchasing smaller rivals it deems a potential or future threat. In addition, Facebook has faced ongoing criticism for its mishandling of user privacy.
Because of the confidential nature of the probe, Politico’s sources spoke anonymously. It’s unknown which way the FTC commissioners are leaning, and a decision is not expected for several weeks. Nonetheless, it’s the latest challenge facing Big Tech in general, and social media in particular.
Amazon is the latest company to extend work from home policies amid a resurgence of COVID-19.
With a record-breaking number of daily coronavirus cases, now topping 83,000, companies are having to make tough choices regarding a return to the office. Most recently, Microsoft announced it was pushing back a return to the office until July 2021, at the earliest.
Now Amazon has made a similar decision, announcing that workers whose jobs permit will be able to continue working from home through June 30, 2021. In an update on the company’s blog, Amazon highlighted its commitment to employee safety:
The health and safety of our employees is our top priority, and it will be some time before things return to normal. Accordingly, work that can effectively be done from home can continue to be done from home through June 30, 2021.
The White House recently admitted that “we are not going to control the pandemic.” Instead, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows made it clear that vaccines and treatment options would be the focus moving forward. If the virus is truly out of control, and hope lies in a successful vaccine, it’s a safe bet many other companies will soon be pushing back their return-to-office targets as well.
Microsoft is in second place in the Earth-based cloud market, but it looks to be positioning itself to be the premier cloud provider for space.
The company announced the latest version of its Azure cloud program, Azure Space, designed to be the “the platform and ecosystem of choice for the mission needs of the space community.” As companies large and small turn to space for communications, travel and colonization, cloud computing will be an important part of the transition.
Microsoft has also partnered with SpaceX to pair Azure with the Starlink satellite system. Starlink is a low-Earth orbit constellation of satellites designed to provide internet access that competes with terrestrial broadband. Unlike legacy satellite internet providers, such as HughesNet and Viasat, Starlink’s low-Earth orbit provides faster speeds and much lower latency, inline with traditional broadband options.
The combination of Starlink and Azure will help the two companies compete with Amazon and Blue Origin, as well as provide service to customers in remote regions.
“As the importance of data to society has increased, so too has the importance of reliable and diverse pathways for connectivity,” writes Tom Keane – Corporate Vice President, Azure Global. “Our global network of over 160,000 miles of subsea, terrestrial, and metro optical fiber helps billions of people connect all around the world. However, many of our customers also operate in remote, rugged environments and find it hard to keep pace with their increased need for access to data and bandwidth.”
In addition to competing with Amazon, the Microsoft and SpaceX partnership will help both companies play a pivotal role in future US space operations.
“The two companies also plan to further connect Starlink with Microsoft’s global network — including Azure edge devices — integrate SpaceX’s ground stations with Azure networking capabilities,” writes Jennifer Sokolowsky, in a company blog post.
“SpaceX recently won a contract with the Space Development Agency to build new satellites – separate from the Starlink system – in support of a Space Tracking Layer defense system capable of detecting and tracking ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles. Microsoft will be join the SpaceX team on this project.”
It appears that Microsoft is going all-in on the final frontier, and may quickly establish itself as the platform of choice for space operations.
Amazon has launched Amazon Shopper Panel, a program that will pay users for information on their non-Amazon purchases.
In addition to sales, one of the biggest benefits Amazon gains is access to customer and purchasing data. For purchases made outside Amazon, however, the company is largely in the dark.
To address that, Amazon has unveiled Amazon Shopper Panel. The program “is an opt-in, invitation-only program where participants can earn monthly rewards by sharing receipts from purchases made outside of Amazon.com and by completing short surveys.”
The company emphases its commitment to privacy, promising that Amazon only receives information that panelist explicitly share, and that panelists can stop at any time. In addition, panelist have the option to delete any previous receipts, and Amazon automatically deletes sensitive information, such as prescription receipts.
At this time the program is only available to a limited number of users, but those interested can join a waitlist to be informed when it becomes more widely available.
Amazon wants to emulate the success of Prime Day every day with ‘Holiday Dash,’ a new section on Amazon with daily deals that “equal Black Friday.”
Amazon says that “with new deals dropping every day starting October 16, customers can shop early and with confidence that they are getting Black Friday-worthy deals and incredible savings on a huge selection of products.”
Here are the announced details on Amazon’s Holiday Dash deals:
Amazon Brands
Save up to 30% on select kid’s clothing and more from our brands including Amazon Essentials, Spotted Zebra, and Simple Joys by Carter’s
Save up to 30% on select men’s and women’s clothing and more from our brands including Amazon Essentials, Daily Ritual and Goodthreads
Save up to 20% on AmazonBasics
Save 40% on Wag dog food, and treats
Save 20% on household and personal care products from Solimo
Save 20% on Presto! Refillable Cleaners
Save 20% on baby care products from Mama Bear and Solimo
Save 20% on Belei skincare
Save 20% on nutrition and wellness products from Amazon Elements and Revly
Save 20% on coffee, snacks, and other grocery essentials from Solimo, Happy Belly, and Amazon Fresh
Toys & Games
Save up to 40% on Star Wars toys
Save up to 40% on Collectible toys from L.O.L. Surprise!, Calico Critters, Fingerlings, and more
Save up to 30% on Hot Wheels toys
Save up to 30% on Building Sets from LEGO, Magna-Tiles, and PlayMonster
Save up to 30% on Marvel toys
Save up to 30% on Fortnite, Pokemon, Roblox and more
Save up to 40% on Tegu Building Blocks
Save up to 30% on Funko POPs!
Save up to 30% on Arts & Crafts sets
Save 30% on Evenflo Pivot Explore Wagon
Save up to 30% on preschool toys from Jazwares, Spin Master, Hape, and more
Save on AmScope 52-piece kids beginner microscope STEM kit
Fashion
Save up to 40% on select apparel from Calvin Klein
Save up to 40% on select Levi’s apparel for the whole family
Save up to 40% on Star Wars apparel
Save up to 30% on select New Balance footwear and apparel
Save up to 40% on select Tommy Hilfiger apparel
Save up to 40% on select kids’ clothing from Gerber, Hudson Baby, and more
Save up to 50% on select watches from Citizen, Bulova, Anne Klein, and more
Save up to 30% on select Lacoste apparel, shoes, and accessories
Save up to 30% on Marvel apparel
Save up to 30% on select seasonal fashion trends
Save up to 25% on select Nautica men’s and women’s apparel
Save up to 48% on select Hanna Anderson pajama sets and underwear styles
Save up to 30% on select styles from The Drop
Save up to 40% on select women’s shoes from Shopbop
Save up to 15% on select women’s accessories from Shopbop
Household, Kitchen, Home Improvement & Smart Home
Save on Le Creuset Cast Iron and Stoneware, including up to 48% on select Le Creuset 3.5Qt Oval Dutch Ovens
Save up to 50% on select Bissell Vacuums
Save up to 40% on SharkNinja Shark Navigator Lift-Away
Save up to 35% on Eufy by Anker RoboVac
Save up to 30% on Eureka Stick Vacuum
Save on iRobot Robotic vacuums and mops
Save up to 30% on iLife Robotic vacuum cleaner
Save up to 25% or more on Samsung vacuums
Save up to 36% on select Blueair air purifiers
Save up to 20% on select Molekule air purifiers
Save up to 40% on KitchenAid tools
Save up to 20% on the Instant Pot Duo Mini Plus
Save up to 30% on Hallmark gift wrap, ornaments, and cards
Save up to 20% on select Breville Smart Ovens
Save up to 20% on OXO BREW coffee makers
Save up to 30% on Tineco floorcare products
Save on Ninja AF161 Air Fryer and Ninja FG551 Foodi Indoor Smart Grill
Save on select SodaStream Fizzi Sparkling Water Maker Bundles
Save on the Keurig K-Mini Coffee Maker
Save up to 20% on OXO Good Grips Smart Seal and bakeware
Save up to 35% on Ayesha Curry Cookware
Save 30% on Linenspa 10″ hybrid mattresses
Save up to 30% on Zinus furniture and mattresses
Save 30% on Sweetnight mattresses
Save up to 30% on Moen bathroom fixtures and up to 20% off on Moen kitchen products
Save up to 25% on select Hansgrohe products
Save 15% on GE Profile Ice Maker
Save 20% on select Broan appliances
Save up to 15% on select Delta Faucet products
Save up to 15% on Whirlpool softeners
Save 15% or more on gaming, home education and home office furniture
Save on select August Smart Locks
Save on select Kwikset Smart and Mechanical Locks
Save on Smart Home products from Emerson, Kasa TP-Link, and more
Beauty, Health & Personal Care
Save up to 50% on your favorite Premium Beauty brands from Elemis, Mario Badescu, Redken, and more
Save up to 40% on Premium Beauty appliances from T3, Foreo and more
Save up to 40% on Waterpik and Colgate oral care appliances
Save up to 45% on skin care from NIVEA, Aquaphor, and Eucerin
Save up to 30% on hair dryers and products from Revlon, Bed Head, and more
Save up to 35% on razors from Braun, Gillette, and more
Save 33% on Panasonic and Norelco shavers
Save up to 20% on Fitbit Activity and Fitness Trackers
Electronics
Save up to 33% on select Nintendo Switch games
Save up to 35% on Nixplay Digital Frames
Save up to 30% on Kodak Instant Cameras and Printers
Save 25% on Adobe Creative Cloud Entire Collection
Save up to 20% on Samsung TVs
Save up to 20% on Sony TVs
Save up to 50% on JBL Speakers
Save up to 33% on Sony Headphones
Save up to 33% on Bose Headphones
Save up to 40% on select Mynt 3D printing pens and accessories
Save 30% on Mynt 3D PRO Pen with OLED Display
Save up to 30% on VAVA 4K Projectors
Save up to 30% on TaoTronics Headphones
Small Businesses on Amazon Launchpad
Save up to 50% on Kids Against Maturity: Card Game for Kids and Families
Save up to 30% on the SOLIOM S600 Outdoor Security Camera
Save up to 25% on the Zen Laboratory DIY Jumbo Slime Kit for Kids
From October 26 to November 19, Prime members can save 10% or more on select unique products from small brands on Amazon Launchpad like: Mobile Pixels Duex Portable Monitor for Laptops and Scentered Travel Essentials Aromatherapy Balm gift set
Entertainment: Amazon Music, Audible, Books & Prime Video
Amazon Music: Beginning October 23, new Amazon Music Unlimited customers can get three months of the premium streaming tier free, to enjoy unlimited access to more than 60 million songs, ad-free and a wide selection of popular podcasts.
Amazon Music: Beginning October 29, current Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can upgrade to the Family Plan free for three months, with access for up to six accounts.
Audible: Between November 1 and December 31, new members save nearly 40% on the first six months of an Audible Plus membership at just $4.95 per month. Membership includes unlimited access to more than 10 thousand Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
Books: Deals on select multi-genre books and ebooks throughout the season
Prime Video: This holiday season, Prime Video will offer up to 50% off select popular Halloween, family and holiday movies to rent or buy. Deals will roll out over the next few months, so be sure to check www.amazon.com/pmd for updates.
Amazon Gift Cards
Starting today, customers using Amazon Reload to replenish their Amazon Gift Card balance for the first time will receive a $10 bonus with their reload of $100 or more. Offer available through December 31.
Starting October 26, first-time Amazon Gift Card shoppers will receive a $15 promotional credit with the purchase of $50 or more in Amazon Gift Cards. Offer available through December 20. The promotional credit expires on February 6, 2021. Other restrictions apply.
Amazon Credit Cards:
Now through December 22, with an eligible Prime membership, customers who apply and are approved for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card will instantly receive a $100 Gift Card. Prime Cardmembers earn 5% back at Whole Foods Market and Amazon.com. Additionally, starting November 1 through December 22, customers without a Prime membership can apply for the Amazon Rewards Visa Card and receive a $60 Gift Card upon approval, in addition to earning 3% back at Whole Foods Market and Amazon.com as a cardmember. Restrictions apply. Visit amazon.com/visa for details.
Automotive, Tools and Lawn & Garden
Save 50% on tire installation
Save up to 25% on Miracle-Gro Expand ‘n Gro concentrated planting mix
Save 25% on Castrol GTX Conventional motor oil
Save 20% on Select Tonno Pro Tonneau covers
Save up to 20% on select Streamlight flashlights
Save on select DEWALT cordless drills and tools
Save up to 30% on select SKIL tools
Save up to 15% off on select ZGrills Pellet Grills & Smokers
Save up to 15% on Shintenchi 4 piece wicker rattan outdoor patio furniture set
Save on select Renogy monocrystalline solar panels
Sports & Outdoors
Save up to 20% on Select Coleman Tents & Gear
Save up to 20% on select CamelBak kids water bottles
Save up to 25% on select Sawyer Products water filters
Save up to 30% on select Stanley drinkware
Save up to 28% on select Segway scooters and kids bikes
Save up to 30% on select Stiga table tennis rackets and Zume badminton set
Save up to 30% on select Legendary Whitetails apparel
Save up to 30% on select Osprey Outdoor Packs
Pets
Save 20% on Catit Creamy cat treats
Save on Petsafe electronic dog toys
Save on The Honest Kitchen human grade pet treats
Save on Friends Forever donut pet beds
Whole Foods Market:
Both in-store and online, Prime members can receive discounts on customer favorites including 35% off Bare Bones broths and 35% off all packaged teas, available now through October 27.
Available now through October 20, customers can get 20% off pumpkins and gourds – excluding squash.
Amazon has announced a new initiative, Climate Pledge Friendly, to help customers shop for sustainable products.
Amazon has increasingly been under fire from its own employees for a perceived lack of effort toward addressing climate change. This included a “climate strike” in 2019, when hundreds of employees walked out. The efforts appear to have made an impact, as Jeff Bezos pledged $10 billion to fight climate change in early 2020, and now Amazon has unveiled its new initiative.
Climate Pledge Friendly labels will appear on some 25,000 different products across a host of categories, including grocery, household, personal electronics, fashion and beauty, to name just a few. In order to receive the label, a product will need to have at least one of 19 sustainability certifications. A number of brands have gotten onboard, including Seventh Generation, Burt’s Bees Baby, Mrs. Meyer’s and HP.
“Climate Pledge Friendly is a simple way for customers to discover more sustainable products that help preserve the natural world,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “With 18 external certification programs and our own Compact by Design certification, we’re incentivizing selling partners to create sustainable products that help protect the planet for future generations.”
Walmart launches Walmart+ a subscription service that competes directly with Amazon Prime and costs only $98 a year or optionally $12.95 a month. Walmart’s membership option is now available to customers across the country. Membership includes free 15-day trial period.
“We can’t wait for customers to use Walmart+ as a way to keep more time on their calendars and money in their pockets,” said Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer, Walmart. “We designed Walmart+ to be the ultimate life hack for customers, pulling together benefits they told us would be most helpful to them today and in the future. Its usefulness will only grow from here.”
The initial list of Walmart+ benefits is below. The company says that the list of benefits will continue to grow over time:
Unlimited free delivery: In-store prices as fast as same-day on more than 160,000 items from fresh produce, to milk, eggs and bread to tech and toys to household essentials. This service was previously known as Delivery Unlimited – a subscription service that allows customers to place an unlimited number of grocery deliveries for a low, flat yearly or monthly fee. Current subscribers will automatically become Walmart+ members.
Scan & Go: Unlock Scan & Go in the Walmart app – a fast way to shop in-store. Using the Walmart app, customers can scan their items as they shop and pay using Walmart Pay for a quick, easy, touch-free payment experience.
Fuel discounts: Fill up and save up to 5 cents a gallon at nearly 2,000 Walmart, Murphy USA and Murphy Express fuel stations. Sam’s Club fuel stations will soon be added to this lineup.
Bill Simon, former CEO of Walmart, discusses the launch of Walmart+ designed to take on Amazon by combining free delivery of groceries and general merchandise within a paid subscription service:
Walmart+ Goes Head To Head With Amazon
Walmart has long coveted a subscription service to go head to head with Amazon. They tried three or four times but this one is different. Walmart+ combines both their grocery and their general merchandise strength which is really trying to recreate the supercenter online through a subscription service. If they can use the frequency of their food business to also help sell their general merchandise line they can mix it out better and hopefully get to profitability sooner.
Retail has actually been better (this last quarter) than most people have expected. It’s not been even. There have been categories and retailers who have struggled. By and large, its help up pretty well. The pandemic accelerated digital ecommerce development by five to ten years. If you were not up to speed on that or didn’t get up to speed very quickly you would be behind. As we head into the fall it will be really interesting to see how it goes.
Holiday Selling Season Uncertain
Typically, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, that weekend has been really critical to the selling season. If you missed that it would be very difficult to have a really good holiday selling season. With the delayed openings now and Thanksgiving not on the line, the focus is going to be online and there won’t be as many in-person Black Friday deals. It’s going to be difficult for retailers to make up all that volume online. The holiday selling season is going to be a bit uncertain.
I’m really speaking from the consumer perspective when I say that digital ecommerce accelerated by five to ten years in the last six months. It accelerated at that pace and people had to head in that direction. That is likely where retail is going to head but it is going to still be a mix. The vast majority of retail will remain brick and mortar but ecommerce will take a larger role in the facilitation by online pickup in store. Customers are now completely blending the omnichannel retail experience.
The Amazon Effect: Digital Sales Rule!
There’s also been really a change from an investment standpoint. This has been really more the Amazon effect than anything I can think of. Five years ago, it used to be, grow your profit faster than your sales and your share price would move forward. Now, if you’re not growing digital sales at a hyperactive rate it’s really hard to get a good valuation on your company. Walmart is a great example of a retailer employing this strategy.
They’ve invested a ton of money, almost a third of their operating income they’ve given up in order to build an ecommerce business. Yet, investors have rewarded them by buying their stock. It’s near historic highs.
Amazon has entered the super hot podcasting arena, adding podcasts to their Amazon Music platform. All podcasts will, of course, be able to be accessed via Alexa, through its voice-activated Echo speakers, and are free to Amazon Prime members. Check the podcasts out here: Amazon Podcasts
“Our customers’ listening habits are constantly evolving, and we know they’re looking to us to provide them with a rich experience rooted in music and entertainment,” said Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music. “With this launch, we’re bringing customers even more forms of entertainment to enjoy, while enabling creators to reach new audiences globally, just as we’ve done with music streaming. Podcasts, paired with our recent partnership with Twitch to bring live streaming into the app, makes Amazon Music a premiere destination for creators.”
Popular shows such as Crime Junkie, What A Day, Radiolab, Revisionist History, Planet Money, Ear Hustle, Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer, and Stuff You Should Know are available now, and millions of episodes from top shows, with more being added all the time. Amazon Music will also soon be the exclusive home of the music-meets-true-crime podcast, Disgraceland, a show exploring the criminal antics and connections of some of the world’s favorite musicians, from the Rolling Stones to Tupac. Disgraceland’s narrative storytelling highlights tales of getting away with murder and behaving badly, chronicling some of the craziest criminal stories surrounding some of the most interesting and infamous pop stars. Disgraceland will arrive exclusively on Amazon Music in February 2021.
“Partnering with Amazon Music allows me to really give my listeners what they’ve always asked for: more Disgraceland content,” said Jake Brennan, host of Disgraceland and cofounder at Double Elvis Productions. “Through this partnership with Amazon Music, we’re enhancing the future of the show for fans, expanding our output of content by moving to an ‘always on’ weekly schedule, which will translate to more episodes for listeners on a more consistent basis.”
Amazon Music has also partnered with creators to produce original, exclusive podcasts. Coming soon, customers will be able to listen to “The First One,” a new audio experience hosted by one of the most prolific hit makers of the 21st century, DJ Khaled. Developed by Amazon Music and the Springhill Company, in “The First One” the mogul and superstar will interview his all-time favorite artists about the hits that made them iconic and eventually legendary.
“I’m recording my podcast with the greatest musicians of all time, and with some of my best friends who also happen to be the most iconic artists on the planet,” said DJ Khaled. “We’ll talk about fame, fortune, life, and success. These stories are here to motivate you because everybody starts from somewhere, from the ordinary to extraordinary. Before you get to another one, you got to get to ‘The First One,’ only on Amazon Music.”
Also coming to Amazon Music is a brand-new multimedia podcast hosted and curated by superstar Becky G, featuring audio and corresponding video broadcast on Amazon Music’s Twitch Channel. Titled “En la Sala,” every week, you’re invited to join Becky G as she calls on some of the biggest names in music and entertainment, her familia and friends, to discuss Latinx pride, women empowerment, LGBTQ+ rights, relationships, politics and sports, all while unpacking the most important issues facing the Latinx community today. Developed by Amazon Music and Gema Productions, Becky G has also dedicated each episode to a nonprofit organization related to the theme of the week. With a charitable donation attached to each episode to pay it forward to organizations directly impacting the Latinx community in a positive way, Becky sets the standard for her guests and listeners, since En La Sala, you can’t just talk about it – you have to be about it too.
“To me, my voice has always been about more than just singing, it’s using it for the greater good and creating a destination for change,” said Becky G. “In quarantine, with so much time to consider the world around us, it felt like the perfect opportunity to open a new line of communication and pay it forward, and I’m so thankful that Amazon Music and Gema approached me with the opportunity to create this podcast. I’m excited to be joining forces with Amazon Music so we can start to have conversations about looking within to see how we can all be better.”
Broadcasting legend Dan Patrick and IMDb will soon give movie fanatics exclusive interviews with top Hollywood stars in his new show, “That Scene with Dan Patrick.” Produced in collaboration with IMDb, this new podcast will dissect memorable scenes from some of the biggest films and television series. And coming soon to Amazon Music and Audible, is a project from Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook Audio, a co-production with Audible.
With Amazon Music visual apps on mobile and web, customers will be able to discover new favorites through curated recommendations across top categories, popular podcasts charts, and access to trailers on show pages. Whether listening on mobile, web, or on Echo devices with Alexa, Amazon Music makes it easy for customers to find, start, and continue listening to their favorite podcasts throughout the day. Only with Amazon Music can customers ask for the latest episode of their favorite show on Echo Auto during their morning commute, resume playback on their phone while working out, and seamlessly move to their Echo device when getting home – just by asking Alexa, with no additional sign in or device linking needed.
“We’re thrilled to offer customers a convenient podcast listening experience that fits their lifestyle,” said Kintan Brahmbhatt, Director of Podcasts for Amazon Music. “Never before has listening to podcasts on the move, in the car, or at home been so simple. Our customers will be able to utilize the voice functionality they know and love with music, to now enjoy a superior podcast experience and uncover a brand-new selection of favorites.”
Podcasts are now available to stream on all tiers of Amazon Music at no additional cost, including free access on Echo, web, and in the Amazon Music mobile app.
The Department of Defense (DOD) has announced the findings of an internal investigation into Microsoft’s JEDI award, upholding the original decision.
Microsoft shocked the industry when it beat out Amazon for the prized Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, worth some $10 billion. Industry experts had largely expected Amazon to win, especially since it has a history of similar government cloud contracts. Amazon was so stunned by the loss that it immediately sued and succeeded in getting a temporary injunction preventing Microsoft from moving forward until the case could be reviewed in court.
In the meantime, the DOD performed its own internal review to make sure there was no impropriety, especially given Amazon’s accusations that interference from President Trump was a factor in the decision. The investigation showed that Microsoft was chosen based on the value it represents, a point the company has been making since the saga began.
”The Department has completed its comprehensive re-evaluation of the JEDI Cloud proposals and determined that Microsoft’s proposal continues to represent the best value to the Government.”
This is another big win for Microsoft and will no doubt help it in its court case against Amazon.
A judge has ruled against Oracle in its appeal of how the Pentagon handled its JEDI cloud contract.
Microsoft made headlines when it won the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) Pentagon contract, worth some $10 billion. The win was seen as a major coup for the company as it continues to challenge Amazon’s dominance in the cloud market. Amazon immediately challenged the results in a case that has yet to be decided.
In a less publicized case, however, Oracle also challenged the Pentagon’s handling of the contract. According to Bloomberg, Oracle claimed the contract requirements unfairly favored Amazon and Microsoft, the two companies that emerged as early leading candidates.
Ultimately, the three-judge panel ruled that “notwithstanding the extensive array of claims raised by Oracle, we find no reversible error.”
The decision is a win for Microsoft, and could lend weight to the other case involving Amazon’s appeal.
Amazon’s plans to use autonomous drones for package delivery took a big step forward with FAA approval to begin testing.
Amazon Prime Air has been working toward the use of drones to deliver packages to consumers in 30 minutes or less. According to Reuters, the FAA just approved the company to begin testing of its autonomous drones, joining UPS and Alphabet’s Wing division.
The drone service could represent a big cost savings to Amazon, while giving the company a competitive advantage, in terms of the speed of delivery. At the same time, there are still a number of challenges to address. As more people rely on online shopping, porch piracy has become a major issue. It’s a safe bet there will be an equally big problem with ‘package poaching’ as Amazon’s drones take to the sky.
Either way, the FAA’s approval to begin testing is an important step in widespread adoption of drone deliveries.
“Amazon then has turned around and supported a bill in California to say that every other online marketplace that’s not acting like a retailer (as Amazon is) should be held strictly liable,” says Etsy CEO Josh Silverman. “So Craigslist or eBay or Etsy should have liability. This is going to have tremendous consequences for the 3 million sellers on Etsy and for all sorts of small businesses all around the country should Amazon prevail in this fight. It’s really an anti-competitive act from amazon to consolidate their market power.”
Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy, discusses how Amazon is using its financial power to cynically support legislation it was previously against for the sole purpose of crushing smaller competitors such as Etsy:
Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing To Protect Amazon’s Market Power
I think this is an important issue and it’s important for everyone in America. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing designed to protect Amazon’s market power and extend Amazon’s market power. It’s dressed up to look like consumer protection.
Here’s what’s going on. Consumers, of course, need to be protected if something goes wrong with a purchase. There’s a long history of law that says if you buy something from a retailer and something goes wrong that retailer is strictly liable. It also says if you buy something on a marketplace the vendor on the marketplace is liable but the marketplace itself is not. Think if you buy something from a flea market, the landlord who owns the parking lot is not liable, it’s the person you bought it from at the flea market.
Tremendous Consequences For Etsy Should Amazon Prevail
So the question, and there’s been a gap in recent law, what happens when a marketplace starts to look and act like a retailer? We don’t need California to come and pass a law on that because the California judiciary just settled that issue last week. They said Amazon looks like a duck and smells like a duck so it acts like a retailer. It exerts control, it picks the inventory, it stores the inventory in its warehouses, it pick-packs and ships the inventory, it puts it in an Amazon box and it delivers the box to your door in an Amazon van. It said Amazon meets the standard of acting like a retailer and therefore it should be liable like a retailer.
Amazon then has turned around and supported the bill in California to say, well then every other online marketplace that’s not acting like a retailer should be held strictly liable. So Craigslist or eBay or Etsy should have liability. This is going to have tremendous consequences for the 3 million sellers on Etsy and for all sorts of small businesses all around the country should Amazon prevail in this fight.
Anti-Competitive Act By Amazon To Consolidate Market Power
Amazon has previously been fighting these kinds of bills for years. It’s so cynical. They lost this court case because the court found that they act like a retailer. So they’re now strictly liable in the cases where they act like a retailer. The court didn’t find that they do it every time. The court set a standard for what are the tripping points. They gave guidance for other courts on when is a marketplace actually acting so much like a retailer that they should be held strictly liable. Amazon would trip that wire most of the time.
Amazon then flipped and said well this is an inconvenience for us but it would be a crushing burden for small businesses, for our competitors, for people like Craigslist or Etsy. They’ve now backed a law saying since we have to do this because we act like a retailer we want all online marketplaces to also be held liable even if they don’t act like a retailer. The reason is that this is so complex that a smaller place, a marketplace like Etsy, which never touches the merchandise, which doesn’t fulfill, which doesn’t pick pack and ship, simply can’t comply. It’s really an anti-competitive act from amazon to consolidate their market power.
Etsy CEO Josh Silverman: Anti-Competitive Act By Amazon To Consolidate Market Power
Microsoft has scored a big win as Universal Filmed Entertainment Group has chosen Azure for its cloud platform.
Universal is looking to the cloud to improve remote collaboration and content creation. The goal is to prove a way for the creative teams to work together seamlessly, regardless of location or circumstances. Especially with the pandemic forcing many individuals to continue working from home, the transition to a cloud-based workflow is more important than ever.
Azure’s compute platform and global hyper-scale storage will be used to support the production of both animated and live action content. The consolidated production platform will also save money in the long run by storing resources and ensuring they’re available for reuse.
“With this partnership, Universal is continuing to build on our commitment as an industry leader in transitioning to a cloud production model across our portfolio of studios. As outlined last year in the MovieLabs 2030 vision paper, streamlining our workflows will allow for a more efficient creative process, empowering the artists and storytellers we work with to make the best content possible,” said Michael Wise, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
“Together with customers like Universal and DreamWorks, we are prioritizing cloud + edge technologies to help transform workflows, increase production output and reduce friction for creatives,” said Hanno Basse, media and entertainment CTO, Microsoft Azure. “Working together, we aspire to create technology for the industry, with the industry, so they can tell stories the world loves.”
This is a big win for Microsoft as it continues to battle Amazon and Google for the US cloud market.
A court has ruled Amazon is liable for defective products, including those sold by third-party sellers.
To date, Amazon has managed to avoid being held liable for defective products sold by third parties in its Marketplace. A California Court of Appeals ruling changes that, however, reversing a previous decision by a San Diego Superior Court.
The case centers on a woman who purchased a replacement laptop battery that later exploded, injuring her. Amazon has argued it is merely a service provider, and therefore shouldn’t be held liable. In her ruling, Justice Patricia Guerrero said Amazon’s involvement went far beyond that of a service provider.
“As a factual and legal matter, Amazon placed itself between Lenoge and Bolger in the chain of distribution of the product at issue here. Amazon accepted possession of the product from Lenoge, stored it in an Amazon warehouse, attracted Bolger to the Amazon website, provided her with a product listing for Lenoge’s product, received her payment for the product, and shipped the product in Amazon packaging to her. Amazon set the terms of its relationship with Lenoge, controlled the conditions of Lenoge’s offer for sale on Amazon, limited Lenoge’s access to Amazon’s customer information, forced Lenoge to communicate with customers through Amazon, and demanded indemnification as well as substantial fees on each purchase. Whatever term we use to describe Amazon’s role, be it ‘retailer,’ ‘distributor,’ or merely ‘facilitator,’ it was pivotal in bringing the product here to the consumer.”
This ruling will likely have profound implications on Amazon’s business, although what those are remains to be seen.
