Former Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon sees technology, such as virtual reality, having a big impact on traditional brick-and-mortar retail, according to CNBC.
Simon served as President and CEO of Walmart U.S. from 2010 to 2014, giving him a unique perspective on the retail industry. Rather than predicting doom-and-gloom for traditional retail, Simon believe technology has the ability to transform the industry and open all new possibilities.
Even something as simple as trying on clothes may be revolutionized by technology, such as virtual reality.
“Could we have virtual changing rooms so that you can just scan an item in a store with your phone and try it on yourself without actually having to go try it on?” Simon said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
Simon believes successful retailers will combine online sales with a brick-and-mortar presence, and cites Target and Amazon as two examples of companies that are making it work.
“With Walmart’s e-commerce business humming the way it is and the way the company’s been able to integrate it with the store base, with curbside and everything else, this is a tough one,” says Moody’s retail analyst Charlie O’Shea. “This is really setting a high bar for brick and mortar retail and it’s giving Amazon something to really think about.”
Charlie O’Shea, retail analyst at Moody’s, and Bill Simon, former president and CEO of Walmart, discussed Walmart’s blowout quarterly results:
Walmart Is Going To Be Tough To Stop
This is just a phenomenal quarter for Walmart. It’s good on all fronts. It really is an indicator that the consumer is still there. Once we sort through all this COVID stuff the consumer is willing to spend. I’m particularly impressed by Walmart’s operating income. I’ve been watching that for several years and it’s been challenged as they move their business to digital and to e-commerce. Big growth and operating income have been under pressure.
Walmart grew its operating income by almost nine percent. Even adjusted for currency it is in the mid-teens. That’s phenomenal. Brett Biggs is one of the best CFOs in the country in my view and they manage the company very well. It looks like they’ve been able to get the e-commerce growth under control in a way that can deliver some pathway to profitability. If they can do that they’re just going to be tough to stop.
Walmart Ecommerce Business Is Humming
Every quarter it looks like they’re running on all cylinders and now the engine just keeps getting bigger. We’ve gone from an eight-cylinder engine to a 12-cylinder engine. With the e-commerce business humming the way it is and the way the company’s been able to integrate it with the store base, with curbside and everything else, this is a tough one. This is really setting a high bar for brick and mortar retail and it’s giving Amazon something to really think about.
It’s how does Amazon compete with Walmart not how does Walmart compete with Amazon? With an almost doubling of online revenue for this quarter we’re starting to see this battle really escalate. If you were open you obviously had advantages. That’s not exactly a lightning bolt coming out of the sky. But I think what we’re seeing with the consumer is they have money they’re willing to spend and they weren’t able to spend it for a while because a lot of places weren’t open. Now that things are starting to reopen there’s a lot of pent-up demand here.
Consumers Are Shifting Spending And Walmart’s Benefitting
During the early days of the pandemic during lockdowns no one’s buying pants, no one’s buying blouses, and no one’s buying tops because you can’t eat those and you also can’t use them to clean your house. So people had kind of shifted their demand towards the essentials and the consumables. Now they’re moving in another direction and Walmart’s benefiting. They benefited from the early blast of spending and now they’re benefiting as it expands. The margins going up indicates they’re selling a lot of other non-consumable stuff because those margins are lower.
I also cover the auto retailers and the auto retailers showed an awful lot of resilience so far this year. Q2 numbers for my rated universe were much better than we expected and we didn’t expect them to be that bad. The consumer clearly has money and the stimulus obviously helps the folks that are still employed are out there and still spending. That portends well for Target tomorrow and Best Buy next week. Home Depot also popped a big number today. The essential type retailers are still going to be benefiting.
“A set of facts could be put forward that would support that (they are destroying the retail landscape),” says former Walmart CEO Bill Simon. “They’re going through another cycle of it where their CFO in the (earnings) call said we’re reinvesting to drive one-day Prime shipping. That’s going to put more pressure on retailers and give them this Sophie’s Choice. Do I want to go out of business because I’ve lost my sales by not matching them on price? Or, do I want to go out of business because I’ve matched them on price?”
Bill Simon, former CEO of Walmart, discusses how Amazon uses profits from AWS to prop up operating losses in online retail while in the process, destroying competing retail businesses, in an interview on CNBC:
Is Amazon Destroying the Retail Landscape?
They’re running their business model and they’re just doing a fantastic job of it. Who doesn’t like stuff shipped to their house for free? It’s an awesome business model. It’s going to be increasingly challenging for them though because nearly 70 percent of their operating income came from Web Services. If you filter out the operating income from web services and if you take out the operating income for advertising, then there’s a chunk of it that is made in brick and mortar through Whole Foods, or at least there was because they don’t report that anymore, their worldwide retail business is operating break-even or at a loss.
Their international business loses money on $16 billion this quarter in sales. It’s really no wonder that regulators internationally are starting to look at them. A set of facts could be put forward that would support that (they are destroying the retail landscape). Think about it, in North America, they priced at or below cost for many years and didn’t make money. It’s arguable today whether their online business makes money in North America.
This Quarter Is the Poster child For Anti-Competitive Behavior
All the while, Circuit City went out of business, Linens N Things went out of business, Toys R Us went out of business, and then Prime is the driver of it. It went from $79 to $99 to $119. That’s sort of the definition of anti-competitive behavior and anti-competitive pricing. Price below the market and when your competitors start to go out of business you ratchet up your price. This quarter is really a poster child for that. Their North American business grew $6 billion and lost money. Their operating income went down in North America.
They’re going through another cycle of it where their CFO in the (earnings) call said we’re reinvesting to drive one-day Prime shipping. That’s going to put more pressure on retailers and give them this Sophie’s Choice. Do I want to go out of business because I’ve lost my sales by not matching them on price? Or, do I want to go out of business because I’ve matched them on price? I’ve not been able to make any profit because they support their retail business with web services. It’s tough to compete with them when they’re not making money and pricing below cost with online retail.
It’s Not Possible To Do One-Hour Shipping and Make Money
Who doesn’t love stuff free shipping to your house in two days or one day or in an hour? That’s awesome. I use it all the time. Everybody does. But there are consequences to it. As the expenses go up and the price goes up, eventually, Prime has been going up in price sequentially and has to continue to go up. It’s not possible to ship things to your house in one hour and do it at the same price or cost that can make money in retail. It’s just not possible. The packaging alone, the delivery person walking from the street to your front door, start adding up the cost of all that and you can’t make money on a $3 box of breakfast cereal.
So it’s going to be tough. I don’t know that regulators will take that on given the consumers love for it. But if the retail landscape keeps getting impacted and the weaker keep dropping out and it gets down to this battle between the behemoth on the online side and Walmart on the physical side, it gets to be a complicating factor. I think then regulators have to look at it. When that happens it’s hard to tell but this quarter has really kind of the poster child for that.
Walmart has announced it will require some employees to be vaccinated, a response to the more contagious Delta variant.
A number of organizations have announced vaccination requirements for their employees, including Apple, Google, the NFL and others. Walmart now joins that list, requiring some of its employees to be vaccinated by October 4.
Doug McMillon, President and CEO, announced the new policy:
As we all know, the pandemic is not over, and the Delta variant has led to an increase in infection rates across much of the U.S. Given this, we have made the decision to require all market, regional and divisional associates who work in multiple facilities and all campus office associates to be vaccinated by Oct. 4, unless they have an approved exception. This includes all new hires.
It’s a safe bet many more companies will follow Walmart’s example, especially as the Delta variant continues to wreak havoc on attempts to return to normal.
Walmart is gearing up for nationwide drone delivery, following a successful pilot program that showcased the possibilities.
Drone deliveries are seen as one of the next major steps for retail, with Amazon, Walmart and others exploring the technology. Last year, Walmart partnered with DroneUp to test the viability of drone deliveries, and the results were promising. In fact, the company discovered it could cut delivery time from hours to mere minutes.
In view of the success of the pilot program, Walmart is doubling down on drone deliveries with an investment in DroneUp.
Now, after safely completing hundreds of drone deliveries from Walmart stores, we’re making an investment in DroneUp to continue our work toward developing a scalable last-mile delivery solution.
The company is touting its infrastructure, thanks to its thousands of stores around the US, as a major asset to successful drone operations.
Walmart already has a significant part of the infrastructure in place – 4,700 stores stocked with more than 100,000 of the most-purchased items, located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population. This makes us uniquely positioned to execute drone deliveries, which is why our investment in DroneUp won’t just apply to the skies but also the ground. In the coming months we’ll be beginning our first operation at a store in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Walmart has been looking for ways to take on Amazon, and drones that deliver products in minutes is a big step in that direction.
TikTok and WeChat’s battle to avoid being sold is finally over, as President Biden has signed an executive order undoing the previous administration’s attempt to ban them.
TikTok found itself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, with officials trying to get the social media platform banned in the US. The only proposed alternative was for TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, to sell off the US operations. Oracle, along with Walmart, emerged as winning company, but neither US nor Chinese officials could agree on terms, leaving the company in limbo.
Shortly after taking office, President Biden ordered a review of the previous administration’s attempts to ban TikTok and WeChat, but has now signed an executive order reversing the attempt to ban them.
President Biden revoked and replaced three E.O.s that aimed to prohibit transactions with TikTok, WeChat, and eight other communications and financial technology software applications; two of these E.O.s are subject to litigation.
In lieu of banning the platforms, the executive order instructs the Commerce Department to evaluate “foreign adversary connected software applications” and take action where appropriate to protect user data.
Walmart is going the distance to ensure its employees can access its new app, giving 740,000 of them a Samsung smartphone.
The retailer is taking the wraps off of its Me@Walmart app, designed to make employees’ jobs easier and help them “plan for life outside of work.” The company is determined to make it as easy as possible to use the app, even providing the phone for it to run on.
Walmart will be providing a Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro smartphone, case and protection plan, completely free. Employees will only be able to access Me@Walmart’s work feature when they’re on the clock, but are free to use the phone as their personal device. The company emphasizes employee privacy is paramount, and that it has no access to employees’ personal data.
The company says this is just the beginning, and it will continue to add features to the Me@Walmart app.
In the coming months, we’ll add another feature to the Me@Walmart app that helps speed up the time it takes our stocking associates to get items from the backroom to the sales floor. Instead of scanning each box individually, associates just hold up their device and, using augmented reality, highlight the boxes that are ready to go. Product gets on the shelf faster — something we all know is increasingly important. In fact, since piloting it last year, this patent-pending capability takes a third of the time than the previous manual process.
As retail continues to evolve — and quickly — it’s more critical than ever to equip our people with the tools and technology they need for success. Doing so makes work easier and more enjoyable, and it keeps the focus where we need it most — delivering a great in-store, pickup and delivery experience for our customers.
A new survey has qualified just how much employees want to continue working from home (WFM), to the tune of $30,000.
As restrictions lift and companies begin opening their doors, many employees are faced with the prospect of going back into the office for the first time in more than a year. While many companies are working on permanent remote or hybrid options, some are insisting on a complete return to in-office normality.
According to a new survey by Blind, an anonymous network of professionals, a Goldman Sachs professional posed the question: “Would you rather make $30k more switching to a new job that requires you to work in the office, or would you rather keep your current salary but WFH anywhere after covid?”
An average of 64% of professionals indicated they would prefer WFM, although the number for some specific companies was much higher. For example, 100% of Zillow, 70% of T-Mobile, 89% of Twitter, 71% of Walmart, 69% of Apple, 76% of Salesforce and 73% of Oracle employees would all choose WFM. In fact, Cisco, JPMorgan Chase and Qualcomm were the only companies that fell below the 50% mark.
The survey is just the latest, and most striking, indication of just how popular WFH really is.
Senator Josh Hawley introduced a bill Monday aimed at addressing antitrust concerns, but it may do more harm than good.
Antitrust has become a major concern for politicians on both sides of the aisle. Google and Facebook are both facing antitrust lawsuits, and officials are looking at various ways of addressing the overarching concerns about the tech industry in general.
Senator Hawley’s bill would ban companies with a market cap over $100 billion from buying any startups. As Business Insider columnist Jason Aten writes, however, such a move would harm startups far more than it would hurt Big Tech.
Acquisition is one of the main goals of many startup founders, providing an exit strategy and payday for successful founders and investors. For better or worse, large companies are an important part of that strategy. If they are blocked from acquiring companies, it could completely disrupt the startup scene.
Another major downside is the disparity between large and small companies that may be over $100 billion. Aten uses the example of Shopify, a company large enough to fall under Hawley’s bill. Shopify would be prohibited from buying an up-and-coming app, service or platform that could help it better compete with much larger rivals, such as Amazon or Walmart. Such an outcome would only hurt Shopify, while protecting the larger company even more.
Aten’s take on the situation well-illustrates the challenges of addressing antitrust issues without creating even more problems.
What was years in the making has finally happened, with Amazon passing Walmart to become the largest apparel retailer in the US.
Experts had been predicting Amazon would overtake Walmart for years. Like many other transformations, however, the pandemic is what finally pushed the online giant across the finish line. As individuals remained in lockdown and avoided crowded stores, Amazon’s business went into overdrive.
According to Wells Fargo, via CNBC, that was enough to help it surpass Walmart in the apparel space, with its apparel and footwear growing an estimated 15% in 2020 to more than $41 billion. That gives it a solid 20% to 25% lead over Walmart.
“This represents highly impressive 11%-12% share of all apparel sold in the U.S. and 34%-35% share of all apparel sold online,” wrote Wells Fargo analysts Ike Boruchow and Tom Nikic. “We now estimate Amazon will surpass $45 billion in apparel/footwear sales in 2021.”
Interestingly, the outlook was not all roses for Amazon, as there are still some high-profile brands that refuse to sell on the online store. Much of this is due to the way Amazon approaches the business, focusing on sales over helping companies build their brand.
“Until Amazon becomes a platform that works with companies to elevate brands, rather than viewing the relationship as transactional, companies who are fiercely protective of their brands (e.g. Nike), will not sell to Amazon,” said the analysts.
Walmart is the latest company pushing for digital vaccine records as a way for people to prove they have received the COVID-19 vaccination.
As the US and the world move to reopen and return to normal, vaccinations are seen as the key ingredient to making that happen. Many experts believe, however, that a form of vaccination passport is necessary for people to be able to prove they have been vaccinated. Such a passport could be required for airline travel, crossing borders, entering crowded events and more.
Different companies and governments have already begun implementing their own solutions. Deutsche Telekom recently submitted a bid to develop a digital vaccine passport for the EU.
Walmart is the latest company to move in that direction, the largest US vaccination provider to yet do so. The company announced it is partnering with The Commons Project Foundation and CLEAR to make customers’ vaccination records available to them digitally as proof of their vaccination.
“Our goal is to give customers vaccinated at Walmart free and secure digital access to their vaccine record and enable them to share that information with third parties seeking to confirm their vaccination status,” said John Furner, CEO and President, Walmart U.S. “We are proud to be the first retailer to strategically partner with both The Commons Project Foundation and CLEAR, and we look forward to working with them to empower people with digital access to their vaccination records so they can use them whenever and however they choose.”
Given Walmart’s size and clout, it’s a safe bet their action will put pressure on other companies, not to mention the government, to follow suit.
Oracle’s bid to purchase TikTok, in conjunction with Walmart, is on hold indefinitely as a result of the change in administration.
The Trump administration aggressively went after a number of Chinese companies, including Huawei, ZTE, Xiaomi and TikTok, accusing them of being a threat to national security. The administration instituted bans against the first three, and was in the process of banning TikTok unless it could arrange for a US buyer to take over its operations.
Oracle emerged as the winning candidate, along with help from Walmart, but the deal got caught up in red tape and disputesover how much control Oracle would actually have. Ultimately, even TikTok was left wondering about its fate, with a judge effectively granting it a stay of execution in the form a temporary injunction against the ban The judge also questioned whether the administration had the authority to ban the app in the first place.
The Biden administration is currently reviewing the previous administration’s actions regarding various Chinese companies, and that has put the Oracle/TikTok deal in limbo.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Biden administration has asked to a delay an appeal against the injunction while it reviews the situation to see if the Trump administration’s actions were warranted.
Needless to say, TikTok would no doubt prefer to remain independent. As a result, if there is a chance the current administration will abandon efforts to ban the app unless its purchased by a US company, there’s no incentive for talks to continue until the Biden administration reaches a conclusion.
Some of the biggest retailers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help dictate their return policies.
For many consumers, once they return an item they never give it another thought. For retailers, however, returns can represent a significant loss. There are a number of factors that can make it even worse, such as the size of item, shipping and shelf life.
Walmart, Target and Amazon are turning to AI to help them optimize their return process. According to The Wall Street Journal, the retailers are using AI to determine when it is worth processing a return, versus letting the customer keep the product and issuing them a refund instead.
Lorie Anderson of Vancouver, WA, tried to return makeup to Target, as well as batteries to Walmart. In both cases, the retailers told her to keep the items and still issued a refund.
“They were inexpensive, and it wouldn’t make much financial sense to return them by mail,” Ms. Anderson, 38 years old, said. “It’s a hassle to pack up the box and drop it at the post office or UPS. This was one less thing I had to worry about.”
Target even encourages customers to donate items they receive a refund for.
AI has been making its way into a wide range of industries. This is merely the latest example of how it can be used to help companies make better decisions.
In the latest twist of the never-ending saga, the US government is appealing an injunction against its TikTok ban.
The US government has been working to ban TikTok for some time. The Trump administration has accused TikTok of being a security threat, and made it clear that only a sale to an American company would prevent an outright ban. Oracle, with Walmart joining it, emerged as the winning bidder. Per the terms of the deal, however, Oracle would only gain a 20% stake in the company. Meanwhile, China signaled it would oppose a deal it felt was unfavorable to the country’s image.
Meanwhile, TikTok was left in limbo as it tried to work out a deal with the US government as the deadline approached. The company won an injunction, with at least one judge even questioning if the ban was legally viable.
Not willing to give up the fight, the US government is now appealing the injunction, according to Reuters. The Justice Department is bringing the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Given that Judge Carl Nichols — when granting the injunction — said the government had “likely overstepped” in its decision to ban TikTok, this case could redefine the limits of the government’s authority.
The deadline for ByteDance to complete the sale of TikTok has come and gone, but a judge has blocked the ban, giving the company more time.
The Trump administration labeled TikTok a security and privacy threat, threatening to ban it unless ByteDance sold its US operations to an American company. A date was set for the ban, although Oracle—partnered with Walmart—quickly emerged as the buyer.
The deal almost immediately ran into issues, however, as Oracle was only buying a 20% stake in the company, not the full ownership Trump had wanted. At the same time, China changed its export rules to block selling what it deemed sensitive technology, including the algorithm that forms the backbone of the social media platform.
To make matters worse, TikTok accused the government of not communicating with it, despite repeated attempts to meet the administration’s demands. This led the Commerce Department to signal it would not move to enforce the ban immediately.
Now a judge has stepped in to ensure TikTok’s ban won’t go into effect. According to CNET, District Judge Carl Nichols said the government had “likely overstepped” its authority in its attempts to ban TikTok.
While the Commerce Department said it will cooperate with the judge’s order, it is now saying it will “vigorously defend” the ban.
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.”
The US Commerce Department has signaled it will not enforce the order to shutdown and ban TikTok.
The Trump administration has been trying to force Chinese-owned TikTok to offload the American portion of its business to an American company. Oracle, partnering with Walmart, emerged as the leading candidate, although the terms of the deal were not what Trump had stipulated.
Rather than taking full ownership, the terms of the deal stipulated that Oracle would take a 20% stake. In the meantime, China indicated it may not approve the deal as it doesn’t want to be seen as weak, giving up one of its star companies.
As the involved parties continued to negotiate, however, TikTok filed with a US court of appeal to have the order forcing a sale overturned. The company cited the extraordinary efforts it had gone through to comply, only to hear radio silence from the Trump administration.
Now the Commerce Department has said “it wouldn’t enforce its order that would have effectively forced the Chinese-owned TikTok video-sharing app to shut down, in the latest sign of trouble for the Trump administration’s efforts to turn it into a U.S. company,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
It remains to be seen how the TikTok saga will ultimately turn out, and what impact a Biden presidency could have on the deal.
Wondering what’s going on with TikTok’s ban? Evidently, so is TikTok, as the company’s future has been left in limbo.
TikTok dominated the news for weeks as the Trump administration tried to force the social media platform to sell to an American company under threat of ban. Trump eventually issued an executive order banning the company, although a court ruling delayed it from going into effect.
In the meantime, Oracle and Walmart together emerged as prospective buyers, although not the way Trump had envisioned. While Trump had said the social media company would be under control of an American company, and free from Chinese control, the initial deal Oracle struck was for a 20% stake in the company, with control firmly in China’s hands.
Further exacerbating the situation was a ruling by the Chinese government blocking the export of certain technology, including the algorithm TikTok uses, putting the deal in further doubt. Chinese state media also claimed the government would not approve the deal, saying that to do so “would endanger China’s national security, interests and dignity.”
Now, with the deadline for working out a deal coming to an end, TikTok wants to know what’s going on.
“For a year, TikTok has actively engaged with CFIUS in good faith to address its national security concerns, even as we disagree with its assessment,” TikTok says in a statement to The Verge. “In the nearly two months since the President gave his preliminary approval to our proposal to satisfy those concerns, we have offered detailed solutions to finalize that agreement – but have received no substantive feedback on our extensive data privacy and security framework.”
In the meantime, the company has filed with a US court of appeals to have the divestment order overturned.
Walmart and Comcast are in talks to partner on smart TVs running Comcast’s software.
Cable companies are under pressure to diversify their income strategies as consumers are cutting the cord in favor of streaming services in record numbers. Sling, fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV and, most recently, T-Mobile’s TVision have increasingly been competing directly with traditional cable and satellite services.
As a result, according to TheStreet, Comcast is looking to position itself as a digital hub for the various streaming services and apps. It’s unclear how well a TV from Comcast would be received, as the market is already relatively crowded.
In addition, like many internet and cable companies, Comcast often charges hidden equipment rental fees that routinely go up in price. While a smart TV would no doubt be an outright purchase, Comcast may find itself struggling to overcome perception problems and negative consumer goodwill.
Alibaba today announced it will invest $3.6 billion in Sun Art Retail Group, a huge hypermarket and supermarket operator in China. Sun Art is the largest retailer in China and competes head to head with Walmart. The transaction will give Alibaba a 72% controlling interest in the China-based brick and mortar retailer. Alibaba says that this purchase furthers its ‘New Retail’ strategy of integrating online and offline retail in China.
“Alibaba’s strategic investment in Sun Art in 2017 was an important step in our New Retail strategy,” says Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang. “The alliance we formed with Auchan Retail and Ruentex was instrumental in building a robust infrastructure to create opportunities and value in China’s retail sector. Led by Chief Executive Officer Peter Huang, Sun Art has achieved impressive results in its digitalization and pursued promising synergies with businesses across the Alibaba digital economy. As the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the digitalization of consumer lifestyles and enterprise operations, this commitment to Sun Art serves to strengthen our New Retail vision and serve more consumers with a fully integrated experience.”
In 2017 Alibaba entered into a strategic alliance to digitalize and introduce New Retail solutions at Sun Art stores. The company says that since then “Sun Art has made significant progress in the digital transformation under a fast-changing market environment by leveraging resources and technology from the Alibaba ecosystem, to capitalize on the growth opportunities in China’s hypermarket and supermarket space.”
This acquisition reflects a growing retail trend in China. Euromonitor International said in a report earlier this year that merger and acquisition activities are expected to continue in the forecast period. As China’s retailing industry modernizes it is undergoing a drastic digital transformation. The forecasting firm also said that sun Art held a 14.1% share of the country’s hypermarket sales last year. That compares to Walmart’s 10.3% market share in that category.
As of June 30, 2020, Sun Art operates 481 hypermarkets and 3 mid-size supermarkets in China, with a focus on strengthening its position through small and offline community stores.
Here is the official joint announcement of the acquisition.
TikTok has won its latest round against the Trump administration, getting a temporary injunction against the administration’s looming ban.
A ban that would have stopped individuals from downloading TikTok in the US was set to go into effect Sunday at 11:59 PM. TikTok filed for an injunction to prevent that from happening, with a judge granting it with only hours to spare.
TikTok has been at the center of ongoing drama as US officials have accused it of being a national security threat. The US has been pushing for a deal that would see US operations taken over by a company not under Chinese control. While Oracle, in conjunction with Walmart, were able to come to terms with TikTok’s parent ByteDance, it remains to be seen if the deal will receive final approval.
ByteDance has stated that majority ownership and board control will remain China-based. China has also taken issue with the US trying to force a sale of TikTok. Any of these factors could ultimately derail existing plans.
In the short term, however, it appears TikTok has received a new, albeit it temporary, lease on life.
