Just three months after Amazon tied up its bevy of contracts with top publishing houses, it looks like those deals might not be working out well for several companies, as they’ve reported declining e-book revenues in recent months. [More]
Retail Services
Man Masquerading As Walmart Employee Walks Out The Door With Four Big Screen TVs
By 9.3.15
Walmart already has a long list of workers vying for the title of “worst employee,” but it’s a thief posing as an employee at the big box store that might take the cake: walking in the door, grabbing four big screen TVs and simply walking back out the way he came.
[More]
Sam’s Club Wants To Help You Buy A Car
By 9.3.15
Earlier this year, Costco reported that it had sold nearly 400,000 vehicles of all makes and models at its stores across the country with the purpose of making its members happy. Today, Sam’s Club launched a similar endeavor that will put keys in the hands of the warehouse store’s faithful following. [More]
Want A Clean-Cut Lawn? A Robot Mower Might Not Be For You
By 9.3.15 — Updated: 5.2.17
While your inner child might thrill at the idea of having robots do stuff around the home, if you want to save a bunch of money and have a lawn with that clean-cut, green look, you could be better off sticking with a self-propelled lawnmower instead of the robotic kind. [More]
ThinkGeek Will Open First Real-Life Store On September 25
By 9.3.15
Earlier this summer, GameStop acquired ThinkGeek in a $140 million transaction that observers thought might put great geeky collectibles inside GameStop stores. While the two companies have done that, there’s another phase to their plan: later this month, the first offline ThinkGeek store will open on September 25 at the Florida Mall in Orlando. [More]
Mysteriously Closed Walmarts Will Reopen In October Or November As Planned
By 9.2.15
You may remember that this past spring, Walmart abruptly closed five stores in four different states to repair mysterious plumbing problems, leaving employees to find new jobs or maybe transfer to other nearby Walmarts. The closing was only ever meant to be temporary, though, and the stores have started to hire new and returning employees to staff the stores. [More]
Amazon Adds 11 Brands To Dash Button Ordering
By 9.2.15
Users of Amazon’s ordering gadget, the Dash button, have been able to quickly restock their supply of Kraft Mac & Cheese, Tide, Cottonelle, Bounty and 14 other products for about five months (or one month if they didn’t receive an invitation early on). Now, they can buy even more, as the e-commerce company has expanded its quick-ordering platform by 11 additional brands, including Ice Breakers, Ziploc, Orbit gum and Greenies dog chews. As was previously the case, the gadget can be purchased for $4.99, but for a limited time Amazon will provide customers a $4.99 credit for each Dash button they buy. [The Washington Post] [More]
Home Depot Website Glitch Provides Two Ratings For Some Products
By 9.2.15
While researching products on a retailer’s website, other customers’ reviews and ratings of those items can be helpful. But a glitch in Home Depot’s rating presentation system has caused a bit of confusion: the product page shows two different ratings for some products. [More]
Kmart Pays $1.4 Million To Settle Accusations Of Illegal Coupon Acceptance, Prescription Incentives
By 9.1.15
In most of the country, pharmacies can offer rewards points, coupons, or other inducements to get you to switch prescriptions to them. Not only is this illegal in certain states, it’s also illegal to offer these incentives to customers with health insurance through Medicaid. Kmart has settled allegations from a whistleblower that it did exactly that for customers with Medicaid, and accepted co-pay coupons for brand-name drugs for them. [More]
Sen. Calls For More Precise Data On “On-Demand” Economy & Workforce
By 9.1.15
Independent contractors are nothing new — taxi drivers paying to use a medallion, barbers renting out chairs to cut hair, local artisans selling jewelry and apparel on consignment — but the boom in online platforms that give everyone immediate access to these services and products has resulted in an “on-demand” economy and workforce whose true size and scope is unknown. In an effort to get a more accurate picture on this issue, one U.S. senator is calling on federal officials to provide more relevant data. [More]
Analyst: Best Buy’s Prices Now Much Closer To Amazon’s
By 9.1.15
When looking for the best deal on electronics consumers used to flock to a little chain called Best Buy, but over time Amazon – with the growing convenience of shopping from home, speedy deliveries and discounts – has crowded into the electronic store’s customer pool. Now, after years of playing catchup, it appears that Best Buy has closed the pricing gap with its online rival. [More]
Amazon Prime Videos To Finally Be Downloadable On iOS, Android Devices
By 9.1.15
One of the selling points of Amazon Fire tablets — especially for frequent travelers and parents whose kids like to watch movies while riding in the back seat — is that Amazon Prime members can download videos for offline viewing. This option has not been available for Prime members using iOS or non-Amazon Android devices. But now Amazon is giving these members the ability to download movies and shows to watch at their convenience. [More]
Amazon Now Delivering Farmers Market Produce To Your Door
By 8.31.15
Between Prime Pantry, Amazon Fresh and Seattle’s new Prime Now alcohol delivery, you never have to leave your house to restock the pantry. That is unless you want fresh produce grown by local farmers. Well, it appears that Amazon has that covered for you now, too. [More]
Google Adds Paid Home Service Provider Suggestions To Search Results For “Clogged Toilet,” “Plumber”
By 8.31.15
Less than a year after Amazon took on the likes of Angie’s List, Yelp and other companies that can connect consumers to professional service providers like plumbers, locksmiths, electricians and others, Google announced it would join the fray by adding prescreened service providers to its sponsored search results. [More]
Walmart Cutting Workers’ Hours As It Increases Wages
By 8.31.15
In recent months, Walmart increased pay for entry-level employees so that all workers were making at least $9/hour. At the same time, the retailer’s earnings have come up short of expectations, leading Walmart to instruct managers to curb spending by cutting hours for some workers. [More]
eBay No Longer Allows 2 Non-PayPal Payment Processors After Divorce From PayPal
By 8.28.15
eBay and PayPal have now completed their divorce, and one of the terms that they agreed to is that at least 80% of payments on eBay are supposed to go through PayPal. That could be the reason why eBay is eliminating competitors ProPay and Skrill from the payment options for shoppers and for sellers, but the real reason is probably more practical.. [More]
Amazon Lets Third-Party Merchants Limit Where They’ll Ship Prime Items For Free
By 8.28.15
Amazon’s Prime program includes third-party merchants, whose shops let the online Everything Store expand its inventory without building more warehouse space. While the company is experimenting with making these merchants part of the Prime program for items that already have free shipping, However, some of these merchants get to limit how far they will ship an item for free. [More]
Bank Of America Reportedly Settles Overtime Lawsuit For $36 Million
By 8.28.15
When working a few extra hours, you have a reasonable expectation to be compensated for that time. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen, which was the case for nearly 400 employees of Bank of America who sued the company alleging it failed to pay them overtime. Now, the company has agreed to settle the case, providing $36 million to the wronged employees. [More]
