Saving money at Walmart is as easy as 1-2-3 — or 3-2-1? Either way, that’s the point the mega-retailer appears to be trying to get across with its newly launched Walmart Credit Card and Walmart MoneyCard cash-back rewards program. [More]
Retail Services
Amazon Files Patent For Talking Drone Propellers That Tell You To Get Out Of The Way
By 3.31.16
While we don’t know all the details of Amazon’s long-anticipated Prime Air delivery drones just yet, we can guess at some of the specifics along the way. And if a recent patent application the company filed means anything, the drones may have a few things to say. [More]
Lawsuit: Target Failed To Pay New York Warehouse Workers Overtime
By 3.31.16
A group of Target warehouse employees in New York filed a class-action seeking lawsuit against the retailer, accusing the company of misclassifying workers with low-level management responsibilities so they wouldn’t receive overtime pay. [More]
Amazon Adds More Dash Buttons For Condoms, Chips, Energy Drinks
By 3.31.16
For almost exactly a year now, users of Amazon’s ordering gadget, the Dash button, have been able to quickly restock their supply of nearly 30 household products like Tide, Cottonelle, Bounty, and Ziplock. Today, the e-commerce giant announced it would add close to 100 additional products — many not of the household variety — to the line-up, including Energizer batteries, Stayfree feminine pads, Peet’s Coffee, Red Bull, Doritos, and Trojan condoms. 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. [Amazon] [More]
Women Uninterested In New Clothes Or Gadgets, Buying Lots Of High-End Makeup
By 3.30.16
America’s female shoppers just aren’t as interested as they used to be in most of the stuff available in malls: spending on almost everything is down. There’s one area of retail that’s growing that you might not have expected, though: sales of high-end cosmetics are climbing, which include makeup and skin care. Why is that? Blame YouTube. [More]
Amazon Bans The Sale Of Substandard USB-C Cables
By 3.30.16
Faulty USB-C cables – usually those purchased from a third-party as a replacement for the cords that typically come with your electronic devices – have been known to cause issues for consumers, from frying their gadgets to starting small fires and even being attributed to one death. Amazon, in an attempt to ensure you’re not on the receiving end of one of those unreliable chargers, has banned the sale of certain “rogue” USB type-C cables. [More]
Wells Fargo To Pay $8.5M For Recording Calls Without Telling Customers
By 3.29.16
California law requires that, before any party involved in a phone call can record the conversation, all parties must be made aware they are being recorded. Violations of that law can get quite costly; just ask Wells Fargo, which has to ante up $8.5 million to close a state investigation into the bank’s repeated invasions of privacy. [More]
A Switch To Shared Self-Driving Cars Means We’d Buy Fewer Cars, Wear Them Out Faster
By 3.28.16
Most Americans aren’t comfortable yet with the idea of riding in an autonomous car, but at one time, horseless carriages and electricity in our homes were scary, too. Technology companies and automakers are both working to make autonomous cars happen, but wouldn’t self-piloting cars mean that we would share vehicles or pay fares? That would dramatically shrink demand for cars, hurting automakers. Right? [More]
Georgia Governor Vetoes Controversial “Religious Liberty” Bill
By 3.28.16
Amid pressure from civil rights groups and private industry, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has vetoed a controversial piece of legislation that would have allowed religious groups and individuals to deny services to same-sex couples and for faith-based employers to not hire someone based on their sexual orientation. [More]
Citi Will Send Members’ New Costco Visa Cards In May
By 3.25.16
This June, things will change at Costco: the warehouse retailer will change its official, store-endorsed credit card from a Costco-branded American Express card to a Costco-branded Visa card from Citi. We now know that the new cards will start being mailed out in May, and what kinds of rewards users will be able to expect. [More]
Multi-Tasking Shoplifting Suspect Left 11-Year Old He Was Watching Behind At Walmart
By 3.25.16
There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done that you need to, right? Maybe that’s why a man who was keeping an eye on an acquaintance’s 11-year-old brought the boy with him to a Pennsylvania Walmart to pick up some tools. Police say that he walked out of the store without paying for the tools, leaving the boy behind. [More]
Walmart Charges Extra $0.08 To Put Your Printer Cartridges In A Single Box
By 3.24.16
Theoretically, buying combination packs or buying an item in bulk should save you money. You’re giving the retailer more money, right? Only the pricing logic of big-box stores doesn’t really see things that way, and that’s where Target Math comes from. Target Math is when you pay more per unit for buying in bulk, like this combo-pack of printer ink where you pay an extra eight cents for the privilege of having your cartridges in one box. [More]
Walmart Says Alleged “Pricing Conspiracy” Is Just A Simple Mistake
By 3.23.16
In the past we’ve reported on Target’s fuzzy math, retailers failing to understand what “clearance” means, and department stores being sued for allegedly inflating the original price of items in order make discounts look more attractive. These issues appear to have combined at Walmart, where one shopper says the company is running a “clearance conspiracy”: slapping clearance tags with much higher prices on formerly less expensive items. [More]
Starbucks Launching Prepaid Card That Lets Rewards Members Earn Loyalty Points
By 3.23.16
In a bid to lure more people to sign up for its loyalty program, Starbucks is launching a prepaid debit card soon that will let users rack up rewards “stars.” [More]
AmEx Signs Deal With Boxed, Which Is Kind Of Like An Online Costco
By 3.23.16
Last year, Costco announced the end of its longtime exclusive relationship with American Express. The end of the deal wasn’t as great for AmEx, since the captive audience was good for its business, and shareholders were unhappy. As the official breakup date approaches in June, AmEx is looking for a new bulk-selling credit card buddy, and has perhaps found one in Boxed. [More]
Amazon Improves Developers’ Ability To Use Alexa In Their Own Devices
By 3.23.16
While most of us only hear about Amazon’s personal assistant Alexa when it comes to the Echo speaker — and its new smaller versions — app developers have been able to tap into the tech via the Alexa Voice Services tool for their own devices, like alarm clocks or speaker systems. However, the capabilities available through the service weren’t as robust as those found in the Echo — until now. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Will Rock Out With This Zune
By 3.23.16
Across the country, hidden away on clearance shelves and junk bins, there are piles of inexplicably outdated and overpriced electronics that should have no place on a store shelf. Our readers who scour the nation’s big-box stores in search of these retail antiquities are the Raiders of the Lost Walmart. In their latest field report, we see a modestly old PC, an iPod Touch and iPhone case that charges your device from 2011 or earlier from AA batteries, and the hottest media player Microsoft had to offer in 2009. [More]
Walmart To Open Dairy Processing Plant, Will Make Its Own Milk For 600 Stores
By 3.23.16
While Walmart generally sources its store-brand products from third-party private label companies, the mega-retailer is deviating slightly from that trend with the news that it will soon be supplying its own milk for hundreds of Walmart stores.
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