When Amazon announced about two weeks ago that Prime’s free two-day shipping was about to become Prime’s one-day shipping, it certainly got the world’s attention. The main and most alluring perk of Amazon Prime was free, two-day shipping on just about anything — and much of...
While both Amazon and Walmart tout an obsession with consumer experiences, this week the race for the customer’s whole paycheck saw the light shining on managers at Walmart and sellers on Amazon – and the six-figure opportunities available to both. Expansion was also on order...
This week both Amazon and Walmart were offering up pictures — albeit with very different levels of detail built in — of how the immediate retail future will take shape. Amazon laid out what its decade-long march to fully-automated warehouses will likely look like, while Walmart didn’t...
In the race for the consumer’s whole paycheck, Amazon was the busier runner this week with a host of announcements on quarterly earnings, upgraded shipping options and its ongoing push into the healthcare industry. Less out of Walmart this week, by comparison, though the in-store...
While the race for the consumer’s whole paycheck between Walmart and Amazon was somewhat quieter this week than it has been in the for the last several weeks, things started picking up rather notably, and then rather dramatically toward the end. The big news of...
The race for the consumer’s whole paycheck sped up this week, and Amazon and Walmart were eagerly rolling out acquisitions, upgrades and the odd bits of shade-throwing as the week went on. Robotics and automation were areas of focus for both retailers this week as they seek to...
The world of retail was a simpler place in the year 1900. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) “100 Years of U.S. Consumer Spending,” the average U.S. household earned about $750 a year (or about $21,000 a year adjusted for inflation). With small reserves of cash,...
As this goes to press (so to speak), the annual NCAA March Madness tournament is rounding off the Sweet-16 round. There’s been plenty to watch as the tournament is hitting the halfway mark. UVA fans have been relieved to see their top seeded team not...
Shopping in the early 20th century was not a terribly efficient experience for the consumer. Buying meat was one market, seafood another, produce yet another — and bread or dessert required a trip to the baker. The concept of one-stop shopping had not entered the...
