Tipsheet: Krebs Disses eBay | Amazon Reviewer Confessions | Tesco Pulls Heineken | F.Below +1%
Walmart announces plan to invest $800 million in Chile and open 55-60 new supermarkets via Reuters. “As part of the plan, the retail and supermarket chain will also remodel over 50 stores, add more than 5,000 jobs, and further develop a large distribution center near the capital city of Santiago.” Read more
Five Below Q4 Comp Sales +1.0% Press release
eBay Asks Users to Downgrade Security at Krebs on Security. “I found it remarkable that eBay, which at one time was well ahead of most e-commerce companies in providing more robust online authentication options, is now essentially trying to downgrade my login experience to a less-secure option.” Read more
Shoppers Drug Mart says computer outage affecting 1,300 locations has been resolved by Linda Nguyen at Canadian Press via Toronto Star. “Some stores were unable to fill drug prescriptions because they couldn’t electronically access patient files. But others were able to fill the orders manually, said Smitham.” Read more
Art supply sales surged in January, thanks to protest signs (poster boards +33%, foam boards +42%) by Christopher Mele at NY Times. Read more
When Americans emotionally spend, they buy toilet paper and bleach by Quentin Fottrell at MarketWatch. “Consumers who experience a loss of control are more likely to buy products that are more functional in nature, such as screwdrivers and dish detergent, because these are typically associated with problem solving, which may enhance people’s sense of control” the authors write.” Read more
Walmart Just Revealed a Clever New Way to Make 8,000 DVDs Instantly Stream on Apple iPhones by Lindsay Rittenhouse at The Street. “On Thursday, owners of nearly 8,000 DVD and Blu-ray movies from Lions Gate Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twenty-First Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. can convert them digitally to their Apple iPhone or Alphabet’s Google Android smartphone through Walmart’s subscription-free, on-demand streaming service Vudu.” Read more
Amazon delays its entry into Southeast Asia by Jon Russel at TechCrunch. “In an interesting recent twist, it looks like Amazon is gearing up to launch in Australia first. ABC News reported that Amazon has hired a team of over 100 in Sydney to kick things off in the country.” Read more
Fed Rate Increase Makes 0% Financing Deals More Pricey for Retailers by Serena Ng & Vipal Monga at Wall Street Journal. “Of roughly 1.1 billion direct-mail offers for credit cards received by U.S. consumers in the fourth quarter of 2016, some 63% promoted a 0% introductory rate for balance transfers, according to data from Mintel Comperemedia. In the same period two years ago, 73% of the offers had a 0% introductory rate.” Read more (subscription)
Confessions of a paid Amazon review writer by Yuyu Chen at Digiday. “Here is an example that I received recently. The seller is telling me to buy the product on Amazon, and it will reimburse me through PayPal, “so it will be a verified purchase review…I think that Amazon needs to come up with a way to reward their top reviewers if they want them to keep writing useful reviews out of their own pocket.” Read more
**A message from the Las Vegas Souvenir & Resort Gift Show – get ready for the nation’s largest souvenir show! We bring together 1,300+ booths filled with the latest introductions from every major souvenir and resort supplier, plus countless new resources. New for 2017, the show welcomes a Native American Pavilion, even more made in America products, new Boardwalk section and a special spotlight on Gourmet gifts. Look for new events and educational offerings, too . September 13-16, 2017. Register Now | See the year’s exhibitors
Take a look inside one of Wawa’s first South Florida stores by Brian Bandell at South Florida Business Journal. 27 pics/Read more
The original plan for the Mall of America was bananas by Tracy Mumford at MPR News. “Can you imagine, in January, you walk out of your house and you come and do surfing? This is what we’re proposing for you today,” Ghermezian said in 1985.” Read more
Amazon and DHL reportedly team up for Prime Air and Amazon Fresh deliveries by Alan Boyle at GeekWire. “The Lane Report says Amazon will begin processing shipments at DHL’s facility at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport in May. The arrangement would give Amazon a head start on its $1.5 billion plan to use the airport as a major shipping hub for its Prime Air fleet.” Read more
Starbucks Pledges to Hire More U.S. Military Veterans by John Kell at Fortune. “Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz just made a new vow for hiring veterans and military spouses: 25,000 by 2025.” Read more
AutoZone’s new $50M Pacific Northwest DC opens in July by Meagan Nichols at Memphis Business Journal. Read more
Starbucks teams up with Ford and Amazon to allow in-car orders via Alexa by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “Starbucks chief technology officer Gerri Martin-Flickinger announced the new feature on stage and showed a video of her testing the integration. “It only takes a little imagination to think about where conversation ordering will show up next,” she said. Read more
Why ‘Car Guys’ Are 4 Times More Valuable to Marketers Than Average Consumers by Christine Birkner at Adweek. “Adventure sports/outdoor enthusiasts and home tech enthusiasts are five and three times more valuable, respectively, to marketers in their respective categories.” Read more
Roger Goodell says changes coming to quicken NFL games in 2017 by Tom Pelissero at USA Today. “Every NFL fan has seen an exciting game disrupted in a familiar way: a commercial break, then a kickoff, then … another commercial break. Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn’t like it, either. “It drives me crazy”…“We call those ‘double-ups.’ They actually occurred 27% of the time (on kickoffs last season). And that’s still too high for us.” Read more
Tesco pulls Heineken products after pricing dispute at The Guardian. Read more
Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri battling to be digital assistant in Marriott hotel rooms by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Alexa has already gained a foothold with Marriott. Bloomberg reports that a 1,002-room JW Marriott in San Antonio has installed Alexa-powered devices in 10 of its most popular rooms, with plans to add them in 100 more rooms. Alexa is also in the company’s Four Seasons hotel in Washington D.C.” Read more
A-Rod gets back in the gym as owner of UFC-branded gyms in Miami by Chabeli Herrera at Miami Herald. Read more
BROTHERLY LOVE – 10-Year-Old Sells Drawings To Buy Toys For His Ill Younger Brother by Vanessa Leon at Charlotte Spectrum News. “He passed out flyers, he set up a table, went outside to draw, within an hour, he had made $23,” said his mother…So what would Haden do if he had all the money in the world? “We’d honestly probably go to WalMart and buy a thousand dollar toy,” Haden said while laughing.” Video/Read more
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