Archive for year: 2012

 

“Christmas Day retail traffic up 27% over 2011; Amazon & Walmart most visited sites” by Sean Ludwig at Venture Beat.  

Here’s the top ten list:

https://venturebeat.com/2012/12/27/christmas-day-retail-traffic-up-27-over-2011-amazon-walmart-most-visited-sites/#OL4A042irkdt3eXS.99

 

“Home Depot to Lowe’s Busiest Season Threatened by Strike” by Chris Burritt & Brooke Sutherland at Bloomberg.  “Home Depot Inc. and Lowe’s Cos. have the most at stake among retailers facing a dockworkers’ strike, with possible port closings cutting off shipments right before the lucrative gardening season.  Home Depot, the biggest U.S. home-improvement chain, is making plans in case 15,000 workers at ports from Maine to Texas walk off the job, and Lowe’s said that it is monitoring the talks. About 45 percent of the commerce that flows in and out of the U.S. goes through East Coast ports, according to the National Retail Federation.  Home Depot has contingency plans in the event of a strike.  Retailers “would be hit far and wide from apparel to home goods to patio furniture to barbecues,” Jonathan Gold, the NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy, said yesterday in a telephone interview from Washington. “It is a major concern. At this point, we don’t anticipate a settlement.”  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-28/home-depot-to-lowe-s-busiest-season-threatened-by-strike.html

 

“Amazon Was Selling 306 Items Every Second At Its Peak This Year” by Jay Yarrow at Business Insider.  “Every year Amazon puts out a press release with a bunch of goofy facts about its business.    It’s free of hard facts about Amazon’s business, so if you’re trying to get a lead on its earnings, this is the wrong place to look. But, it’s a fun read for some context about Amazon’s sales.  This year it says it sold 27 million items on Cyber Monday, or 306 items per second, which is a record.  Best sellers at Amazon:

Health & Personal Care: Panasonic Vortex Nose and Facial Hair Trimmer; Braun Series Pulsonic Shaver System; and Philips Norelco SensoTouch 2D Electric Razor

Tools & Home Improvement: Nest Thermostat; Streamlight Nano Light Miniature Keychain LED Flashlight; and DEWALT 18-Volt Drill/Driver Kit

Automotive: Swiss+Tech Micro-Max 19-in-1 Keychain; Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger; and Reindeer Car Costume

Grocery: Donut Shop K-Cup Packs; Unique Sampler K-Cup Portion Pack; and Ekobrew Cup

See the full list of Amazon factoids and best sellers at: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-holiday-facts-2012-12#ixzz2GLgGM4Vf

 

“Retailers Take on the Risk of Same-Day Shipping” by Stephanie Clifford and Clair Cain Miller at NY Times.  “Ivy Wu did not immediately need the navy lace cocktail dress she ordered the other day. But when a representative from Shoptiques, an e-commerce site, arrived at her Midtown Manhattan office with the dress only hours after Ms. Wu, 26, had placed her order, “I was really impressed that it was here,” she said.  This holiday season, same-day shipping has replaced free shipping as the new must-have promotion. It’s logistically complicated and money-losing — and may not even be a service that consumers want or need, analysts say. But retailers from Walmart to small shops like Shoptiques are willing to take the risk. Even the Postal Service has introduced a same-day option for retailers. And the reason is simple: fear of Amazon.com.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/business/fear-of-amazon-pushes-retailers-to-take-on-risks-of-same-day-shipping.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1356697749-UXywpo+ArSTiM4Ne1So3lQ

 

“Kroger’s Strategic Advantage Over Whole Foods Market And The Fresh Market” at Seeking Alpha.  “The fact that Kroger has a network of over 2,400 locations across the United States places the company at a strategic advantage against its smaller rivals due to its ability to adapt its current stores to meet the needs of customers who might otherwise go to Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, or another specialty food-retailer. For investors, this marks a company that has proven for 36 straight quarters that it can grow identical supermarket sales through continuing to innovate and use its strategic advantage: its location base.”  https://seekingalpha.com/article/1085151-kroger-s-strategic-advantage-over-whole-foods-market-and-the-fresh-market

 

Evolution of Wegmans Stores.  (Video collage from past to present.)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D_4EbkTzbZ0

 

“Video captures tornado moving toward Alabama Walgreens” at CBS 6 – Virginia (Video and Text).  “A tornado rips through Mobile Alabama Christmas day, the whole thing caught on camera.  This surveillance video shows the twister coming through near a Walgreens store moving around cars and sparks flying from power lines.”  https://wtvr.com/2012/12/27/video-captures-tornado-moving-toward-alabama-walgreens/

 

‘”Random Shopper’ bot buys and sends Amazon gifts to owner without help” by Meghan Kelly at Venture Beat.  “…So he set out to create the Random Shopper. It’s a computer program that chooses random products in Amazon’s books, movies, and music sections. It is hooked up to the Wordnik application programming interface, which gives it a random word to search. From there it chooses a product at random and then buy it. The Random Shopper has a preloaded gift card and is outfitted to order; enter shipping, billing, and payment information; and then send off a gift to Kazemi every so often until it runs out of money.” https://venturebeat.com/2012/12/27/random-shopper/#pbOgAYI6f8biZrS7.99

 

“7-Eleven aiming to stock shelves with healthier food options” by Leigh Goessl at Digital Journal.  “Convenience store chain 7-Eleven is looking towards restocking its shelves with healthier options for customers. The company’s goal is to sell more fresh foods in the U.S. and Canada.  Over the past year, 7-Eleven has made a few changes geared towards selling foods that are healthier than the typical junk food fare. According to the New York Times, 7-Eleven plans to have 20 percent of its sales from fresh foods in stores located in the U.S. and Canada by 2015.”  https://www.digitaljournal.com/article/339836#ixzz2GLwf6Bg6

 

“Safeway Exceeds Cage-Free Eggs Goal” by Gina-Marie Cheeseman at Triple Pundit.  “Safeway Inc. is the first major grocery retailer in the U.S. to require all of its cage-free eggs to become Certified Humane. In 2008, Safeway started an initiative with its suppliers to source all Lucerne Cage-Free and O Organics shell eggs from farms that are Certified Humane. The Certified Humane label is administered by Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC).”  https://www.triplepundit.com/2012/12/safeway-exceeds-cage-free-eggs-goal/

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Mayor Ray Nagin’s dealings with Home Depot a focus of federal probe” by Gordon Russell in The Times-Picayune.  “Just a couple of nagging details were keeping Home Depot from breaking ground on a new store in Central City in early 2007: The retailer needed the city of New Orleans to sell it several streets that were within the planned store’s huge footprint. And the sale of the streets was being held up by a pesky “community benefits agreement…But Home Depot wanted no part of such an agreement. And the retailer had an ally in Mayor Ray Nagin, who, as it turned out, also wanted something from Home Depot: a steady supply of work for Stone Age, the fledgling granite-countertop company he and his sons were trying to take to the next level.  Within the space of a few months, the community benefits agreement was dead, Home Depot had its streets, Stone Age had a contract to be the exclusive granite installer for four Home Depot locations around New Orleans, and a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the new store…”  https://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/12/mayor_ray_nagins_dealings_with.html

 

“Wal-Mart Turns to Condé Nast for Beauty Magazine” by Erik Maza at Women’s Wear Daily.  “Buried within Wal-Mart’s Web site, beneath the red sales banners and loud holiday graphics, is a magazine called BeautyScoop. Thousands of stores also carry it, and it was mailed to millions of the store’s customers…BeautyScoop is something else. It has a model on the cover, for one. Its own logo — the name in a large type underneath a smaller Wal-Mart tag. Though wafer-thin — it runs just 12 pages — and produced on glossy stock, it is as close as a store catalogue can come to a magazine. And there are editorial features.”  https://www.wwd.com/media-news/publishing/wal-mart-turns-to-cond-nast-for-beauty-magazine-6552390?module=hp-topstories

 

“Amazon.com Just Entered the Brick and Mortar Retail Business in Seattle” by Mike King in Sound CRE.  “Amazon.com completed the acquisition of their corporate campus yesterday. The $1.154 billion transaction between Paul Allen’s Vulcan Real Estate is composed of 11 buildings with over 1.8 million square feet of space. The price equates to $644 per square foot.  An overlooked component of this deal is roughly 100,000 square feet of retail space in the mixed-use buildings. The retail space is currently 75% leased and Amazon will most likely turn over the leasing and management of the portfolio to a major commercial brokerage firm. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see a company who has long been the counter to brick and mortar retail, now becoming a landlord of brick and mortar retail businesses.”  https://www.soundcre.com/2012/12/22/amazon-entered-brick-mortar-retail-business-seattle/

 

“Analysis: Amazon, Google on collision course in 2013” at Reuters.  “Amazon wants to be the one place where you buy everything. Google wants to be the one place where you find everything, of which buying things is a subset,” said Chi-Hua Chien, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. “So when you marry those facts I think you’re going to see a natural collision.”Both companies have a lot at stake. Google’s market capitalization of $235 billion is about double Amazon’s, largely because Google makes massive net earnings, expected by analysts to be $13.2 billion this year, based on a huge 32 percent net profit margin, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. By contrast, Amazon is seen reporting a small loss this year.”  https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/23/net-us-google-amazon-idUSBRE8BM09420121223

 

“Whole Foods CEO to speak on new book” by Nicole Hoffman.  “Mackey’s book focuses on companies, such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Costco and the Container Store, that have purposes beyond simply maximizing profits.”  https://press.org/news-multimedia/news/whole-foods-ceo-speak-new-book

 

“INSIGHT-How US retailers are building up their online muscle” at Reuters.  “The brave new world for U.S. retailers can be found in small cities like Martinsburg, West Virginia…That’s where department store chain Macy’s Inc recently opened a facility the size of 43 football fields – big enough to stock 1 million pairs of shoes – just to fulfill orders made online…”Today, tomorrow and going forward, you are comparing the experience in our store to the experience of sitting in your living room, in the comfort of your home, ordering something on your laptop, your smart phone or your iPad,” Home Depot Chief Executive Frank Blake told Reuters.  “Your willingness to put up with rude associates, dirty stores and out of stocks is just going to go down and down and down. Our bar on performance in our stores is going to go up and Chup and up,” he said.  https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/24/us-usa-retail-ecommerce-idUSBRE8BN03J20121224

 

 “Target Plans For A Green Entry Into Canada” by Randy Woods at Earth Techling.  “Target will be one of the first companies in Canada to take part in USGBC’s LEED Volume Program, which streamlines the certification process for multiple buildings of a similar type. The design plans for the stores will include new systems to conserving energy and water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and divert waste to landfills through recycling and reuse programs.  Target will retrofit several existing stores with LEED features. In 2011 Target acquired the 80-year-old Canadian retail outlet Zellers and will begin converting or selling off 220 stories once the Zellers brand is discontinued after this holiday shopping season. The first 24 former Zellers stores will open as renovated Target outlets in March and April across Ontario, Target said.”  https://earthtechling.com/2012/12/target-plans-for-a-green-entry-into-canada/

 

“Fixing Up A Few Cool (Ace) Hardware Stores” by Jesse Chimes at American University.  “A team of second-year MBA students in Associate Professor Parthiban David’s senior strategy capstone course took on a real-world challenge this semester as they consulted for the local ACE Hardware co-op, A Few Cool Hardware Stores…A Few Cool Hardware Stores is an independently owned group of seven retailers receiving support and discounted product pricing under the ACE Hardware co-operative model.”  https://www.american.edu/kogod/news/122112_ksbnews_mbacapstone.cfm

 

“Get Ready to Laugh:  This Old RadioShack Commercial Shows Everything You Wanted to Christmas in 1991” by Liz Klimas at The Blaze.  “You might not think about technology of yesteryear too often, but the holidays are a time to reminisce.  An old RadioShack commercial from 1991 shows just what you might have put on your Christmas list back then.”  https://www.theblaze.com/blog/2012/12/24/get-ready-to-laugh-this-old-radioshack-commercial-shows-everything-you-wanted-for-christmas-in-1991/

 

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“Extreme Franchising: Bringing RadioShack to Afghanistan” by Nick Leiber at Bloomberg Businessweek.  “The next time you stroll through downtown Kabul, you might be able to buy batteries from a RadioShack outlet, the result of a new effort by the U.S. to shore up Afghanistan’s economy: selling American franchises to Afghan entrepreneurs.  The U.S. has set a 2014 deadline for troops to withdraw from Afghanistan and turn security over to Afghan military and police. That is prompting capital flight, depressing property values, and triggering other economic pain. That’s where franchising might fit—and an initial foray into the country proved promising, U.S. executives say.  “I didn’t have huge expectations going there that we would consummate an agreement, but after being there on the streets and seeing some fairly sophisticated [retail] operators in a very difficult climate, I’ve walked away with the fact that we would do business in Afghanistan,” says Martin Amschler, a RadioShack vice president who joined several American franchise executives to participate in a five-day matchmaking event in Kabul this week.”  https://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-07/extreme-franchising-bringing-radioshack-to-afghanistan

 

“Behind the Staples and LinkedIn Joint Content Venture, “Succeed”” by Joel Keller at Fast Company.  “For now, the Succeed site consists of a discussion board moderated by LinkedIn’s editorial staff, where discussion is ether generated by one of the moderators or one of the 6,700 subscribers to the group, and a small-business-oriented edition of LinkedIn Today, the site’s newsfeed. But both companies see the potential for more, and Staples is looking to how expanded content might link back to their initiative to make their retail website and stores more than just places to buy supplies.”  https://www.fastcocreate.com/1682103/behind-the-staples-and-linkedin-joint-content-venture-succeed

 

“Ex Microsoft exec plans marijuana shops for the wealthy” at KGW.  “Shively is planning to roll out a chain of retail pot stores, selling to the Cognac/BMW/country club set. He’s presently using his own money to float the idea, but he and his partners say they don’t expect any problem finding deep, deep pocket investors to back the expansion of the chain if legal pot proves a viable industry in Washington.  “We’re focused on Baby Boomers – basically wealthy Baby Boomers,” said Shively. “It’s a $100 billion industry in search of a brand. Never in the history of capitalism – forget America, in the world – has such a giant vacuum existed,” said Shively.  His brand is will be “Diejo Pellicer,” which will offer the highest quality pot-products and is named after his great grandfather, who grew and sold hemp back in the 1800s. Shively and his plans have been parodied overseas, where he’s called the “Bill Gates of bud” in a Chinese video.”  https://www.kgw.com/news/business/Ex-MIcrosoft-exec-plans-marijuana-shops-for-the-wealthy-182557331.html

 

 “Walmart Sustainability Strategy Taught to MBA Students” at Environmental Leader.  “The Walmart Sustainability Case Project, an in-depth analysis of the retailer’s effort to develop and implement goals of creating zero waste, selling sustainable products and using 100 percent renewable energy, will be used to teach business students and executives about sustainability and business development.  University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business associate professor Andrew Spicer, who led the Walmart Sustainability Case Project, will teach the full case series this spring in a course on corporate sustainability in the school’s international MBA program.”  https://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/12/19/walmart-sustainability-strategy-taught-to-mba-students/

 

“The golden age of retail therapy? Glimpse inside Dallas’s original Neiman Marcus store in 1945 reveals how Texas oil wives spent their money” by Tamara Abraham at The Daily Mail.  “As we dash around buying gifts this holiday season, it is difficult to imagine that shopping was once a very different activity indeed.  A newly-released set of images from 1945, taken by LIFE from inside the original Neiman Marcus store in Dallas, Texas, reveal how the city’s oil wives and heiresses would spend their money.  Published again this week in TIME, the photographs show models parading the latest looks for customers lounging in armchairs. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2248122/Glimpse-inside-Dallass-original-Neiman-Marcus-store-1945-reveals-Texas-oil-wives-spent-money.html#ixzz2FYUmTabX

 

Amazon’s Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos Named NRF’s Gold Award Recipient.  “The National Retail Federation is pleased to announce that Amazon, Crocs, Kohl’s and lululemon are the recipients of its prestigious annual awards. The award winners are selected each year by select members of the NRF Board who comprise its Award Committee. The recipients, each company’s top ranking executive, will accept their awards during the Annual Retail Industry Luncheon at NRF’s Annual Convention and EXPO, Retail’s BIG Show, on Tuesday, January 15, 2013.”  https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121219006692&div=-1245645151

 

“RadioShack names two top executives” by Katherine Cromer Brock at The Dallas Business Journal.  “Troy Risch, most recently vice president of stores at Target Corp., has been named executive vice president of operations, according to an announcement from the company.  Huey Long, who has worked with Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Amazon and Sam’s Club, has been named executive vice president of strategy and consumer insights.”  https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog/morning_call/2012/12/radioshack-names-two-top-executives.html

 

Seven in Ten Americans Want Retailers to Enhance the In-Store Shopping Experience, SapientNitro Survey Reveals.  “Seven in ten (70%) Americans agree that “retailers could do more to enhance the in-store shopping experience.” Highly valued enticements include:

The ability to buy products in-store but have them shipped to home for free (79%)

Free Wi-Fi (63%)

Interactive displays or kiosks that provide additional information or recommendations about a product (57%)

Exclusive in-store mobile offers (56%).

 

Among smartphone users, a majority would also like:

To view store circulars/flyers on their phone (67%),

In-store navigation smartphone apps (59%), and

The option for mobile payment or to check out by scanning their mobile phone (59%).

https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121219006472&div=-1245645151

 

“Tuesday Morning names former Michaels Stores CEO to board” by Steven Thompson at Dallas Business Journal.  “Tuesday Morning Corp. added Michael Rouleau to its board of directors, the retailer said Thursday.  The Dallas-based closeout retailer has seen a series of management and board changes over the past several months.  Rouleau previously was president and CEO of Michaels Stores from 1996 to 2006, before the company was sold. Rouleau also was executive vice president of retail operations for Lowe’s in the 1990s, co-founded Office Warehouse in 1988 and was one of Target Corp.’s first 25 employees.”  https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2012/11/29/tuesday-morning-appoints-former.html

 

“Home Depot Starts Innovation Lab in Austin by Acquiring Blacklocus” by Kira Newman at Tech Cocktail.  “Today, BlackLocus announced that it was acquired by The Home Depot and will become the Home Depot’s Innovation Lab in Austin, Texas.BlackLocus makes business software for retailers that turns lots of data into understandable, actionable information. As part of Home Depot, it will help the big-box retailer decide on pricing, which selection of items to carry, and the best item descriptions…Home Depot acquired another startup, Redbeacon, in January. Redbeacon is a website where conusmers can get quotes from service providers like plumbers and carpenters. Since then, Redbeacon has set up kiosks in Home Depot stores to recruit users. According to the Wall Street Journal, that was Home Depot’s first acquisition since 2006.”  https://tech.co/home-depot-innovation-lab-austin-blacklocus-2012-12

 

“Amazon, Advertising’s Sleeping Giant, to Awaken in 2013” by Tim Peterson at AdWeek.  “Amazon made a splash during October’s Advertising Week while previewing its advertising business, but that was merely a ripple compared to the waves the e-commerce behemoth has coming for 2013 and beyond.  Over the past year, Amazon has built a proprietary real-time bidding platform that plugs into exchanges and supply-side platforms, including Google’s AdX and PubMatic. This platform lets the company retarget its users across the Web based on their browsing and purchase habits on Amazon’s owned-and-operated properties. That could be a game changer. Given Amazon’s recommendation engine and general deal-closing prowess, the company’s data should have advertisers drooling.”  https://www.adweek.com/news/technology/amazon-advertisings-sleeping-giant-awaken-2013-145964?page=1

 

“Walmart Takes Largest Share of Mobile Traffic and Transactions” at RIS.  “The mobile shopping experience at Apple, Best Buy and Kohl’s got high marks for customer satisfaction, but Walmart, ranked fifth in customer satisfaction, attracts the largest percentage of both mobile browsers and purchasers. In a recent consumer survey measuring the mobile performance of the leading brick-and-mortar retailers, Target came in fourth and CVS ranked sixth in customer satisfaction. Slow load times, poor navigation and checkout problems were the main reasons for low customer satisfaction levels…The survey is another indicator of the growing prevalence of showrooming: 41% of respondents made a purchase on their mobile device after shopping in-store, with 31% citing a better price as the main reason.”  https://risnews.edgl.com/retail-trends/Walmart-Takes-Largest-Share-of-Mobile-Traffic-and-Transactions83774

 

“Nordstrom family scion keeps up with Amazon online” in Reuters.  “The future of retail came to Jamie Nordstrom not in a dream, but though his email inbox from Amazon.com Inc, the online retailer that Nordstrom now targets as his biggest rival.  The 40 year-old, great-grandson of Nordstrom Inc founder John W. Nordstrom and president of Nordstrom Direct ordered a fishing tackle box from Amazon last year. And then he received emails from Amazon about other tackle boxes for five straight days.  On the sixth day, Amazon sent an email to buy an additive that is often used to preserve gasoline in boats stored over the winter — an example of Amazon’s strength crunching customer data to provide more relevant recommendations.  “I was like, ‘Crap, I need some of that.’ They got me and all I had to do was literally hit a button. That’s incredibly valuable,” Nordstrom said during an appearance at the Milken Institute Global Conference earlier this year.”  https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/17/us-nordstrom-ecommerce-executive-idUSBRE8BG0VJ20121217

 

“H-E-B expecting 15,000 for dinner” by Jacob Beltran in My San Antonio.  “About 15,000 guests are expected Saturday at the 20th annual H-E-B Feast of Sharing at the Convention Center.  Besides a holiday meal, attendees will be treated to free long-distance calls, health screenings and live entertainment.  H-E-B public affairs manager Danny Flores said the feast, set for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., aims to bring people together during the holidays.  https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/H-E-B-expecting-15-000-for-dinner-4124420.php#ixzz2FMf1NQlR

 

“Microsoft’s Retail Strategy Absolutely Stinks” by Rocco Pendola at The Street.  “On its own, Microsoft — as a brick-and-mortar retail proposition — stinks.  Walk into one of its stores. The only thing that looks like it makes any actual sense (or money) is Xbox. Microsoft really doesn’t feature its other success story, Office, much at all. So you’re stuck with a bunch of these Surface tablets and random laptops.  Microsoft’s mounting of a copycat of Apple’s retail blueprint is embarrassing enough; it’s even worse that it does so with a wholly unprepared product line.”  https://www.thestreet.com/story/11793902/2/microsofts-retail-strategy-absolutely-stinks.html

 

“Staples president Michael A. Miles Jr. plans to resign in February” by Chris Reidy at Boston.com.  “Staples Inc., the office-supply giant headquartered in Framingham, said Monday that Michael A. Miles Jr., president and chief operating officer, will resign from the company, effective Feb. 2.  Miles has accepted a position with Berkshire Partners, the Boston-based investment firm, Staples said in a press release.”  https://www.boston.com/businessupdates/2012/12/17/staples-president-michael-miles-plans-resign-february/4rfktRWcdxGlNkSYyPxtuL/story.html

 

“Nielsen and Twitter Establish Social TV Rating”.  “Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, and Twitter today announced an exclusive multi-year agreement to create the “Nielsen Twitter TV Rating” for the US market. Under this agreement, Nielsen and Twitter will deliver a syndicated-standard metric around the reach of the TV conversation on Twitter, slated for commercial availability at the start of the fall 2013 TV season.”  https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121217006059&div=-1245645151

 

“Amazon smartphone reportedly in production, set to go on sale in mid-2013” by Jake Smith in 9 to 5 Mac.  “Rumors have been in the air for several months that claim Amazon will compete in the handset space with its own offering, much like it did with its Kindle Fire line of tablets. According to a new report from the Taiwan Economic News, the Internet retail giant has selected the infamous Foxconn to manufacture the handset. Additionally, Amazon is said to have ordered 5 million units and will launch the device at $100 to $200 sometime in the second quarter or third quarter of 2013.”  https://9to5mac.com/2012/12/17/amazon-smartphone-reportedly-in-production-set-to-go-on-sale-in-mid-2013/

 

“Office Depot Adds PayPal to Online Payment Options”.  “To use the service at checkout, www.officedepot.com customers provide their existing PayPal account information, and they can securely link their bank account, debit or credit cards to their PayPal account. Their stored shipping and billing information quickly processes the payment and items are shipped directly from Office Depot. A record of the purchases will be available on customers’ PayPal accounts and the payment details will be available for future purchases, allowing customers to speed through checkout. PayPal also provides protection against eligible unauthorized payments.”  https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121217005083&div=-1245645151