Instagram is adding more shopping features at CNBC. “Instagram will start testing shopping through its short-form video feature Reels later this year. Instagram will also add shopping to IGTV, where users can watch longer videos, starting Monday. Monday’s move will appeal to creators and brands who routinely look to monetize their efforts on the app.” Read more

 

Pandemic pushes start of holiday shopping earlier than ever at AP. “Joel Bines, who runs the retail practice at AlixPartners, thinks the earlier shopping will stick even when the pandemic is over…“This is here to stay,” Bines said. “The new holiday season is October through January.”…Meanwhile, delivery company DHL is advising retailers to avoid holding big sales in December, since delivery could be delayed.” Read more

 

CLEANING TROPHIES – For some, finding Clorox wipes has become like winning the lottery at NY Times. “…one day in mid-September when the 41-year-old mother of two teenagers stopped at her local Target in San Antonio, she stumbled across what she had long been stalking: Clorox disinfecting wipes. “My daughter and I started screaming in the store, ‘Oh, my god! Oh, my god!’” Ms. Vanegas said. “I had given up looking for them in the last month. I had lost all hope.” Read more

 

Academy Sports Tests Investor Appetite for Retail at Wall Street Journal. “Shares of Academy Sports & Outdoors Inc. fell in their market debut Friday, even after the company lowered its asking price…(Academy), owned by private-equity firm KKR & Co., set a price of $13 for the 15.6 million shares expected to begin trading on Friday. At that price, the company would raise about $203 million at a valuation of roughly $1.1 billion….” WSJ subs.

 

Walmart signs trio of drone deals as it races to play catch-up with Amazon at CNBC. “It’s teamed up with Flytrex to deliver groceries and household essentials in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It plans to launch another pilot project with Zipline…for on-demand deliveries of health and wellness products early next year. And it’s testing deliveries of at-home Covid-19 test kits with Quest Diagnostics and DroneUp in Las Vegas and Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo, New York.” Read more

 

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Inside Amazon’s “whirlwind courtship” of Whole Foods at Business Insider. “The idea of approaching Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos came to Mackey that spring, after a “restless” night…What happened next, Mackey described as the business world’s version of “love at first sight.”…The Whole Foods CEO and his three top executives met with Bezos and his team at his Seattle boat house. The meeting — on April 30, 2017 — ended up lasting three hours…” Read more

 

Alibaba plans to acquire a stake of up to 9.99% in Swiss duty free group Dufry at Reuters. Read more

 

Amazon is trying to crack down on fraudulent reviews. They’re thriving in Facebook groups. at The Verge. “One, called “Amazon Review Group Only USA” had a member named Douglas Meeks, nearly identical to the name of the number four reviewer on Amazon, Douglas C. Meeks. Meeks has reviewed products on Amazon that appear similar to those listed in the Facebook groups, including a razor from a Chinese company which he rated five stars.” Read more

 

Protesters march outside Jeff Bezos’ Beverly Hills mansion to demand the Amazon billionaire pay more taxes at Daily Mail. “At one point, members of the artivist troupe, Red Rebel Brigade Manifesto, wore red ensembles during a performative piece aimed at highlighting the global environmental crisis. As the group of determined protesters drew near Bezos’ mansion, they chanted ‘tax Bezos’ while someone played the drums.” Pics/Video/Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

The plastic pandemic – Covid-19 trashed the recycling dream

University of Washington studies future of urban package delivery

Chick-fil-A still has slowest drive-throughs – and the most popular

Costco pays $4.25 million for two-acre lot in Hawaii for employee parking

American Express to open largest Centurion Lounge in JFK airport, and the first with 2 floors

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