BNPL +42% | WM Romcom | Amazon #1 Delivery Biz
US Cyber Monday sales hit record $12.4 billion on big discounts at Reuters. “Online consumer spending jumped 9.6% on Monday from the $11.3 billion seen last year, outstripping Adobe’s initial expectations for a 6.1% rise to $12 billion…A record $940 million worth of purchases were made through BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) on Cyber Monday, surging 42.5% from last year and trouncing Adobe’s earlier estimate for an 18.8% jump.” Read more
Amazon touts ‘record-breaking’ sales in kickoff to holiday shopping season at CNBC. “The company said the period from Nov. 17 to Cyber Monday marked its “biggest ever” holiday shopping event compared to the same 11-day stretch last year. Amazon, which did not disclose actual sales figures, added that shoppers worldwide bought more than 1 billion items during the period.” Read more
Black Friday online sales reach record level, according to Adobe Analytics at Fox. “…climbed 7.5% from the total that Black Friday online shoppers forked over in 2022, according to Adobe Analytics.” Read more
Amazon.com has grabbed the crown of biggest delivery business in the U.S., surpassing both UPS and FedEx in parcel volumes at WSJ. “There’s not a lot of perceived value in chest thumping on being the biggest,” said a former senior Amazon logistics executive about the milestone. Instead of a celebration marking the jump on the leaderboard, Amazon executives high-fived and got back to work, one recalled.” WSJ subs.
Walmart’s Holiday ‘RomCommerce’ Aims to Make Shoppers Swoon at Adweek. “Add to Heart follows a young woman named Jessica working as an interior design assistant in New York as she navigates the usual romcom tropes…audiences can shop the outfits worn by the cast, the makeup the boss applies, and almost all the furnishings, ornaments and other holiday fare conspicuously placed around the generously spaced homes—with more than 330 products available to purchase through the retailer.” Read more
Canada Goose execs take on sales associate jobs on Black Friday at Financial Post. “(President) Baker helped a family headed for an Alaskan cruise find coats and test them out in the store’s cold room, a -25 C space…“That’s one of the confirmations or leanings for me today: what an important role our cold room plays in the experience and them leaving knowing they bought the right jacket…” Baker said.” Read more
China’s Shein files for US IPO at Reuters. “Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley have been hired as lead underwriters on the initial public offering, and Singapore-based Shein could launch its new share sale some time in 2024, the sources said.” Read more
We watched — and shopped — Amazon’s first Black Friday NFL broadcast at GeekWire. “For me, the QR codes made the commercial breaks a tad more compelling…However, it got cumbersome to continuously whip out my phone and try to scan the QR codes on my TV before the commercial ended. I also had the game streaming on my laptop. It would have been nice to be able to just click an ad or a button versus scanning a QR code with my phone pointed at the computer screen.” Read more/Pics
Amazon wants businesses to use its palm-scanning tech to let employees into the office at CNBC. “Companies already signed up for the biometric technology include IHG Hotels & Resorts, turnstile manufacturer Boon Edam, and Kone, an escalator and elevator provider. Amazon didn’t disclose pricing for the service, which is available in preview in the U.S. starting Monday.” Read more
Macy’s, Inc. Names Sharon Otterman Chief Marketing Officer “Most recently, Sharon served as CMO at Caesars Entertainment, where she launched Caesars Sportsbook, a new sports betting brand in the U.S…” Press release
Amazon’s iRobot purchase sucks up formal competition concerns in EU at TechCrunch
Mall of America had more Black Friday traffic this year than the year before pandemic at Minneapolis Star Tribune. “The country’s biggest mall saw 4% more visitors between Friday and Sunday than on Black Friday weekend 2019. The mall was not open as many hours, either.” Read more
Jeff Bezos is moving from Seattle to Miami—and he could take some of Amazon with him at Fortune. “Citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, (Bloomberg) said Amazon was searching for 50,000 square feet of space.” Read more
Neighbors say these Bay Area ghost kitchens are out of control at San Francisco Chronicle. “I’ve seen drivers cuss out the police. They cuss us out. They threaten to fight us,” Koral said. “We are verbally assaulted on the daily and threatened with physical violence on the daily. … It gets scary.” Read more
Here is where millennials moved to the most in 2022 at The Hill
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Santa Clara, California
Seattle, Washington
Sunnyvale, California
Denver, Colorado
Arlington, Virginia
Bellevue, Washington
Killeen, Texas
Austin, Texas
Sandy Springs, Georgia