Retailers/Amazon/News

Amazon news

05 June 2020
Amazon has announced it will close its Pantry grocery delivery service in the UK, Italy, and Spain. Closing 30 th June Amazon Pantry is a Prime-exclusive service which offers members a range of products including food and drink, alcohol, beauty, household, and pet supplies. Amazon announced it is closing the service in the three markets on 30 th June 2020. The retailer said most Amazon Pa...
02 June 2020
Amazon announced it will convert 125,000 of the 175,000 temporary roles hired since March to permanent roles. The retailer is also set to open a grocery store in a suburb of Chicago. Permanent roles offered In March, Amazon announced it had hired 175,000 additional roles to meet the rise in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The retailer will now convert 125,000 of these roles to permanen...
19 May 2020
Following closure in April due to a court ruling, Amazon is reopening its warehouses in the country after reaching an agreement with workers’ unions. Reopening of six warehouses In April, Amazon closed its six warehouses in France following a court order to ensure safety measures to protect workers against coronavirus (COVID-19). The retailer will now reopen its warehouses this week after r...
14 May 2020
We look at how the retailer is using dark stores to increase the availability of its online grocery service to better support shoppers during the pandemic. Six stores supporting grocery delivery Whole Foods Market has converted six stores to focus on grocery delivery. This week it added its DePaul store in Chicago to an online-only model, following on from recent conversions in New York, Sa...
13 May 2020
Amazon has expanded its Prime Now grocery delivery service through partnerships with Morrisons in the UK and DIA in Spain. Available across London and major UK cities Morrisons and Amazon announced they are expanding the Prime Now same-day delivery service for Prime members across London and more cities throughout the UK in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. By the end of M...
01 May 2020
Amazon's net sales increased by 26% year-on-year (YoY) to $75.5bn, but operating income decreased (9.8) % to $4.0bn for the first quarter (ended March 31). Strong performance from Whole Foods Market Sales from Whole Foods physical stores were $4.6bn, up 8% (YoY), excluding online sales which surged in March, as shoppers stocked up on products. To put the performance in context, 1% has been ...
24 April 2020
Facebook has invested US$5.7bn for a 9.99% stake in India’s Reliance Jio Platforms, while Amazon has launched ‘Local Shops on Amazon’. Connecting JioMart and WhatsApp Facebook’s investment may connect WhatsApp with JioMart , potentially allowing users to find local stores around them on WhatsApp, connect with store operators and place orders from within the instant messaging service. Lo...
21 April 2020
Amazon is set to launch an ‘Ultra Fast Fresh’ delivery service, according to reports from The Grocer. Merging Amazon Fresh and Prime Now Amazon is reportedly retrofitting nine of its existing depots in order to handle fresh produce and fulfil grocery orders within hours. The service is said to be a merging of Amazon Fresh and Prime Now. According to the report, it could involve making Amazo...
20 April 2020
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced Amazon will provisionally be allowed to invest in food courier service Deliveroo, considering the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. US$575m funding round In May 2019, Amazon became the biggest investor in a US$575m investment round in Deliveroo, with the exact amount Amazon spent unknown. Deliveroo said the new investme...
20 April 2020
We look at the actions some of the major retailers in the US have undertaken in response to the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in four key areas; stores, supply chain, associate care and community support. Common actions Reducing operating hours to enable restocking and store cleaning, along with introduction of dedicated shopping periods for vulnerable shoppers Introduction of measures to...