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Walmart Matches Amazon by Rolling Out Next Day Delivery

Written by adminMay 15, 2019

Walmart and Amazon are locked in a massive battle to be the #1 online retail giant. Amazon had a heavy lead, but in the past few years, Walmart has stepped up its game. It was losing out a lot of money to the convenience Amazon offered as a large chunk of retail sales were taking place online. Walmart decided it wanted its money back, so they revamped their website.

As the tides seem to be shifting back in Walmart’s favor (including more people shopping in the stores), Amazon decided to strike back. Rather than two-day shipping, Amazon announced it would roll out one-day shipping. They’re also working on building more Amazon Go convenience stores around the country, as well has larger distribution centers.

Not to be outdone, Walmart decided it could also offer next-day delivery on many of its own extremely popular items. Walmart still has the title of the world’s largest retailer, considering Amazon can’t currently compete. It’s all in a bit to up the convenience factor. Many of the items eligible for next day are everyday items, like diapers, non-perishable foods, and more.

Walmart’s Plan

Unlike with Amazon, Walmart only offers next day shipping as long as your order is $35 or above. They plan on starting this today in a few select markets, like Las Vegas and Phoenix. Over the next few days, the delivery area will grow to all of Southern California with the goal of hitting 75% of the U.S. by the end of the year.

Walmart still has a bit of distribution growing to do in order to make this promise. But as Amazon continues to offer more, Walmart feels the need to respond with something better to stay ahead. All retail stores are looking for ways to make life and shopping more convenient for their customers if they hope to keep them. We’ve been seeing the death of many major box-store retailers who couldn’t keep up with changing times.

“Customer expectations continue to rise,” said Marc Lore, CEO of Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce division said in a phone interview. “We’re trying to get ahead of that.” More stores are going to have to shell out millions to shorten their delivery window if they hope to compete.

Amazon Changed the Game, but Walmart Competes

Competition has always been fierce between retailers. Then, times started changing. Once formidable companies like Sears, Kmart, and JCPenney were starting to go into bankruptcy and close down. They had been on a decades-long slump, but it was Amazon who put the nail in the coffin. It was in 2005 when they started offering free two-day shipping for Prime members.

Walmart decided to offer the same only two years ago. Where they can compete is the fact that you didn’t need to pay for a membership to get the free two-day shipping. As long as your order was over $35, you qualified, where Amazon requires you to be a Prime member. At the same time, Walmart has been growing its same-day delivery service for groceries.

That’s how Walmart fought their way back in. From their thousands of locations around the country, they have a better distribution system in place. They can make deliveries in a short time span. There may never be a winner to this war, as they will both continue to innovate and change the shopping world for good.

Written by adminMay 9, 2019

Life Style

It’s been a year since Amazon launched its first ‘Go’ store. It allows shoppers to simply take the items they want and leave. The cost of the items are automatically deducted using the Amazon app and high-tech cameras. It’s a beacon of the future, of course, and its applications show how shopping will transition.

Amazon also understands that while they want to change the game, they also have to keep things modern. Our society isn’t cashless let, even if we’re leaning in that direction. That’s why the Amazon Go that just opened in New York will be the first to accept cash for items. In doing so, it will still not hire a cashier to take care of business.

Amazon took a lot of heat for using cashless stores. Critics were saying they discriminated against poorer residents who rely on cash and coins to make purchases. They say it’s not right to expect the poor to have bank accounts and debit cards. To keep critics happy, Amazon will start accepting cash at their stores, but not in the way you think.

Amazon and a Cashless Society

Amazon is known for its innovations. The company truly wants to change the way people shop, adding in loads of convenience. More stores are trying to increase customer satisfaction will appeasing every base. Rather than using a cash register, they’re currently working out a new way to check out cash customers.

Not too many details on that have been released yet, but a solution is in the works. They will still have an employee who uses the Amazon app to check out the items. How the cash will be collected is yet unknown. But they maintain no cash registers will be involved. They want to keep the process as high-tech as possible.

“This is how we’re starting,” he says. “We’re going to learn from customers on what works and what doesn’t work and then iterate and improve it over time.” Still, some politicians and activists see this as a means of discrimination. They are working on creating laws that prevent cashless establishments from taking root.

In fact, Philadelphia was the first city to do so. Not long after Philly, New Jersey put up their own cashless store ban. San Francisco and New York City are on the list of places considering the same. That really puts a thorn in the side of high-tech companies. The future of shopping is unknown. Many stores already have self-checkouts.

Written by adminAugust 13, 2018

Life Style

The economy is back, Jack! The dead malls and skittish buyers afraid to spend their money due to the economic downturn of just a years ago has reversed itself. Unemployment is down at record levels for Americans thanks to President Trump’s tax and regulation cuts. You can say what you want about the guy, but he has shown he knows how to get the economy going.

Even though not everyone is happy at this point, tariffs still threaten several industries. The average American is taking advantage of the current economic climate. They are spending money again, which is good news for the retail stores. 2/3 of our entire economy is spending via retail, so if you want a good indication at how we’re doing, just look at their health.

According to the Commerce Department, American spending was up 4% for the second quarter, with the early summer months showing significantly strong signs as well. Those reports will be coming out soon.

The next big hurdle to jump through to seal the deal on an amazing year of spending is predicting how the holiday season will shape up. As we edge into September, the spending blitz between Halloween and Christmas holidays is about to begin. Despite the big year so far, higher inflation could dampen holiday sales.

Wages have remained stagnant as prices in nearly every market are climbing higher. Gas, food, and the tariffs impact everything from soft drinks to cars and motorcycles.

A Second Beginning

Despite tempered expectations for the holidays, there is one mega-superstore making a comeback. It’s all due thanks to its new approach to ecommerce. No, we’re not talking about Walmart, but the nearly-defunct Macy’s.

In fact, Macy’s was the second-best performer behind Amazon on the S&P 500 so far this year, their shares up 60%! Shuttering several brick-and-mortar locations seems to be allowing Macy’s to do well.

Also: http://financialhelpers.com/trump-now-sets-his-sights-on-the-eu/

Walmart also seems to be attempting to challenge Amazon for online supremacy, but has revealed they’re not quite ready to reign supreme. Their digital sales have declined a bit as more Americans do appear to be shopping in-store as of late.

Other stores are competing well with Amazon, as Lowes and Home Depot don’t see much competition with the online retail leader. A lot of this extra money in people’s paychecks have been going towards rebuilding and remodeling their homes…an extravagance they couldn’t afford during the recession.

Most of the Americans who buy things like faucets, wood, paint, and other necessities for fixing things up would still rather go into the store and get it in the moment of need rather than purchasing online and waiting for delivery.

Overall, this is amazing news for every American. The economy is churning, more people have jobs, and the spending craze continues. That is more money getting poured into the economy, which often opens up even more jobs. The cycle continues. Here’s to a great, and profitable, holiday season.

Written by adminJuly 27, 2018

Life Style

After Toys-R-Us closed their doors, many companies rushed in to grab their share of the market left behind. We’ve covered Party City staking their claim within the toy industry. They plan to rent out the abandoned box stores left behind and sell toys during the holiday season.

Amazon has also stepped up their toy game by expanding their toy sales. A lot of ecommerce stores took advantage of Toys-R-Us’ closing by buying up the remaining clearance items as prices were slashed, and resold them on their sites at regular price.

Now, Walmart wants in on the fun. On Thursday, the Walmart website launched their new shopping designation specifically designed for babies and their needs. It’s been dramatically increasing their baby selections for the past year in preparation for the launch.

The website will allow you to design your own nursery so you can choose the right styles that match the look you’re going for. Over the course of the last year, Walmart added over 30,000 items related to all things baby, which has helped online searches for baby items grow over 40%.

This section of the market has allowed Walmart to remain competitive with Amazon and has been a part of the larger overall redesign of their website. Midsummer is also the time when most babies are born historically, so the release of this section of their website is perfectly timed to meet demand and spark interest.

“It also follows efforts to create a new in-store experience in the baby department in more than 2,000 stores across the country,” said Lauren Uppington, the vice president of Walmart’s baby division.

Other stores aren’t going to sit by idly and let Walmart steal all of the fun. Target and Amazon have been making waves themselves within this industry.

Target has been making moves to expand their own private-label brand Cloud Island and offered free gift bags to future moms if they register at their stores. Amazon took things several steps forward by famously throwing Kim Kardashian a baby shower earlier this year, who returned the favor by plugging Amazon to her over 70 million followers.

These are the moves Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us should’ve been making all along to stay competitive within their niche, but in their abrupt absence, has left their competitors all fighting for a piece of the market.

This also proves without a doubt how powerful online shopping has become, sucking in a larger portion of all shopping dollars spent with each passing year.

Written by adminJuly 16, 2018

Life Style

Starting at 3 PM Eastern today and lasting for 36 hours, Amazon is hosting their annual Prime Day sale!

During this time, deals abound all over the website and even extends to Whole Foods.

The only catch is, you have to be a Prime subscriber to get the discount.

There are two types of deals you can look forward to:

-Spotlight Deals focus on a particular brand and offer steep discounts throughout.

-Lightning Deals that happen suddenly and last only for a short time.

The best way to take advantage of the Prime Day deals is through the Amazon app. It allows you to preview the items they’ll have on sale. If you find something you want, add it to your list and you’ll get a notification once the deal starts. It’s that easy!

If you’re an avid Whole Foods shopper, you can also find great discounts and deals at every Whole Foods store in the nation.

Every item that’s on sale will have a “Prime Day Deal” badge.

Currently, Amazon’s site says you can save:

-30% on vitamins.

-25% on furniture and décor.

-25% on snacks and foods.

-An additional 25% on your first delivery with subscribe.

-45% on large photo prints.

-Up to 50% off on Amazon devices, like the Kindle, Fire, and Echo.

If you don’t have a Prime subscription, you’re in luck! Amazon has an option that allows people to share their Prime subscription with loved ones (much like how the whole family shares a single Netflix account). So, if you know someone who does have a subscription, you can ask them to add you.

Happy hunting!

Written by adminJuly 5, 2018

Life Style

In 1992, the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling that declared states couldn’t collect sales tax on purchases made outside of the state. They could only tax physical brick-and-mortar stores that were selling the item within the state it was being bought.

For example, if you lived in Iowa and bought something from a Sears catalog, Iowa couldn’t collect a sales tax on that item because it was most likely being shipped from out of state.

Fast forward nearly two decades and you’ll see that same law applied to all online purchases, including ecommerce. If you bought something on Amazon, sales tax wouldn’t be applied to the price.

Brick-and-mortar stores have felt this gave online companies a huge advantage over them. If you had to choose between buying a couch on Wayfair verses going to local vendor and paying extra for included sales tax, where would you shop?

Now, the Supreme Court has reversed its previous ruling. In a 5-4 decision, the highest court in the land has decided that states can collect sales from all online retailers.

While this will inevitably make online shopping more expensive for the everyday consumer, the court felt the previous law was outdated and allowed businesses to avoid having a physical presence in certain states.

In explaining his vote, retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy said, “The Internet’s prevalence and power have changed the dynamics of the national economy. The expansion of e-commerce has also increased the revenue shortfall faced by States seeking to collect their sales and use taxes.”

Online retailers believe this is a bad deal for them, as it will push people to once again shop locally for items like electronics, furniture, and jewelry.

States, especially states that are cash-strapped and could use more tax revenue, are thrilled they get to tap into a $453 billion industry.

They saw their tax numbers dwindle as more people avoided the box stores in favor of online buying, literally taking money out of the state’s pockets. According to the Government Accountability Office, states have lost as much as $13.4 billion last year alone.

There’s still more they would have to do though, as a lot of states had different rules.

One big question online business owners have involves how this new law will handcuff smaller businesses. There are already laws on the books for bigger companies, but now that the doors are open for all businesses to get taxed, this ruling might completely kill smaller industries.

Companies like eBay and Overstock want the Congress to pass news laws that exempt small online businesses from being taxed to keep internet innovation strong.

It’s unknown if this ruling will change much, as most people choose to shop online for the convenience, but now that stores feel they are at an even playing field, we’ll see how the sales stack up this holiday shopping season and beyond

Amazon Launches ‘Prime Wardrobe’

Written by adminJune 20, 2018

Life Style

Amazon is always looking for new ways to outsmart the big box stores and provide a service that’s more convenient for consumers.

Introducing Prime Wardrobe, the latest venture by mega e-commerce site Amazon, that will let you try on clothes before you purchase them all from the comfort of your home.

This innovative new idea will let you choose between 3 to 8 different items you want to try on, which are then sent to your home. If you like them, you can choose to purchase them. If you don’t, you have seven days to return them. Amazon will even provide you with a prepaid label.

While you won’t have access to every piece of apparel they sell on site, you still can choose from millions of items from some of the top brands in the clothing industry, like Levi’s, Calvin Klein, and more.

The only downside to this is that wardrobe deliveries can take between 4-6 business day, where going to a store is instant, but this can be a huge blow to box stores in a lot of ways. The number of clothes and styles you can fit into a store is limited and it can take quite a bit of time to find what you’re looking for.

By going on Amazon, you can type in what you want and choose to try it on before you buy it. Overall, this service targets the only reason why you’d need to go into clothing stores. The move was designed by Amazon to increase their clothing market.

As of 2016, Amazon controlled about 7% of the clothing market, but they hope this move will jump their share to about 16% in the next few years.

The majority of traditional retailers are failing to keep up with new technological trends as larger portions of sales goes on Amazon and other online giant marketplaces. While box stores continuously announce closures, Amazon continues to innovate new ways to steal their customers.

Written by adminApril 27, 2018

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Amazon surprised investors on Thursday by announcing that they’ve more than doubled their first quarter profits compared to what they pulled in the first quarter of 2017.

The experts expected Amazon to lose a bit of their momentum going into this year, which is why the announcement came as a shock.

In the first three months of 2018, the mega online retailer raked in $1.6 billion. This profit is on top of several expensive investments made into original programming for their streaming service and the building of more fulfillment centers across the country.

This isn’t the first major milestone Amazon has hit this year. It has also touted a record number of paying subscribers, the amount of cloud computing sales, and advertising sales, all of which helped spur on the $1.6 billion first-quarter profit.

Because of these breakthroughs, Amazon’s stock has been soaring, putting that iconic Amazon smile on the faces of every investor.

Price of Prime to Rise 20%

Despite the absurd profits made in the last quarter, Amazon also announced via letter that they will be raising the price of Prime, their extremely popular subscription service, from $99 to $119 per year, a 20% increase.

Their justification for the increase again has to do with the increased cost of making more original content and continuously adding more “digital benefits”.

With over 100 million Prime subscribers, Amazon felt the price needed to go up, and will continue to go up as they offer more benefits to their customers. Amazon remains on the front lines of innovation, offering shipping perks, and believes it can compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu with their streaming services.

Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said in a conference call on Thursday, “We continue to increase the value of Prime by adding digital benefits.”

With this news, the price of Amazon’s stocks jumped 7%. While investors are happy, one can’t help but wonder what the subscribers think of the price change. The company has record-high profits, but feels the need to increase the price of Prime by 20%?

There will be a breaking point for subscribers. If they keep raising the cost, it can become too costly and not worth the price to the average consumer.

Time will tell if this price increase will impact the number of subscribers Prime receives (or loses) in the future.

A Second Beginning

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