Amazon

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As Stores Lock Down Products, Shoppers Head to Amazon

Customer frustration with locked-up cases may driving a rise in online sales of 'essentials'

(Newser) - Big-box stores like Walmart and Target are keeping a growing range of items locked up in plexiglass cases, but it might be costing them more in business than they would have lost to sticky fingers if their goods were more accessible. Francisco Velasquez at Quartz says sales figures strongly suggest...

Watch Out, Shein and Temu. Amazon's Haul Is Here

E-commerce giant launches new online storefront to compete with China's discount retailers

(Newser) - Amazon has launched a low-cost online storefront featuring electronics, apparel, and other products priced at under $20, an effort to compete with discount retailers that have increasingly encroached on the e-commerce giant's turf. In a blog post on Wednesday, the company said the new Amazon Haul storefront will mostly...

Deforestation Plummets Nearly a Third in Brazil's Amazon

It was the lowest level of destruction in the rainforest in 9 years

(Newser) - Forest loss in Brazil's Amazon dropped by 30.6% compared to the previous year, officials said Wednesday, the lowest level of destruction in nine years. In a 12-month span, the Amazon rainforest lost 2,428 square miles, roughly the size of the US state of Delaware, per the AP...

Amazon Wants Workers Back in the Office

Minimum of three days per week in the building has been changed to five, CEO says

(Newser) - Working from home is over, Amazon told its corporate employees on Monday—at least on weekdays. The most recent guidance was that staff members needed to show up at least three days a week . That minimum has gone the way of social distancing, CNBC reports. "Before the pandemic, it...

Under Pressure, Amazon Gives Third-Party Drivers a Raise

Labor regulators are siding against the company more often

(Newser) - Amazon is giving another pay boost to its subcontracted delivery drivers in the US as it faces growing union pressure. Drivers who work with Amazon's Delivery Service Partners will earn an average of nearly $22 per hour, a 7% bump from the previous average of $20.50, the company...

'Uncontacted' Indigenous Group Just Made Contact

Mashco Piro tribe reportedly attacked loggers in Peruvian Amazon who were getting too close

(Newser) - An "uncontacted" Indigenous group in the Peruvian Amazon apparently spooked by local loggers getting too close to their area went on the attack last month, injuring at least one logger and possibly killing two others, according to an NGO there. Per the Guardian , the Mashco Piro tribe reportedly carried...

Will Amazon's Nearly $1B Acquisition End Up a 'Zombie'?

Retail giant bought video streaming platform Twitch in 2014, but it hasn't performed as hoped

(Newser) - Ten years ago, Amazon ponied up nearly a billion dollars to acquire Twitch, a video streaming startup popular among gamers that insiders now worry may become a "zombie brand" for the retail giant, per the Wall Street Journal . Both current and ex-employees tell the paper that the platform is...

You're Not Using Alexa the Way Amazon Wants

The company thought people would spend more using their smart devices. It cost them billions

(Newser) - Amazon bet that smart devices like Alexa would bring in major revenue, prompting the behemoth to invest major cash in them. But it turns out that wager cost the company billions, the Wall Street Journal reports, and they're now attempting to turn the tide on those losses. The logic...

One Terrible Amazon Review Ravaged a Small Business

Bloomberg looks at the sad story of a once-thriving swim diaper business

(Newser) - Paul and Rachelle Baron's small business, Beau & Belle Littles, quickly reached $1 million in sales after the couple came up with a reusable, easily removable, and washable swim diaper based on their experience with their own baby during his first swim class. They were featured in Forbes and...

Prime Day Brings Deals— but Also Warehouse Injuries

Senate investigation calls out Amazon for 'extraordinarily high level' of injured workers

(Newser) - Amazon Prime Day is back, and the two-day sales blitz starting Tuesday brings more than deals on big-screen TVs and vacuum cleaners. A new Senate investigation finds that Prime Day also results in a slew of warehouse injuries among Amazon workers, reports the Washington Post . The yearlong review by the...

The Inside of Your Amazon Box Looks Different Now

Those plastic air pillows are (mostly) a thing of the past

(Newser) - If you've long enjoyed the satisfying sound of popping the air pillows that come in your Amazon box, you'll have to settle for a crinkling noise instead. The company on Thursday announced it has made major strides in its effort to eliminate plastic packaging material from its boxes...

Cat Slips Into Amazon Returns Box, Takes 600-Mile Trip

Galena is now back with her owners after making an unintentional journey from Utah to California

(Newser) - A cat from Utah is back safe with its owners after a frightening journey to California in an Amazon returns package. Carrie Clark says their indoor kitty Galena vanished from their home on April 10, and a frantic search ensued throughout their neighborhood for the next week, reports KSL . "...

Amazon Drivers Are Pretty Torqued at 'Wayne.' And 'Jimmy'

Employees create scapegoats that allow them to gripe about work without fear

(Newser) - If you happen to stumble upon a thread on Reddit that features Amazon drivers griping about a mystery supervisor named Wayne, it's likely not a real person they're complaining about, but an amalgam of all the horrible bosses that exist at the retail giant. That's per 404...

So Much for Amazon's 'Just Walk Out' Grocery Checkout

Company pulls the plug on it

(Newser) - It was a futuristic concept that, as it turns out, was too good to be true: Walk into an Amazon Fresh grocery store and, instead of going through the whole tedious checkout process, just walk out of the store and you'll be automatically charged for what you bought. As...

Amazon Increases Big Bet on AI Startup

It now has $4B stake in Anthropic

(Newser) - Claude just got a lot more money from Amazon. The company has invested another $2.75 billion in artificial-intelligence startup Anthropic, bringing its total stake in a deal announced six months ago to $4 billion. The startup's model Claude competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT, NBC News reports. Anthropic, founded...

Amazon Just Made It to the Big Time on Wall Street

E-commerce giant joins Dow's blue chips, bumps Walgreens ahead of Walmart stock split

(Newser) - Amazon is joining the ranks of one of Wall Street's oldest and most exclusive stock indexes: the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The e-commerce pioneer will officially take its position in the 30-company Dow before the open of trading Monday, replacing drugstore operator Walgreens Boots Alliance, per the AP . S&...

Big Layoffs at Roomba After Amazon Deal Falls Through

Companies say the planned acquisition is off

(Newser) - Amazon and Roomba won't be getting together after all. The retail giant and vacuum maker iRobot said Monday that Amazon's planned acquisition is off, reports the Wall Street Journal . The deal had faced big regulatory hurdles in Europe and the US. Amazon will pay the Massachusetts company a...

Tolkien Estate, Amazon Win LOTR Copyright Lawsuits

Fan fiction writer claimed Amazon series infringed on copyright of his sequel

(Newser) - A Lord of the Rings fan fiction author who sued JRR Tolkien's estate and Amazon after publishing an unauthorized sequel has lost his lawsuit and those filed against him. According to District Court of California documents issued last week, Demetrious Polychron's lawsuit was thrown out after Judge Stephen...

Spied-Upon Woman Fighting to Hold Amazon Accountable

Judge allows lawsuit proceed, scoffs at company's 'shock' over illicit use

(Newser) - Spy cams that boast about how easily they can peep in on someone's private moments are easy to find on Amazon, reports the BBC , and a young woman who says she was victimized is now fighting to hold the company accountable. The woman is a Brazilian foreign exchange student...

Report: Amazon Is Now the Biggest US Delivery Business

'WSJ' reports online giant has moved ahead of UPS, FedEx

(Newser) - Almost a decade after its efforts to build its own delivery network were mocked by rivals FedEx and UPS, Amazon has surpassed them both to become America's biggest delivery business, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal, citing "internal Amazon data and people familiar with the matter,...

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