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Reviews or "paid promotional content"? Amazon is paying users to make videos of its products

Mar 7, 2024
The online retail behemoth is selling access to its sizable platform to gig workers, says Caroline O'Donovan of The Washington Post.
"I think it's an open question if these are reviews or just paid promotional content," says Caroline O'Donovan at The Washington Post about the influencer videos.
Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images

Why Amazon is replacing Walgreens Boots Alliance on the Dow Jones

Feb 21, 2024
A Dow Jones committee considers company growth and investor interest when deciding which stocks to include in the index.
Adding Amazon to the Dow will give investors more exposure to consumer retail.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

No, I'm not saying "Bye." I'm saying "Buy."

The Amazon One system enables purchases via hand waving. Christopher Mims of the WSJ discusses business prospects for biometric data.
Amazon's Amazon One system enables consumers to make purchases just by waving their hand.
Courtesy Amazon

Freight railroads want to let companies track shipments to compete with trucking

Feb 15, 2024
But so far they've only added GPS tracking to less than 1% of the nation's railcars.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

As Christmas looms, the shipping wars accelerate

Dec 21, 2023
UPS and FedEx, not to mention Target and Walmart, are all racing to keep up with Amazon's same- or next- day shipping options because shoppers have become used to faster delivery times.
Amazon says more than half of Prime orders arrived same day or next day during the first half of this year in the 60 biggest U.S. metro areas.
Octavio Jones/Getty Images

When Amazon comes to town, rural post offices struggle to keep up with deliveries

Dec 11, 2023
When thousands of Amazon packages arrived overnight, it wreaked havoc on a post office in Bemidji, Minnesota.
Last year, the USPS lost $6.5 billion. Delivering for Amazon is a way the agency offsets its costs.
Daria Nipot/Getty Images

Amazon makes a bigger bet on consumer appetite for grocery delivery

Dec 8, 2023
In its bid for a bigger bite out of the $800 billion-a-year grocery market, the company is testing a new delivery subscription.
"Nobody makes money on (grocery delivery)," says Phil Lempert, editor of Supermarket Guru. "It's more of a way to build a relationship with people."
Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Why isn't there an Amazon for real estate?

Nov 8, 2023
Despite the world going digital, homebuying is still a highly analog process. James Rodriquez of Insider discusses the quest for a superapp.
While the initial house hunt can be done online, arranging inspections, figuring out escrow and other tasks tend to be done in person, on the phone and on paper.
Shaun Curry/AFP via Getty Images

FTC, 17 states file antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

Sep 26, 2023
The Federal Trade Commission and more than a dozen U.S. states are alleging that Amazon used "its monopoly power" to inflate prices.
Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images

Amazon desperately seeks seasonal workers while other retailers hold back

Sep 20, 2023
That could mean that holiday hiring will be slower this season, says Andy Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Retailers are still figuring out how to staff warehouses and stores as consumers switch between shopping in person and online and using curbside pickup, says analyst Jessica Ramírez.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images