Amazon sets ultra-low pricing plans for Temu rival store at The Information/Reuters. "The company's price limits include $8 for jewelry, $13 for guitars and $20 for sofas, according to the report...Amazon plans to ship orders to U.S. customers directly from a facility in Guangdong, China..." Read more   Sri Atluri, Chief IP Counsel at Walmart, discusses strategies for reducing IP risks and protecting innovations at Clause 8. "On patent enforcement: “If we’re not protecting the innovation that we are spending our money on developing, then we’re essentially donating our R&D dollars to our competitors.”...“It is a hundred percent worth [...]

  Peloton partners with Costco to sell Bike+ at CNBC. "Under the terms of the deal, Costco will offer Peloton’s Bike+ in 300 of its U.S. stores for $1,999, and on Costco.com for $2,199 between Nov. 1 and Feb. 15. It is a steep discount from the typical price of the Bike+, which is selling on Peloton’s website for $2,495." Read more   Walmart Launches Nationwide Same-Day Pharmacy Delivery "The new offering is now live in six states: Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina and Wisconsin. By the end of January 2025, Walmart's Pharmacy Delivery is expected to be [...]

  Retail sales rose 0.4% in September, better than expected at CNBC. "Excluding autos, sales accelerated 0.5%, better than the forecast for just a 0.1% rise. The numbers are adjusted for seasonal factors but not inflation, which rose 0.2% on the month as measured by the consumer price index." Read more   Walmart’s CTO places bigger bets on generative AI as customer shopping habits evolve at Fortune/Yahoo. "The search bar is no longer the way to shop," says Vasudev. That’s led Walmart to pivot by announcing this month that it's starting to use predictive models and generative AI to offer a [...]

  Walgreens Boots Alliance Reports FY 2024 Earnings "Fourth quarter sales increased 6.0 percent year-over-year...Fourth quarter operating loss was $978 million...comparable pharmacy sales increased 11.7 percent in the fourth quarter...comparable retail sales decreased 1.7 percent." Press release   ...Walgreens to close 1,200 US stores over the next three years at AP. "... about 500 store closures will come in the current fiscal year...Walgreens operates about 8,500 stores in the United States and a few thousand overseas. All of the stores that will be closed are in the United States." Read more   True Value declares bankruptcy and sells itself to [...]

  Consumer prices rose 0.2% in September, hotter than expected; annual rate increased 2.4% at CNBC. "Much of the inflation increase — more than three-quarter of the move higher — came from a 0.4% jump in food prices and a 0.2% gain in shelter costs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in the release. That offset a 1.9% fall in energy prices." Read more   Costco September comp sales (ex-gas & f/x) +8.9% : US +9.3% / Canada +6.3% / Int'l +9.6% / Ecom +22.9% "...comparable sales for the retail month of September benefitted by approximately two percent in the [...]

  Sam’s Club is opening a club in the Dallas area with no checkout lines at CNBC. "When shoppers walk into Sam’s Club’s newest store, they’ll soon see a shiny blue Mercedes-Benz SUV, a sectional sofa and zero checkout lanes...In the area typically reserved for cash registers, the company will display online-only items as wide-ranging as a 12-foot Christmas tree and a five-carat lab-grown diamond...“It’s kind of the physical manifestation of a journey we’re trying to go on as a company,” Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas said, as he showed off the club before its grand opening." Read more   [...]

  2024 100 Most Powerful Women in Business (Lynch #2 / McLay #9 / Campbell #50 / Barry #58) at Fortune. "The list features women from six continents, 19 countries and territories, and 14 different industries, proving there is no one-size-fits-all approach to reaching the pinnacle of business." Read more | Press release   Sneak Peek of Prime Big Deal Days (Starting October 8th) Press Release   Ship queue grows at US ports at Reuters. "At least 45 container vessels that have been unable to unload had anchored up outside the strike-stricken East Coast and Gulf Coast ports by Wednesday, [...]

  A historic strike is underway at U.S. ports at CNBC. "Danish shipping giant Maersk has warned that just a one-week shutdown could take four to six weeks to recover from...” Read more   ...Can West Coast ports absorb East and Gulf Coast import volumes? at Fox News. "I don't think we're going to see a lot of re-routing. I do think that the ports on the West Coast are preparing for some increase in volume associated with that. But their ability to absorb nearly 50% of the import volume is not even a remote possibility," (EVP @ ASCM) Kent [...]