Inside CVS’s Strategy to Improve the Pharmacy Experience at WSJ. “Mandadi says he views technology—including a new CVS app slated to launch this year—as key to enabling a better customer experience and transforming the business. He spoke with The Wall Street Journal about planned customer-experience improvements, the role that artificial intelligence should and shouldn’t play in healthcare and why he’s still bullish on the metaverse.” WSJ subs.

 

Amazon shifting to recycled paper filling for packages in North America at KIRO 7. “Amazon is shifting from the plastic air pillows used for packaging in North America to recycled paper because it’s more environmentally sound, and it says paper just works better. The company said Thursday that it’s already replaced 95% of the plastic air pillows with paper filler in North America and is working toward complete removal by year’s end.” Read more

 

Elon Musk’s Starlink Hardware Hits The Shelves At Walmart, Target, Home Depot & More at Benzinga. Read more/List of 10 retailers

 

Food companies wade carefully into weight-loss waters at Reuters. “Retailers like supplement-seller GNC are also looking to capitalize on the trend by introducing a section in stores dedicated to GLP-1 users, selling protein powder and fiber.” Read more

 

Target to Roll Out Transformative GenAI Technology to its Store Team Members Chainwide “The tool, called Store Companion, is a GenAI-powered chatbot designed by Target that can answer on-the-job process questions, coach new team members, support store operations management and more.” Press release

 

The 2024 Forbes World’s Most Influential CMOs List

 

Reversing a Credit-Card Charge Has Never Been Easier—or More Abused at WSJ. “Disputes over credit-card charges, once a measure of last resort, have surged as shoppers learn how easy it is to deploy them. Last year, consumers disputed about 105 million charges with credit-card issuers in the U.S., worth an estimated $11 billion. That is up from $7.2 billion in 2019, according to Datos Insights, a finance-industry research firm. The company predicts that figure will rise nearly 40% by 2026.” WSJ subs.

 

Amazon Labor Union partners with Teamsters to boost warehouse worker representation at GeekWire

 

Shopify’s gains with big retailers are setting up a nearly $1 trillion opportunity at Yahoo/Fortune. “…Shopify has slowly but surely built an $83 billion software business by “arming the rebels” – the mom and mom shops and upstart digital-native consumer brands hawking everything from floral arrangements to workout clothes online. But its next big opportunity may be arming some of retail’s larger incumbents, from global toy brand Mattel to shoe retailer Steve Madden…” Read more

 

Amazon extends generative AI-powered product listings to Europe at TechCrunch

 

Walmart fined $1.64 million for unlawful pricing practices in New Jersey at Talk Business. “The consent order said during the first three months of 2023, inspections of Walmart stores found more than 2,000 instances where the incorrect unit of measurement was used. In addition to using incorrect units of measurement, various units of measurement were often used within the same category of merchandise…” Read more

 

The 2024 Top Women in Grocery: Rising to the Top at Progressive Grocer

 

Woman awarded $1.2M verdict after Walmart employee hit her with shopping cart at WSB-TV Atlanta

 

Is UNFI looking to sell? at Supermarket News. “…sources close to the matter have told Supermarket News that there has been trouble brewing ever since UNFI bought SuperValu, and that the distributor is now considering a sale…Sources also say there have been optimization issues around inventory, delivery, and expenses. SuperValu stores that should have been shuttered instead stayed open after the deal.” Read more

 

Man Sets Record Straight After Appearing in Video Not Scanning Items at Walmart Checkout: I Am Not a Thief at Inside Edition

 

Kroger ’embarrassed’ to learn it advertised peach truck with doctored images at ABC 10 News San Diego. “In a video post, Rose showed images Cincinnati-based Kroger used to promote their own peach truck initiative, which Rose said included an edited image of one of The Peach Truck’s former employees — but instead of holding their products and wearing their uniform, he was clad in Kroger’s blue and holding a Kroger-branded box of peaches.” Read more

 

Walmart’s open call goes on the road to KC at KCTV 5 2:13 Video

 

Police looking for several suspects accused of opening fire at several Walmart employees in Mesa at Fox 10