UPS CEO: ‘Very comfortable’ with Amazon relationship by Tom DiChristopher at CNBC. “Current and former unnamed executives told the Journal they believe UPS’ hub-and-spoke system…is becoming obsolete…Responding to that claim, (CEO David) Abney said UPS’ business “has changed a lot” (and) “I absolutely do not agree that that is a concern.” Read more / See the video

 

INSTACART’S CRAZY-GROWTH DAYS MAY BE COMING TO AN END – Instacart, the $2 Billion Grocery Delivery Startup, Lays Off 12 In-House Recruiters by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Instacart also used the holidays to bury the announcement that it was raising both its minimum delivery and annual subscription fees by 50 percent. Minimum delivery fees are increasing in most instances from $3.99 to $5.99. At the same time, the annual fee for Instacart Express, a membership that includes unlimited two-hour and scheduled deliveries, is jumping from $99 to $149.” Read more

 

Report: Medical Privacy Breaches at CVS and Walgreens by Sean Captain at Fast Company. “A new report by the investigative journalists at ProPublica uncovered plenty of privacy breaches, suggesting that the government has been shoddy at enforcing the law and in tracking repeat offenders. CVS, for example, violated HIPAA 204 times between 2011 and 2014.” Read more

 

Why Alibaba Wants Chinese Shoppers to Buy American by Leena Rao at Fortune. “It’s a scene straight from a Napa Valley tourism brochure—but it’s taking place 6,200 miles away from that cradle of Cabernets. Beyond the gardens lies the industrial sprawl of Hangzhou, China; a thick cloud of urban smog hangs just a few feet above the party. And the California-style tasting area is a pop-up, built on the campus of e-commerce giant Alibaba as part of a campaign by Mondavi to tap Alibaba’s enormous customer base…” Read more

 

Fortune: How Jeff Bezos aims to conquer India by Vivienne Walt. “Amazon agreed to let Fortune spend a week on the ground exploring its barely two-year-old operation in India—a journey that took us through four cities, from north to south, veering from razzmatazz glitz to grinding poverty, sometimes within a matter of hours…” Read more

 

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HAPPENED AT WALMART: Miami Dolphins Player Pays for Woman’s Items in Store After She Assists Him in Line. Days Later He Receives a Mysterious Package. by Kaitlyn Schallhorn at The Blaze. “I just wanted to tell you again, thank you so much. Your mom I’m sure is very proud of you,” she wrote. “Not only are you a professional football player for the Miami Dolphins, but most of all, a wonderful kind person, too.” Read more

 

Feds Say Whole Foods Can’t Stop Employees From Recording Conversations at Work by Clint Rainey at Grub Street. “The manual’s ostensible explanation is that the rule serves to “eliminate a chilling effect on the expression of views that may exist when one person is concerned that his or her conversation with another is being secretly recorded.” But the National Labor Relations Board wasn’t convinced.” Read more

 

COSTCO NUTS A HIT ON TMALL – These Are The U.S. Products That Sell Well On Alibaba’s Tmall by Leena Rao at Fortune. “On Singles Day (Alibaba’s version of Black Friday) in 2014, Alibaba sold 3 tons of Costco Nuts on Tmall. This year, Costco sold 245 tons of mixed nuts, in 2 pound bags. On Singles Day in 2014, Costco sold $3.5 million worth of nuts and other merchandise on Tmall. On Singles Day in 2015, it sold $3.5 million in just the first hour.” Read more

 

The largest container ship ever to arrive at a North American port is now docked in Los Angeles by Chris Kirkham at LA Times. “The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, which arrived Saturday at the Port of Los Angeles on a maiden voyage from China and South Korea, can carry nearly a third more cargo than the largest ships that currently call at the San Pedro Bay ports.” See the pic / Read more

 

MORNING TWEET – Target’s Jeff Jones: My absolute favorite! #bestteaminretail #youmaketarget Mom’s FB post thanking Target workers goes viral https://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2015/12/29/moms-fb-post-thanking-target-workers-goes-viral/78032776/ … via kare11

 

GameStop Says We’re No RadioShack as Investors’ Doubts Increase by Christopher Palmeri at Bloomberg. “GameStop appears to be the big holiday loser as digital and e-commerce increasingly eat into its business,” Evan Wilson, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, wrote in a Dec. 28 note to investors.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Mom’s FB post thanking Target workers goes viral

Uncle buys plane toy on Amazon with jet noises – but claims it plays Muslim prayers instead

Disney builds robot car that climbs walls, thanks to consumer drone technology

Honest Tea Removes Donald Trump Quote From Tea Bottle Cap

Macy’s recalls Martha Stewart cookware

Target Is Already Celebrating Valentines (10 Photos)

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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