Walmart’s chief operating officer for U.S. e-commerce Jamie Iannone will become eBay’s new CEO at CNBC. “Iannone was credited for growing the membership and online sales of Sam’s Club. He had just been promoted by Walmart in late February to overseeing the retailer’s digital strategy and online business.” Read more

 

Amazon stops accepting new online grocery customers amid surging demand at Reuters. “Amazon said it would have to relegate all new online grocery customers to a wait list starting Monday while working on adding capacity each week. In recent weeks, it increased the number of Whole Foods stores offering grocery pickup ​to more than 150 locations, up from 80 previously.” Read more

 

Smithfield warns of meat shortages during pandemic at Reuters. “Smithfield extended the closure of its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant after initially saying it would idle temporarily for cleaning. The facility is one of the nation’s largest pork processing facilities, representing 4% to 5% of U.S. pork production, according to the company.” Read more

 

People are baiting Instacart workers with huge tips then slashing them to zero at The Verge. “One Instacart worker said their tip was dropped from $55 to $0 despite finding everything the customer needed. Another worker claimed their tip changed to $0 since they could not find toilet paper in stock, to which the customer described in the feedback report as “unethical.” Read more

 

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon @ Today Show “Lately we’ve seen more grooming products,” McMillon said. “People are starting to need a haircut, so you start to see more beard trimmers and hair color and things like that. It’s interesting to watch the dynamic play out.” Video/Read more

 

Walmart’s ‘Deli of the Future’ part of remodel plans for 2020 by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “Three Supercenter stores in Northwest Arkansas recently received deli renovations, which included new fixtures, signage and relocation of space within the deli…Walmart’s new deli design is similar to San Antonio-based grocer H-E-B’s layout but on a smaller scale.” Read more

 

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Where Have 140 Million Dutch Tulips Gone? Crushed by the Coronavirus by Nina Siegal at NY Times. “Demand for tulips dropped precipitously as flower shops around the globe have shut, consumers have gone into lockdown and celebrations have been canceled.” Read more

 

Amazon redirects some employees to build out COVID-19 testing capacity for its front-line workers at GeekWire. Read more

 

Lowes HR director quits ‘effective immediately at Daily Mail. “Jennifer Weber had been executive vice president of HR since March 2016. She sold 12,589 shares at $112.62 per share for a total of $1.42m in September. Weber reportedly received a further $2.5 million following her resignation.” Read more

 

Department stores top list of consumer companies most likely to default on debt at CNBC. “Department store operators…had the highest median, one-year probability of default, 42.1%, as of April 7…Second to department store chains are hotels, resorts and cruise lines.” Read more

 

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