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☆ Amazon agrees deal with most Spanish workers over Cyber Monday walkout
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of U.S. online retailer Amazon is displayed at a logistics centre in Trapagaran, northern Spain, November 22, 2023. Around 20,000 warehouse and delivery workers at Amazon's Spanish unit had been urged to walk out to demand better pay and working conditions on the so-called Cyber Monday discount day, when retailers aim to boost Christmas gift buying. "We are proud of the wages, benefits and safer working conditions that will be provided to our employees in Spain," Amazon added. CCOO said it would continue negotiations with the company to improve pay and conditions at the local unit. Amazon logistics workers on both sides of the Atlantic have complained about working conditions, with groups of workers and activists across Europe protesting against the U.S. e-commerce giant as recently as Friday.

Persons: Vincent West, Douglas Harper, CCOO, Corina Pons, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Amazon, Thomson Locations: Trapagaran, Spain, Rights MADRID, U.S, Europe, Britain, Germany, France, Italy

New Amazon EV vans powered by Rivian are parked at charging stations at the Amazon Logistics Facility in Chicago, U.S. July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 17 (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O) has 10,000 Rivian electric delivery vehicles making routes across the U.S. and Europe, the company said during a business presentation on Tuesday. Amazon has partnered with EV maker Rivian (RIVN.O) to have at least 100,000 electric delivery vans on the road by 2030. Amazon, which holds a stake in Rivian, has completed 150 million deliveries with Rivian vans. The Seattle-based company is also working with Volvo to add heavy-duty electric trucks to its middle-mile delivery fleet.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Amazon, Arriana McLymore, Leslie Adler Organizations: EV, Amazon Logistics, REUTERS, Amazon, Rivian, Volvo, Thomson Locations: Chicago , U.S, Europe, Rivian, Seattle, New York

☆ Rivian's bond issue does not reflect concerns around EV maker's financial health -CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Abhirup Roy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe speaks at a press event at the Amazon Logistics Facility in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. July 21, 2022. "We don't control the macro economic environment, we cannot control political conflict, and those are real risks that exist not just specific to Rivian," Scaringe said in an interview. Scaringe declined to comment on the production target as the company is set to announce results early next month. Despite supply chain visibility improving, the guidance baked in some lingering risks, Scaringe had told Reuters in August while raising its target by 2,000 vehicles. Rivian's cash balance as of Sept. 30 was estimated to be at $9.1 billion, down from $10.2 billion in June.

Persons: RJ Scaringe, Jim Vondruska, Rivian, Scaringe, Tesla, Abhirup Roy, Jonathan Oatis, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Amazon Logistics, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Chicago , Illinois, U.S, Irvine , California, San Francisco

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, January 5, 2023. These are the specific allegations included in the FTC's 172-page complaint:ONLINE SUPERSTORE, SERVICES MONOPOLIES*The agency alleged that Amazon had a monopoly in an online superstore market. *The agency also said that Amazon had a monopoly in the online marketplace for services, where Amazon has more than 70% of the market. PUNISHES SELLERS FOR LOWER PRICES ELSEWHERE* The complaint alleged Amazon uses a sophisticated network of web crawlers that identify which of its sellers offer their products more cheaply on other platforms. MONITORING PRICES* Amazon used the Project Nessie pricing system as an unfair method of competition.

Persons: Pascal, Nessie, Diane Bartz, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Amazon.com, Amazon, Walmart, FTC, Amazon's, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France, United States

Kevin Hodges, a partner at law firm Williams & Connolly, was the first member of Amazon's defense team identified in a court document in the case. Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky, a 24-year veteran of the company's legal department, can turn to a stable of top outside law firms that already represent it. Thomas Barnett, co-chair of the firm’s antitrust practice and a former senior Justice Department official, was involved in the effort. A Covington spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether the firm is defending Amazon in the FTC antitrust case. Amazon has also turned to U.S. law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to navigate government scrutiny.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Kevin Hodges, Williams, Connolly, Hodges, John Schmidtlein, David Zapolsky, Lina Khan, Thomas Barnett, Covington, Paul, Weiss, Garrison, Paul Weiss, Andrew Goudsward, Mike Scarcella, David Bario, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Amazon Logistics, REUTERS, U.S . Federal Trade, Amazon.com, Amazon, Williams, U.S . Justice, Microsoft, BP, Big Tech, Alphabet's, Google, FTC, Burling, Department, D.C, Covington, Thomson Locations: Chicago . Illinois, U.S, WASHINGTON, Washington, Mexico, Covington, Rifkind, Wharton

☆ Inside the clash between Amazon and Shopify over Buy with Prime
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Amazon and Shopify announced a new Buy with Prime app for Shopify on Wednesday. Buy with Prime let merchants offer Prime benefits, such as fast shipping and free delivery, on websites beyond Amazon.com. Amazon had no choice but to let Shopify merchants view Buy with Prime-related metrics on its own backend console, not within the unified Shopify Admin tool, according to the internal Amazon document from April. If Buy with Prime data wasn't smoothly integrated into Shopify Admin, Shopify merchants might not use the Amazon feature much. Constant delaysThe internal Amazon document described a Shopify-native Buy with Prime app as a "flagship" goal for Amazon's top leadership because it would make Buy with Prime more appealing to Shopify merchants.

Persons: Shopify, Santos Jeff Bezos Kevin Mazur, Jeff Bezos, Tobi Lütke David Fitzgerald, Sportsfile, Harley Finkelstein, Finkelstein, Mark William Lewis, Andy Jassy, they've Organizations: Amazon, Amazon.com, Prime, Project Santos, Getty, Amazon Logistics, Netalico Commerce, Web, Associated

☆ Flexport’s Dave Clark on the Turn From Amazon Logistics to Freight Markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/flexports-dave-clark-on-the-turn-from-amazon-logistics-to-freight-markets-b97b3ce6

Persons: Dow Jones, clark

☆ Amazon's North America fulfillment head is leaving
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A worker sorts out parcels in the outbound dock at Amazon fulfillment center in Eastvale, California on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. One of Amazon 's top operations executives is leaving the e-retailer, the company confirmed. Melissa Nick, a vice president of North America customer fulfillment, will depart the company June 16, Amazon said. Nick reported to Yonatan Gal, a vice president in charge of overseeing Amazon's fulfillment supply chain, equipment maintenance and repairs, as well as fulfillment execution, in North America, according to internal company documents viewed by CNBC. Chris Vonderhaar, a vice president in charge of Amazon Web Services data centers, is leaving the company, GeekWire reported on Monday.

Persons: Melissa Nick, Amazon, Nick, Barbara Agrait, Melissa, Yonatan, Stefano Perego, John Felton, Amazon's, Andy Jassy's, Andy Jassy, Chris Vonderhaar, GeekWire, Jay Carney, Dave Clark Organizations: North, Amazon, CNBC, Amazon Web, Airbnb, Amazon Logistics Locations: Eastvale , California, North America, Europe

Raoul Sreenivasan, who joined Amazon in 2016 and currently oversees planning, performance and cargo for Amazon Global Air, will take over most of Rhoads' Amazon Air responsibilities, Felton said. As part of an effort to handle and deliver more of its own packages, Amazon launched an air cargo business. Rhoads joined Amazon Air in its early days and has overseen much of the unit's growth, including the opening of a $1.5 billion air hub in Kentucky. Air cargo rates have plunged from record highs hit during late 2021, when port snarls and a dearth of international flights pinched capacity and drove up prices. Correction: Sarah Rhoads joined Amazon in 2011.

Persons: Mark Makela Sarah Rhoads, John Felton, Amazon's, Rhoads, Felton, Raoul Sreenivasan, Sreenivasan, Andy Jassy, Becky Gansert, Heather MacDougall, Pam Greer, Sarah Rhoads Organizations: Lehigh Valley International, Amazon, CNBC, Amazon Global Air, Amazon Global, DHL, TNT Express, FedEx, U.S . Navy, UPS, Amazon Air, Atlas, Boeing, Hawaiian Airlines, Airbus, Air, U.S, Bloomberg ., Amazon Logistics Locations: Allentown , Pennsylvania, U.S, Kentucky

☆ Flexport's acquisition of Shopify Logistics sends the company on a search for growth through uncharted territory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Flexport plans to integrate Deliverr, an e-commerce fulfillment company Shopify acquired for $2.1 billion last year, into its global logistics offering. Clark called the Shopify assets the "last piece" the company needed to extend its reach from the manufacturer to the end consumer. It may be the last acquisition needed to complete a "port to porch" service, as Clark described it. In fact, Clark said Amazon could be a compliment or partner to Flexport soon after announcing the Shopify deal. Yea," he said about the kind of end-to-end service Flexport is planning.

☆ Dave Clark's Flexport just bought an e-commerce fulfillment company — but the ex-Amazon leader says it will be like 'an extension of the Amazon network' for online sellers, not a competitor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The acquisition includes Deliverr, an e-commerce fulfillment company Shopify acquired last year. Dave Clark's getting back into the e-commerce fulfillment game, but this time it's different, he told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Thursday. Deliverr's core business is e-commerce fulfillment which covers inventory storage, picking and packing, and handing off to delivery companies for online orders. The Amazon comparison points to Fulfillment By Amazon, the company's fulfillment service for sellers. "If you look at who they brought over from Amazon, it's all the people that built domestic transportation at Amazon," said Derek Lossing, an Amazon Logistics alum-turned-investment advisor with Cirrus Global Advisors.

☆ Shopify tried to challenge Amazon in logistics. It never came within 100 miles. Was it all a waste?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Shopify is selling most of its logistics business to freight unicorn Flexport in an all stock deal. Though Shopify's logistics journey began in 2019 as Shopify Fulfillment Network, the current iteration is less than a year old, and investors had become wary of the level of investment that getting the outfit into competitive shape would take. The acquisition was previously considered key to Shopify's fulfillment ambitions, and its team has been involved in the company's efforts to develop fulfillment software. Derek Lossing, an Amazon Logistics alum-turned investment advisor with Cirrus Global Advisors, said an acquisition-driven strategy may have been the right course — especially when the alternative involved contracting with legacy logistics players, which can take months. To some, the question of whether Shopify's layover into logistics was a waste of talent, time, and resources, can't be answered until Flexport takes hold and Clark flexes the muscles he gained building Amazon Logistics.

☆ Everyone was wrong about how the pandemic would change shopping — here's how experts are betting on e-commerce now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The idea that e-commerce will keep growing forever, and betting on it will lead to an almost inevitable rising tide, didn't survive the pandemic. Public flame-outs of entire categories of startups, like ultra-fast deliveries and Amazon seller aggregators, have further demonstrated the boom-and-bust nature of pandemic e-commerce investing. Apple's recent moves to give consumers more online privacy has had ripples through the e-commerce ecosystem, leading investors to take a beat. E-commerce logistics — fulfillment and last-mile delivery — said Sloane is fairly well-saturated at this point, he said. For many retailers, the pandemic offered a harsh lesson in how integrated their stores and their websites weren't, she said.

☆ UPS and FedEx are clawing back ground from smaller package-delivery firms. Here's how the little guys plan to defend their share.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and the postal service hold 97% of the US package delivery market. Smaller delivery companies were major beneficiaries of the pandemic boom times for e-commerce. "There was a long runway for these delivery companies when FedEx and UPS didn't want your business," said Derek Lossing, an Amazon Logistics alum who now advises investors. Smaller carriers are competing less with UPS and FedEx, and more with each other. UPS and FedEx will still be in the picture, but the smaller players can outperform them in some areas.

☆ Amazon cuts ties with EU distributors amid wider push to trim costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon plans to cut ties with many European distributors who supply goods on its site, as it looks for ways to trim costs, the company confirmed. Unlike third-party merchants, who handle the selling process themselves, distributors act as a middleman between Amazon and retail brands by buying up inventory from the product manufacturer, then selling it to Amazon. Distributors will be able to continue selling goods on Amazon as third-party merchants. Amazon will hold off on implementing the change until April, "in order to help wholesalers and distributors" prepare, the spokesperson added. The move coincides with Amazon's broader push to automate aspects of its vendor management business.

Amazon France said there had been no sign of disruption to operations so far. Two French union officials said they were not expecting a big turnout because the rising cost-of-living was driving employees to seek overtime. "As an employer, Amazon offers great pay, benefits and development opportunities - all in an attractive and safe working environment," a spokesperson for Amazon in Germany said in a statement. [1/6] French CGT union members demonstrate in front of the Amazon logistics center in Bretigny-sur-Orge, near Paris, as part of a global day of actions against Amazon on Black Friday, France, November 25, 2022. Workers at a warehouse in the western city of Koblenz were seen standing outside near a red-and-white banner that read "We're on strike" in German, French and English.

☆ Logistics Operators Find Robots Are Helping Recruit Tech-Savvy Workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The impact of robots on logistics operations is growing more complicated as companies weigh how automation affects recruiting both management leaders and staffers for the warehouse floor. Manufacturers and retailers such as snack-food giant Mondelez International Inc. and department store chain Nordstrom Inc. say the investments are also changing their supply-chain workforces. Newsletter Sign-up The Logistics Report Top news and in-depth analysis on the world of logistics, from supply chain to transport and technology. The buy jump-started the company’s rollout of greater automation in its growing logistics network and expanded the pipeline of engineers and other technology workers into the business. Lee Beard, senior vice president of transportation at Seattle-based Nordstrom, said the retailer has been highlighting its technology investments to job recruits.

☆ FedEx's Shopify strategy could prove costly as e-commerce cools and logistics firms fight over small business, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The logistics giants are taking different paths when it comes to e-commerce platforms like Shopify. "Every entity in the parcel-delivery market — i.e., UPS, FedEx, USPS, Amazon Logistics, and every third party out there — is looking to that SMB customer," Shanker said. UPS and FedEx are taking opposite approachesMany small e-commerce businesses buy their shipping services through the online platforms they use to sell their products. "They want you to click on the FedEx logo because you think FedEx is great." "I think while FedEx talks about its focus on SMB shippers, I think UPS is actually executing on it," said Rick Watson, the CEO of RMW Commerce Consulting.

☆ $15 billion delivery startup Gopuff tried to rip out a page from Amazon's playbook by poaching its managers. Insiders say a newfound metrics obsession 'destroyed' its operations.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-06 | by ( Tom Dotan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Gopuff warehouse managers knew times had changed the moment their corporate bosses started needling them about employee bathroom breaks. These kinds of questions have become a regular occurrence, according to seven current and former Gopuff employees. Insider talked to a dozen current and former Gopuff employees at both corporate and regional levels. At that meeting, he said he wanted to level up the talent of the company's warehouse managers, two former employees said. Another former Gopuff manager said the company's Amazon hires seemed to take little interest in learning how Gopuff had been doing things previously.

☆ The untold story of how Amazon siphoned FedEx talent, setting Amazon Logistics up to soar while FedEx flounders
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-29 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider spoke with seven former FedEx executives who went to work for Amazon from 2012 to 2018 and five more who worked at either FedEx or Amazon at the same time. You are executing someone's playbook," one former FedEx executive who went to Amazon said. Amazon Logistics leaders would study the intricacies of FedEx and UPS operations, take the best elements, and act like they were homegrown, former leaders said. The strategy — which FedEx used to great effect with its SmartPost service — "printed money for Amazon," one former Amazon Logistics leader said. And in 2020, less than a decade after getting serious about logistics, Amazon hit a milestone: It delivered more packages than FedEx.

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