DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Five takeaways from the FTC's 172-page antitrust lawsuit against Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Washington CNN —An antitrust lawsuit from 17 states and the Federal Trade Commission this week against Amazon represents the US government’s biggest regulatory challenge yet against the e-commerce juggernaut. The landmark case targets Amazon’s retail platform, alleging that it’s harmed shoppers and sellers alike on a massive scale. Here are five of the biggest highlights and takeaways from the plaintiffs’ 172-page lawsuit. Just this month, the FTC added three Amazon officials to a separate consumer protection case dealing with Amazon Prime. Instead, the plaintiffs have to show that Amazon is part of a well-defined geographic and economic market that it dominates.

Persons: Lina Khan, Amazon, David Zapolsky, ” Khan, Khan, Douglas Farrar, ” Farrar, superstores, ” What’s, Jeff Bezos, “, ” Organizations: Washington CNN, Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, US, Walmart, Target, eBay, Amazon Music, Bloomberg News, CNN, Amazon Prime, FTC Locations: Seattle, United States

☆ Amazon punishes sellers that offer their items for less elsewhere, the FTC says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Marketplace Pulse reported in February that Amazon sellers are paying as much as 50% of their revenue to Amazon in fees, a point that is echoed in the FTC's suit. "Amazon also recognizes that sellers believe 'that it has become more difficult over time to be profitable on Amazon,'" the FTC filing reads. According to the filing, Amazon's ads reach 96% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 54 each month. "According to an internal Amazon study, Amazon's sellers live 'in constant fear' of Amazon arbitrarily interfering with their ability to sell on Amazon, which 'put[s] their businesses and livelihoods at risk,'" the complaint reads. "When Amazon detects elsewhere online a product that is cheaper than a seller's offer for the same product on Amazon, Amazon punishes that seller," it reads.

Persons: David Zapolsky, Zapolsky, Nessie, Douglas Farrar Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Marketplace, Amazon, Amazon Prime

☆ FTC Names Three Amazon Executives in Suit Over Prime
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Dana Mattioli | ) 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/politics/policy/ftc-updates-amazon-suit-over-prime-enrollment-naming-executives-88eb08d

Persons: Dow Jones

An Amazon worker moves boxes on Amazon Prime Day in the East Village of New York City, July 11, 2023. The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday updated its complaint against Amazon for its "deceptive" Prime sign-up and cancellation processes, adding three senior executives as defendants. Top Amazon executives overseeing Prime downplayed employee concerns about members of the popular subscription program being enrolled without their consent, the amended complaint alleges. Subscription services revenue, which includes Prime memberships, totaled $9.8 billion in Amazon's most recent quarterly earnings report. Amazon executives and employees met in 2018 about "Project Lucent," where the primary objective was to discuss "how many Prime signups [is] Amazon .

Persons: Russell Grandinetti, Jamil Ghani, Neil Lindsay, Grandinetti, Lindsay, Andy Jassy's, Ghani, Tim Doyle, Doyle, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Zuckerberg Organizations: Amazon, Federal Trade Commission, Top Amazon, Lucent, FTC Locations: East, New York City, Amazon's, Arlington , Virginia

☆ 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

☆ Amazon hardware chief Dave Limp is stepping down this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Limp regularly appeared at Amazon hardware events, which are typically held each fall but sometimes occur more than once a year, to announce new products. Amazon said Limp would remain in his role for the next few months and the company will announce his successor in the coming weeks. Amazon is set to unveil new products at its annual event Sept. 20, hosted at the company's Northern Virginia headquarters, known as HQ2. "It pains me to have to deliver this news as we know we will lose talented Amazonians from the Devices & Services org as a result." In January, Limp said Amazon remains "fully committed" to the Alexa unit despite the job cuts in the division.

Persons: David Limp, Amazon's, Limp, Andy Jassy, Jassy, —, Annie Palmer Organizations: Amazon.com Inc, Amazon, CNBC, Wall Street, Devices, Services Locations: Seattle, Virginia

☆ Amazon axes some private label brands as part of wider cost cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon is cutting some of its private label brands as part of a broader effort to rein in costs, the company confirmed to CNBC. The number of Amazon's private label brands has expanded rapidly over the years to include things like Goodthreads apparel, Rivet furniture and Presto! Matt Taddy, Vice President of Amazon Private Brands, said in a statement that the company has looked to eliminate some in-house products after determining they didn't resonate with customers. Amazon has said sales from private label brands represent only 1% of its total retail sales. As of 2019, the company said it had 158,000 private brand products across 45 brands, along with other brands sold by its online grocery service Amazon Fresh.

Persons: Matt Taddy, we've, Taddy, Andy Jassy, Jeff Bezos Organizations: CNBC, Amazon Private Brands, Wall Street, Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, Brands, House, Big Tech, FTC

☆ Amazon stock rallies after blowout quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon shares rallied 8% on Friday, a day after the company reported blowout second-quarter earnings and issued upbeat guidance. Amazon notched its biggest profit beat since 2020, boosted by CEO Andy Jassy's aggressive cost-cutting efforts. For the third quarter, Amazon said it expects sales of between $138 billion and $143 billion, topping consensus estimates of $138.25 billion, according to Refinitiv. Wall Street cheered the results, lauding the strong results for Amazon Web Services and improving retail margins. Morgan Stanley analysts characterized the shift as the "next retail flywheel" for Amazon.

Persons: Andy Jassy, Andy, Bernstein, Morgan Stanley, — CNBC's Michael Bloom, CFRA Organizations: Amazon.Com Inc, Amazon, Revenue, Analysts, Amazon Web Services, Amazon executives Locations: Seattle , Washington , U.S, Refinitiv, America

☆ Amazon CEO Jassy's cost cuts deliver investors biggest profit beat since 2020
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon delighted investors on Thursday, posting earnings of 65 cents a share, blowing past estimates of 35 cents a share. In Jassy's prepared remarks at the start of Thursday's earnings call, cost cuts were one of his central themes. The broad-based changes under Jassy have left the company less dependent on its cloud business, Amazon Web Services, for profits. In the second quarter, Amazon was able to expand its overall margin while AWS's profit margin declined to 24.2% from 29% a year earlier. But at only 12% year-over-year growth, the cloud business is seeing its slowest expansion since Amazon began breaking out its revenue in 2015.

Persons: Andy Jassy, Jeff Bezos, he's, Bezos, Jassy, Jassy's, Amazon Organizations: New York Times, Amazon, North America, Amazon Web, AWS Locations: New York City, riskier, North, America

☆ Amazon opens Fresh grocery delivery to people without Prime
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon is opening up its Fresh grocery delivery service to people without Prime in select U.S. cities. Last week, Amazon cut some jobs at Fresh grocery stores. And earlier this year, amid mounting costs, Amazon said it would start charging delivery fees on Fresh grocery orders under $150, removing an earlier perk that guaranteed Prime members free delivery on orders over $35. It hopes to roll out Fresh delivery for non-Prime members nationwide, and include products from Whole Foods and other grocers, Amazon executives told Bloomberg. Correction: The revamped format for Amazon's Fresh stores is rolling out at a location in Oak Lawn, Illinois.

Persons: Andy Jassy Organizations: Foods, Fresh, Amazon, Bloomberg Locations: San Francisco, Boston, Nashville , Tennessee, Austin , Texas, Oak Lawn , Illinois

☆ Amazon has lost market share for the Prime Day shopping holiday it invented. Walmart is setting itself up for a bigger slice of those sales.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Walmart once again is looking to compete directly with Amazon's Prime Day. In previous years, the company held "Rollbacks and More" events in July to compete with Prime Day, and last year Walmart launched a summer savings event called Walmart+ Weekend which took place just before Amazon Prime Day. Walmart is holding a summer savings event called 'Walmart Plus Week' between July 10 and 13, around the same time as Amazon's Prime Day. "Amazon's Prime Day market share will continue to slip, dropping from 62.0% in 2018 to an expected 59.6% in 2023," the report said. Roots of Walmart-Amazon Prime Day rivalryThe yearly battle over customers between Walmart and Amazon's Prime Day could date as far back as 2015.

Persons: Andrew Lipsman, Lipsman, Marc Lore, Jason Del Rey Organizations: Walmart, Amazon's, Service, Amazon, Intelligence, Insider Intelligence, Target, Jet, Target Circle Locations: Wall, Silicon, Amazon

☆ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy: I'm very bullish on where Prime Video is headed
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAmazon CEO Andy Jassy: I'm very bullish on where Prime Video is headedAmazon CEO Andy Jassy joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to talk reports Amazon executives is looking into studio and media spending with Prime Video.

Persons: Andy Jassy

☆ E-commerce fulfillment startup ShipBob snags new chief supply chain officer from Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

ShipBob is an e-commerce fulfillment startup that picks and packs orders for online sellers. The company has hired Amazon alum, Melissa Nick, as Its first-ever chief supply chain officer. Nick told Insider that Amazon executives join logistics startups because they like to build. ShipBob, an e-commerce fulfillment company backed by Bain Capital Ventures, has nicked its first-ever chief supply chain officer from the prevailing force in e-commerce logistics. Amazon offers one of the fastest fulfillment services out there, but Fulfillment by Amazon is notoriously rigid.

Persons: Melissa Nick, Nick, Shopify, ShipBob, Dhruv Saxena, Divey Gulati Organizations: Amazon, Bain Capital Ventures, North, ShipBob, UPS, FedEx Locations: Chicago, Nashville , Tennessee, Los Angeles, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia

☆ Amazon's subscription spat is anything but prime
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O) Prime service is a club that’s hard to quit - literally. Competition cop Lina Khan filed a complaint on Wednesday alleging that the e-commerce giant enrolled U.S. customers in its subscription product unwittingly and made cancellation unlawfully difficult. When it comes to sharp sales practices, other companies have done worse, but the Amazon case could still hurt. Citigroup analysts estimate that Prime subscribers spend up to 2.5 times more than non-subscribers on Amazon’s marketplace. That extra spending matters: Amazon’s North America segment recorded a razor-thin operating profit margin of 1.2% last quarter.

Persons: Lina Khan, Khan, Wells, isn’t, shouldn’t, Jonathan Guilford, John Foley, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Citigroup, Twitter, Intel, Thomson Locations: U.S, America, Cava

☆ FTC sues Amazon, saying it 'tricked' customers into signing up for Prime and sabotaged attempts to cancel
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The FTC filed a new lawsuit accusing Amazon of "tricking" customers into joining Prime. Prime subscriptions cost $14.99 a month and generate $25 billion in revenue each year, the complaint said. The company "knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in its Amazon Prime service," the FTC said in its complaint filed in federal court in Washington state. "Specifically, Amazon used manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as 'dark patterns' to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions," the agency alleged. Prime members tend to buy more and shop more frequently at Amazon, driving higher sales and a more loyal customer base for the retail giant.

Persons: —, Lina Khan, Insider's, Jeff Bezos Organizations: FTC, Amazon, Prime, Service, Federal Trade Commission, Amazon Prime, Amazon's Locations: Washington

☆ Amazon Prime FTC suit: How Insider's investigation led to a crackdown on the e-commerce giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Alistair Barr | Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Insider's investigation revealed that Amazon knowingly duped consumers into Prime subscriptions. The suit was the result of an Insider investigation in early 2022. One of those letters, reviewed by Insider, said the FTC made a Civil Investigative Demand to Amazon in March 2021. A CID is a legal document enforceable in court that seeks documents or other information related to an FTC investigation. In April 2022, the FTC sent more correspondence about the issue to Amazon lawyers, according to the letter, which cited Insider's original story from March 2022.

Persons: Amazon, Bezos, Eugene Kim, Graham Starr, CIDs, Andy Jassy, Dave Clark, Doug Herrington, Russ Grandinetti, Greg Greeley Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, FTC, CID, Bezos Locations: Washington, Amazon's

☆ 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

☆ Goldman Sachs created an A.I.-powered social media startup for corporate use
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Now Doctor is hustling to grow his client base beyond the confines of Goldman, whose employees have used Louisa for the past two and a half years. "Think of Louisa as an A.I.-powered LinkedIn on steroids," Doctor, 42, said this week in an interview. Louisa was part of the inaugural class of Goldman's incubator program, which encourages employees with startup ideas to develop them in-house. Rohan Doctor, CEO and founder of Louisa Source: Goldman SachsThere has to be a better way, thought Doctor. The company's name originally referred to Louisa Goldman Sachs, the youngest daughter of Marcus Goldman and wife of Samuel Sachs.

☆ EV big rigs already make sense for half of the $4 trillion freight truck market, says Einride CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Swedish EV trucking startup Einride has been able to so far go toe-to-toe with Tesla and its Semi in attracting top corporate clients. "In the $4 trillion freight mobility space, between 40%-50% should be electric driven by the business case today," Falck said on CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange" in an interview on Thursday after his company ranked No. "In the near-term, of course, the business case for diesel becomes slightly better," Falck said in the April interview. In freight, unlike the consumer market, "it's not about range, it's about how to secure the business case," he said. Swedish electric vehicle maker Einride will supply two of its heavy-duty trucks to PepsiCo as part of an expansion into the U.K. Einride

☆ Shopify offloads logistics business to Flexport
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Shopify is selling its logistics unit to supply chain technology company Flexport, the companies announced Thursday. The sale marks a reversal for Shopify, which had spent years building out its own logistics and order-fulfillment operations. Shopify and Flexport are deepening their alliance as Shopify seeks to compete with e-commerce rivals such as Amazon and Walmart . Clark said in an interview that the acquisition will allow Flexport to scale the shipping capabilities it can offer for Shopify merchants, and other online businesses. Shopify will also retain its Shopify Fulfillment Network app where merchants manage their logistics process.

☆ Interview: Amazon Web Services cofounder Charlie Bell dishes on why he moved to Microsoft, how he met Satya Nadella, and if he'll ever work on Azure
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Amazon Web Services cofounder Charlie Bell left in 2021 for a job at Microsoft. Many in the industry, including current and former Microsoft and Amazon executives, wonder whether there's a better job for Bell. In a rare interview with Insider, Bell discussed why he left Amazon, how he met Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and whether he'll ever work on Azure. Wind the clock back to January of 2021, Jeff (Bezos) came to us and said, "Hey, I'm going to retire." The more I thought about it, the more I thought, "Well, Microsoft might be the place to do it."

☆ Amazon stock sinks after its warning on AWS growth erases a post-earnings rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon shares fell 5% Friday after the company warned about future revenue growth in its cloud division. That erased an earlier rally after-hours Thursday that could've added $135 billion in valuation to the tech giant. CFO Brian Olsavsky said some Amazon Web Services customers were cutting their costs in preparation for a potential economic slowdown. But shares slumped during a post-earnings conference call where executives warned of a likely slowdown in revenue growth at Amazon Web Services. "We are seeing these optimizations continue into the second quarter with April revenue growth rates about 500 basis points lower than what we saw in Q1," he added.

☆ At Microsoft, Charlie Bell's shackles are finally off. Watch out, Amazon.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Many in the industry, including current and former Microsoft and Amazon executives, wonder whether there's a better job for Bell. It could get intense, with Bell going toe-to-toe with Jassy and getting into disputes with Selipsky. "There were two different sets of security products and actually different security organizations that were securing the products for Microsoft," Bell said. While Bell has imported some processes from Amazon, he has introduced them with a "Microsoft flavor," by using Microsoft productivity tools, one person said. "So many decisions get made at Microsoft by looking at PowerPoints, and sometimes those PowerPoints lack details," Rashid, the former Microsoft and Amazon executive, said.

☆ Earnings playbook: Your guide to a busy week of earnings, featuring Meta and Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

What history shows: GM has reported a better-than-expected bottom line in 29 of the last 30 quarters, per FactSet. McDonald's is set to report earnings in the premarket, with management slated to hold a call at 8:30 a.m. What history shows: History shows Google's parent company beats earnings expectations 68% of the time, with the stock averaging a gain of 1.6% on earnings day, per Bespoke. Meta Platforms is set to report earnings after market close, followed by a conference call at 5 p.m. What history shows: Bespoke data shows Intel beats earnings expectations 77% of the time.

☆ Amazon's worker safety hazards come under fire from regulators and the DOJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Katie Tarasov | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

In 2021, Amazon's injury rate was almost 1.5 times the industry average. Jennifer Crane works through pain at an Amazon warehouse in St. Peters, Missouri, after hurting her wrist in October. Amazon worker Jennifer Crane at her house outside St. Louis, Missouri, in 2022. OSHA also cited Amazon for 14 record-keeping violations, finding that the company failed to properly report worker injuries and illnesses. If you're rushing, you're going to make mistakes and someone's going to get hurt."

Search resuls for: "Amazon executives"

25 mentions found