Amazon wants you to feel confident while shopping at home. They want you to make more confident purchasing decisions, and they want to lower the likelihood of you returning a product, which has become a $1 trillion problem. In fact, according to Karen Webster, returns pose significant logistical and financial challenges for retailers and have become an inconvenience for consumers. In response, retailers have implemented return fees and collaborated with innovators to offer alternatives such as immediate sto ...

Barclays reportedly laid off about 5,000 workers in 2023 as part of a cost-cutting campaign.A spokesperson for the British bank told Reuters Monday (Jan. 8) that most of those cuts happened in Barclays Execution Services, the company’s support unit.“Barclays removed approximately 5,000 headcount globally through 2023 as part of its ongoing efficiency programme designed to simplify and reshape the business, improve service, and deliver higher returns,” the spokesperson said.The bank also laid off about 3% of ...

In anticipation of incorporating advertisements on Prime Video, Amazon is also delving into the development of movies and TV series inspired by the Warhammer 40,000 games. On the flip side, Walmart, not aiming to take over the movie world, recently shared news about teaming up with Unity, a platform for 3D experiences. This partnership allows game and app creators to directly link Walmart’s shopping features into their creations, making it possible to sell real items in 3D experiences on over 20 platforms.  ...

CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health, simplified its loyalty program by consolidating it into one membership with two tiers.With both tiers of the ExtraCare program, CVS Pharmacy will offer in-store savings, online sales and personalized deals that will be emailed or texted to members, the company said in a Thursday (Jan. 4) press release.“ExtraCare is a long-standing leader in the loyalty program industry, and this evolution will allow us to provide even greater simplicity to our members while p ...

Amazon reportedly saw its investment in faster delivery bear fruit just before Christmas.In the two weeks leading up to the holiday, the tech giant garnered 29% of global volume of online orders, Bloomberg News reported Thursday (Jan. 4), citing data on 55 million orders from package-tracking app Route. That 29% was up from 21% during Thanksgiving week.“It’s a pretty sharp shift in how consumers shop,” Michael Yamartino, Route’s chief executive officer, told Bloomberg. “The top priority in the days leading ...

Online sales reached a new record in 2023, thanks in part to buy now, pay later options.New data from Adobe, released Thursday (Jan. 4) showed that American consumers spent $222.1 billion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 last year, a 4.9% increase over 2022.More than half of that spending happened in November, thanks in part to a strong “Cyber Week,” in which shoppers spent $38 billion.While consumers were eager to spend online, they were also hesitant to break their budget, with buy now, pay later (BNPL) usage r ...

Walmart launched an “immersive commerce” partnership with 3D technology firm Unity.The collaboration lets Unity developers integrate Walmart’s commerce application programming interfaces (APIs) directly into their games and apps, which in turn lets creators sell physical items in real-time 3D (RT3D) across more than 20 platforms, according to a Thursday (Jan. 4) press release.The partnership unlocks new ways for developers and creators “to connect customers’ virtual and physical lifestyles and [establish] n ...

Microsoft is putting its artificial intelligence Copilot tool at users’ fingertips.The tech giant said in a Thursday (Jan. 4) blog post it is adding a button to the Windows keyboard that will activate Copilot, a move that marks Microsoft’s first keyboard layout change in nearly 30 years.The change is also part of Microsoft’s goal of making AI “seamlessly woven into Windows from the system, to the silicon, to the hardware,” Microsoft Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi wrote in the post. “This will ...

Apple has reportedly agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of allowing scammers to exploit its gift cards and retaining stolen funds.The settlement was reached after Apple and the plaintiffs agreed on material settlement terms with the assistance of a mediator, and it will now be presented to U.S. District Judge Edward Davila for preliminary approval, Reuters reported Wednesday (Jan. 3).Apple did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.The lawsuit alleged that scammers would conta ...

To drive subscriber growth and better hold its own against streaming competitors, Disney is turning to consumers’ affinity for other parts of its portfolio to drive Disney+ adoption.The media giant shared in a post to its Disney Parks Blog that starting Wednesday (Jan. 3), Disney+ subscribers receive a free dining plan with a four-night Walt Disney Travel Company package, which includes a resort stay and theme park admission. The move enables the company to use park visitors’ enthusiasm for the in-person of ...