After cloud computing, Amazon might be gearing up for yet another battleground: gaming. The e-commerce giant is reportedly in talks with publishers about releasing games on a new service by 2020. is reportedly considering venturing into yet another business the gaming business, according to an article by  The Information.In October 2018, Microsoft expressed its plans to  start testing a cloud gaming Project xCloud, which followed its January 2018 acquisition of PlayFab, a start-up that provides cloud-based technologies for game developers.

Amazon is now the largest company by market value, overtaking Microsoft's hold on the title.READ MORE...

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the e-commerce giant is so pleased with its collaboration with Whole Foods since the acquisition of the company in 2017, that now it plans to add more Whole Foods stores in cities like Idaho, southern Utah and Wyoming. Amazon’s optimism for its physical presence is such that the to-be launched stores are supposed to cover an area larger than the average Whole Foods store, which are currently operational.Further, this is reflected in the company’s revenue from its physical stores swelling to more than $4 billion in the third-quarter, in addition to $29 billion generated through its online sales. Amazon’s growing bet on physical stores is also evident in its other physical store formats like the recently opened Amazon go stores and bookstores across U.S., especially in cities like Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco.

Amazon is reportedly planning to open more Whole Foods stores in the U.S. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Amazon is looking for retail spaces in parts of Idaho, southern Utah and Wyoming – although no confirmation on the exact spots were made. The expansion plan is expected to boost customer count for Amazon’s two-hour Prime Now delivery service.Citing sources,the report suggested that Amazon is planning to expand those services to almost all its 475 Whole Foods stores.

Meal-kit delivery company Blue Apron is hoping to boost profitability, through its tie-up with health company Weight Watchers International Inc. Blue Apron is collaborating with Weight Watchers (WW) to offer a list of rotating recipes for delivery to the homes of WW members.In an interview Wednesday with the Wall Street Journal, Blue Apron CEO Brad Dickerson indicated that a partnership with WW will help his company stabilize its customer base without having to spend too much on advertising/promotions.  Last week, Blue Apron declined below $1 for the first time.

In October, the All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) filed a petition with the anti-trust body Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging that Amazon favors merchants that it partly owns, such as Cloudtail and Appario.The group filed a similar petition against Flipkart in May, alleging preferential treatment for select sellers. The new regulations also preclude any potential discrimination - as to whether a product purchased belongs to an affiliate of the online platform or not - in designing any cash back incentive offered to customers.

Retail sales during the holiday season clocked its fastest increase in six years. From November 1 through December 24, retail sales surged +5.1% from a year ago, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Shoppers spent more than $850 billion in the holidays. Online sales increased more than +19% compared to last year, according to Mastercard.On Wednesday, Amazon claimed to have raked in record sales during the holidays. However, spending at department stores fell 1.3% from last year, according to Mastercard.

Amazon is adding a bunch of new cargo jets to its fleet to help it deliver more of its own packages.READ MORE...

Amazon claims to have experienced more items ordered during this year’s holiday season than ever before. The e-commerce giant mentioned that tens of millions of additional customers signed up for Amazon Prime free trials or paid memberships during the holiday season.FREE Same-Day, One-Day or Two-Day shipping, FREE two-hour delivery with Prime Now, and other shopping and entertainment benefits were among potential incentives to shoppers/subscribers. According to Amazon, consumers bought millions more of its own devices, like the Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick 4K - compared with last year.

It may not be a lump of coal, but Williams Sonoma is dropping something else into Amazon's stocking for the holidays: a lawsuit. The San Francisco-based home furnishings company is suing the online retailer alleging "infringement and dilution" of the Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) brand.READ MORE...

Amazon is reportedly planning to open its first physical store in the U.K. Citing anonymous sources, a report by The Telegraph suggests that Amazon is scouting for locations to set up a 3,000 -5,000 square feet sized Amazon Go Store in the U.K.  Amazon Go, whose first store was launched in Seattle, is a chain of physical grocery stores where people can swipe their Amazon Go smartphone app onto a sensor to enter, pick up groceries and get billed on their Amazon account - without having to pay at a register.Several technologies such as computer vision, deep learning algorithms, sensor fusions are used by Amazon to operate its Go stores. Opening an Amazon Go store in the U.K. could be a natural move, since the nation is an important market for the e-commerce giant.

A new story by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation looks at a group of people who are fighting the future: shoppers who refuse to use self-checkout lines because they’re worried they’ll lead to job loss. READ MORE...

Online retailer Wayfair (NYSE: W) has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride in the last six months.For comparison purposes, the S&P gained just over 10% during the same timeframe. From the end of September through November 19, the stock dropped 44% and has since bounced back.

According to analysis firm Loup Ventures, Apple has 45 million paid subscribers – the second largest number of users after Spotify (whose music service is already available on Echo).Apple’s popularity in music streaming coupled with Amazon’s leadership in the home device market could potentially spell a win-win for the duo’s latest deal. Earlier this month, Apple said that its new line of  iPhones, headphones, watches and laptops will be available on Amazon’s online marketplace.  Apple’s home speakers won’t.

The Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) in a press release on Thursday said that it had “initiated an abuse proceeding” against the online giant’s treatment of third-party sellers on it’s website Amazon.de. This investigation is being conducted by the German antitrust authority, in order to see if Amazon was involved in or was preventing fair competition in the country’s online marketplace, after it had received “many complaints” over Amazon’s conduct. Bundeskartellamt President Andreas Mundt in the press conference said that "because of the many complaints we have received, we will examine whether Amazon is abusing its market position to the detriment of sellers active on its marketplace."He further added that the office would be closely monitoring Amazon to see if it’s dominance is hampering other online retailers and whether sellers have become too much dependent on Amazon for their sales. With an investigation already running on Amazon regarding the use of data gathe

Cyber Monday was the biggest shopping day in Amazon’s 24-year history, as indicated by the company. Although the e-commerce giant did not release absolute figures, it said the Monday after Thanksgiving 2018 turned out to be "the single biggest shopping day in the company's history with the most products ordered worldwide". Amazon also mentioned that sales made during the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday reached a record high for the company.During that period, it sold “millions” more products than it did during the same period in 2017. “Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to break records on Amazon year over year, “ said Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon's Worldwide Consumer division. For the holiday season, Amazon offered several ‘gifts’ or incentives to shoppers such as free shipping on almost all items for all customers without any minimum purchase amount required.

Each of the five "FAANG" stocks closed in a bear market on Monday. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet have fallen steadily over the last 6 weeks. Wall Street defines a bear market as a fall of 20 percent or more from a stock's 52-week high. READ MORE...

The term refers to the Monday following the Thanksgiving Holiday, and focuses on digital sales. According to Adobe Analytics, U.S. online retail could expect sales of $7.8 billion this Monday – a +17% climb from the previous year.Adobe also estimates that total online sales will reach $124.1 billion this holiday season (as reported by The Street). The projections should augur well not just for current e-commerce leaders like Amazon, but also for potentially those like Lowe’s who have been struggling for a while.

From turkey to the malls, more than 164 million Americans figured to hit the stores between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday according to the National Retail Federation.But how will the retailers fare the rest of the holiday season? READ MORE...

Amidst  the start of the biggest shopping season of the year, U.K.-based trade union GMB is protesting against Amazon for what it calls "inhuman" working conditions.GMB said that it expects hundreds of people to take part in the protests at five Amazon warehouses in the U.K. and also hopes workers in Italy and Spain to come forward. Amazon, however, tried to refute claims of inhuman working conditions.