Amazon Updates and Innovations

This living topic covers the latest developments and updates related to Amazon and its various services, including Kindle, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Prime, Amazon Pharmacy, and more. It delves into new features, policy changes, legal issues, and technological advancements that affect consumers, such as the introduction of AI in search functions, expanded delivery options, pricing strategies, and partnerships with other brands. Key points include Amazon's focus on customer convenience, safety, and cost-saving measures, as well as its ongoing efforts to tackle challenges like counterfeit products and worker safety. The topic also highlights seasonal sales events, new product launches, and services aimed at enhancing the overall shopping experience.

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Amazon sets out to bridge the gap between shopping and TV

When you think “Amazon,” you probably think Alexa, Prime, Prime Video, and the Kindle. But now, the king of everything online has cooked up something that’s a little QVC, a little TikTok and a little reality TV.

It’s adding something called Amazon Live – a new integrated way for consumers to browse, shop, and engage with content they’re watching on the TV screen just by using their mobile phone or tablet.

Amazon brings together celebrities like Lala Kent (Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules and Give Them Lala Beauty), Kandi Burruss (Real Housewives of Atlanta), and Paige DeSorbo (Summer House) to herd shopaholics to its interactive, shoppable, and free ad-supported FAST Channel on Prime Video and Freevee.

If all goes according to plan, Amazon’s “shop the show” technology will enable customers to seamlessly browse, shop, and engage with content they are watching on the TV screen just by using their mobile device.

Shop the show

The interactive component is what Amazon is banking on to make Amazon Live unique. It’s there that customers can add items to their shopping cart and wrap up their purchases in a click or two without ever leaving what they’re watching.

When someone is watching Amazon Live on their TV, all they have to do is open the Amazon Shopping app on their phone, type “shop the show” into the search bar, and they’ll be whisked off to a shopping carousel highlighting the featured products they see on TV in real-time or chat with others about what they’re seeing on-screen. 

"I love Amazon Live because it allows me to connect with my audience in a genuine and authentic way," said DeSorbo. “Watching Amazon Live is like shopping with a friend who is also a personal stylist. I get to share my honest opinions, demonstrate products, and help customers discover their next great find."

To see what the channel is like, just go to the “Live TV” tab on Prime Video, Fire TV, or through the Freevee app. The feature is also available at Amazon.com/live on desktop and mobile.

When you think “Amazon,” you probably think Alexa, Prime, Prime Video, and the Kindle. But now, the king of everything online has cooked up something that’...

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Amazon is hosting a 'Big Spring Sale' March 20-25

Amazon shoppers have gotten used to the surplus of Prime Day sales events – one typically in mid-summer and another in the first weeks of fall

Now, Amazon will host a new sales event – the Big Spring Sale. Starting at 3 a.m. ET on Wednesday, March 20, and running through 3 a.m. ET on Monday, March 25, the Big Spring Sale is an opportunity for shoppers to save on thousands of items.  

“You’ll find discounts on warm-weather essentials like spring fashion, outdoor furniture, lawn and garden essentials, cleaning and organizing products, and more," the company said in a statement.

The sale is open to all customers

The Big Spring Sale differs from the Prime Day sales in a few ways. For starters, it’s much longer. Prime Day is usually a 48-hour period full of sales for shoppers. The Big Spring Sale will give shoppers six days to make the most of the savings. 

Additionally, this upcoming sale isn’t exclusive to Prime members – all shoppers are encouraged to participate. While there will be exclusive offers for Prime members, all Amazon customers can shop this upcoming sale. 

Some of the early deals Amazon has released ahead of the sale include: 

  • Up to 50% off select beauty products

  • Up to 50% off select sports and outdoor equipment

  • Up to 40% off select home products

  • Up to 40% off select spring apparel

  • Up to 40% off select electronics

  • 19% off Amazon brand coffee pods

  • Spend $60, get $15 Amazon Credit on spring cleaning supplies

  • Get $15 when you spend $60 on eligible allergy products

  • Up to 18% off Samsung tablets

  • Up to 40% off Fire TV devices

  • Up to 43% off Samsung monitors

  • Up to 50% off Blink Outdoor Camera Systems

  • Up to 20% off Sonos speakers, soundbars, and subwoofers

  • Up to 38% off Sony headphones 

  • Up to 37% off iRobot Roomba vacuums and Brava mops

  • Up to 50% off Shark Uprights, carpet cleaner, 3-in-1 cleaner, and more

  • Up to 50% off Amazon Essentials Men’s and Women’s Apparel and Accessories

Amazon plans to announce new deals during each day of the sales event, and more information on the sale can be found here

Amazon shoppers have gotten used to the surplus of Prime Day sales events – one typically in mid-summer and another in the first weeks of fall. Now, Am...

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Retailers are getting serious about Easter and spring price deals

Here comes Peter Cotton Sale! Retailers across the country have been a little light on major deals lately, but the combination of Easter and Spring is too hard to miss.

And it seems like everyone’s in, too: Amazon and Walmart on the everything-for-everybody front, and Aldi for grocery shoppers.

Here’s a starter list that you may find enticing enough to search for what else these retailers have.

Amazon

Amazon is expected to have a Spring Sale again this year. It hasn’t announced what the exact dates are, but last year was March 27th to 29th and the focus was on tech, home, and beauty so those guesses are probably worth betting on. 

Department by department, Cosmopolitan says it expects deals like these:

Beauty: Braun IPL Silk-Expert Pro 3 for hair removal (46% off), Oral-B iO8 Electric Toothbrush (62% off), Shark SmoothStyle Heated Brush (15% off).

Tech: JBL Tour One M2 Wireless Headphones (price not discounted), RIENOK Bluetooth Speaker (27% off), Bextoo Power Bank (17% off).

Home: COSORI Air Fryer (39% off), Philips Domestic Appliances L'OR Barista Sublime Coffee Capsule Machine (43% off), CitySports Under Desk Treadmill (15% off).

But, Men’sHealth’s retail watchers say that it’s Amazon Warehouse where you’ll find the best-kept secrets.

“What you might not know about it, though, is that the online retailer has a host of deals on pre-used products, hidden ever so neatly in the Amazon Warehouse section,” Ellen McAlpine, commerce editor at Heast, said.

"We found savings up to 57% off in the if-you-know-you-know shopping tab, and we're breaking down everything you should know as you start perusing.”

Hey, this might be a good time to beat the rush on Father’s Day.

Amazon’s not backing away from Easter, though. It’s marked down lots of Easter toys like the Baby Gund Flora Bunny, price-slashed from $45 to $32; the Squishmallows 10" Patty The Cow is going for $20, down from $27; and the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 White Rabbit Animal Toy Building Set is now available for $16, marked down from $20.

Aldi

Aldi is rolling Easter specials out week by week. Here's a list of all the Easter-themed products mentioned in this article, along with their prices at Aldi:

Available on March 13th:

  • Southern Grove Trail Mix (Honey Bunny or Spring Time flavor) - $3.99

  • Huntington Home Character Rope Easter Baskets (yellow chick, blue bunny, white bunny) - $4.99 each

  • 8-Inch Easter Squishmallow (various characters) - $7.99 each

  • Clancy's Kettle Corn (carrot cake or vanilla flavor) - $2.29

  • Huntington Home Tray Objects (spring-themed signs, figurines, etc.) - $4.99 each

  • Bake Shop Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies (12-pack) - $4.79

  • Benton's Easter Cookies - $2.99

  • Huntington Home Fabric Garland (various Easter themes) - $4.99

Available on March 20th:

  • Emporium Selection Easter Truckle Assortment (aged cheddar, lemon honey, raspberry white chocolate cheese) - $3.99

  • Reggano Easter Shaped Pasta - $2.49

Available on March 27th:

  • Tulips, Lilies, or Hyacinths - $4.89

  • 6-Inch Azalea or Hydrangea - $8.49 each

Walmart

You probably already know that you can get your Easter meal fixins’ for a lot less this year than last at Walmart.

But the retailer is also going after parents looking to build Easter baskets and offering an Easter basket full of goodies for less than $20. Aside from the curated Easter basket, Walmart has seasonal must-haves, such as inflatable Easter bunnies to decorate the front yard, Peeps plushies and Easter flocked bunnies.

In addition to Easter kinds of stuff, Walmart has spring savings and deals across a wide range of other products. For example, in the household and electronics sections, there are discounts from brands like Dyson, Samsung, Apple, and Nintendo for things such as vacuums, air purifiers, kitchen essentials, and tech gadgets.

If Springtime is sprucing-up time, Walmart is also cutting deals for stylish home décor at affordable prices, perfect for giving your space a refresh for spring.

Clothing deals are also part of Walmart's spring bargains, with lower-than-usual prices on Crocs, Reebok, Packable Puffer Jackets for men, and Athletic Works Color Block for boys, among other items.

Don’t miss the new rage: Giant chocolate bunnies and eggs

It’s not 1964, nor is it The Beatles, but a British invasion is going on that you might want to get hip to. It’s giant-sized Easter eggs and bunnies.

Giant eggs grew 59% (in sales, not size) in the UK, last year, and American chocolatiers and candy sellers are just starting to jump on the bandwagon. 

It’s not to the point where you’re going to find them everywhere, but the impact they can make as a gift might be worth the scramble.

Here are some options for finding giant chocolate Easter eggs or bunnies in the U.S.:

Several online retailers like Amazon offer large chocolate Easter eggs from various brands including Lindt and Toblerone.

Small, artisanal chocolate shops are a good option because they can make giant Easter eggs to order. And some gourmet chocolate companies do up giant Easter eggs as a special occasion treat. Li-Lac Chocolates, based in Brooklyn, New York, makes giant milk or dark chocolate Easter eggs that are 24" tall and weigh 16 lbs.

Just keep in mind that because of the specialty of the item, it may require advance notice and shipping costs can be high for these large and heavy items.

Here comes Peter Cotton Sale! Retailers across the country have been a little light on major deals lately, but the combination of Easter and Spring is too...

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Amazon adds one more AI trick to answer questions for shoppers

What does the name “Rufus” mean to you? It's a name you don't hear much in this century, but it’s Amazon’s choice for its new AI shopping experience.

And the company swears up and down that it’s just the thing that can uncomplicate all the work you do to find exactly what you’re looking for.

The company points out that this is a “new” Alexa. Alexa may be able to tell you what the weather is, but it can’t answer your question about “Is this jacket machine washable?” or “What’s the difference between lip gloss and lip oil?” Amazon says that questions like that are what Rufus can take care of in no time at all.

“From broad research at the start of a shopping journey such as ‘what to consider when buying running shoes?’ to comparisons such as ‘what are the differences between trail and road running shoes?’ to more specific questions such as 'are these durable?’, Rufus meaningfully improves how easy it is for customers to find and discover the best products to meet their needs, integrated seamlessly into the same Amazon shopping experience they use regularly,” the company said in the announcement.

Here’s how Amazon thinks you’ll love Rufus

Using information from across Amazon and the web, Rufus can reportedly help you:

  • Conduct more general product research on Amazon, such as “What to consider when buying headphones?”

  • Search for products based on an activity or specific occasion, like “What do I need for a camping trip?”

  • Compare categories so you can make more informed decisions

  • Find the best recommendations and receive refined results

  • Ask product detail questions to help you pick a product or find the perfect gift

Rufus is being launched in waves, beginning with a small subset of customers in the U.S. using its mobile app, and progressively rolling it out to the rest of our U.S. customers in the coming weeks.

What does the name “Rufus” mean to you? It's a name you don't hear much in this century, but it’s Amazon’s choice for its new AI shopping experience.An...

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Prime rolls out unlimited grocery deliveries for $9.99 a month

Amazon is rolling out a new subscription plan for Prime members who order groceries. 

Under the new program, Prime members can opt in for unlimited grocery deliveries at $9.99/month. This means that members will receive their grocery deliveries over $35 with no extra delivery fees or charges. 

Additionally, with this new grocery plan, Prime members will get unlimited access to pick up grocery orders of any size. 

Right now, the program has launched in Columbus, Ohio, Sacramento, Calif., and Denver. Based on how these cities fare with the new program, and depending on Prime members’ feedback to the company, this will determine how Amazon moves forward with unrolling this option to more cities across the country. 

“We’re always experimenting with features to make shopping easier, faster, and more affordable, and we look forward to hearing how members who take advantage of this offer respond,” Tony Hoggett, senior vice president of worldwide grocery stores for Amazon, said in a statement. 

Still paying for a Prime membership

While the new plan for Amazon groceries will help consumers save some money on delivery fees, the monthly subscription fee comes in addition to the Prime membership fee. 

So, Prime members will have to pay the $9.99 per month for unlimited grocery deliveries with no delivery fees, and then either $14.99 a month or $139 a year for their Prime membership. 

“Amazon Prime, known for its annual fee of $139, has set a standard for seamless and cost-effective shopping, offering free Prime shipping on any order without the constraints of a minimum spending requirement,” Yoni Mazor, CEO of Getida.com, told ConsumerAffairs. “Introducing a dual-layered cost structure for grocery subscriptions may, however, be a tough sell for consumers accustomed to the simplicity of a single, comprehensive fee. 

“Amazon stands at a crossroads with its grocery subscription service,” Mazor continued. “To ensure widespread acceptance and customer satisfaction, the company should consider adopting a more value-centric packaging strategy. By focusing on delivering a seamless experience and incorporating additional perks, Amazon can steer clear of the pitfalls associated with layering costs and secure a competitive edge in the ever-expanding world of online grocery shopping.”

The evolution of Amazon grocery delivery pricing

Over the course of this year, Amazon’s grocery delivery pricing has gone through an evolution. 

In January of this year, Amazon upped its order minimum for all grocery order delivery fees – from $35 to $150. On top of that, the delivery fee was dependent on how much consumers spent on Amazon Fresh – the bigger their orders were, the less expensive the delivery fees were. 

Then, in August, Amazon opened up grocery deliveries to non-Prime members. While those without Prime memberships had access to Amazon grocery orders, their delivery fees were even higher than Prime members’ – between $7.95 and $13.95 just for delivery. 

Amazon is rolling out a new subscription plan for Prime members who order groceries. Under the new program, Prime members can opt in for unlimited groc...

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Expert negotiator shares their buying tactics on Amazon

Amazon Prime’s Big Deal Days is this week and if you plan on trying to take advantage of the special deals, a world-renowned negotiator has come up with three interesting ways to up your luck in getting the best price possible.

Keld Jensen, founder of SMARTnership and author of the upcoming book, Negotiation Essentials: The Tools You Need to Find Common Ground and Walk Away a Winner, put himself in the shopper’s shoes and shared key negotiation tools you might want to try, not only for this Amazon sale but others down the road.

The three tools to a better price

Jensen told ConsumerAffairs that before engaging in any negotiation or making a purchase, the most crucial step is thorough research and preparation. That research should include understanding what the items you want are typically priced at. That way you’ll know how much – or how little – of a deal it really is.

Tool number two? You should be willing to walk away from something you want to buy if the seller isn’t willing to give you a better offer or an additional incentive.

The third thing that will give you an advantage are price trackers and alerts. “Price trackers will enable you to determine whether the Prime Day deal is genuinely the best offer, or if the item has been available at a lower price point in the past,” he said. “And sign up for price alert tools or apps that will notify you when the items on your wishlist are available at your desired price point.”

Utilizing price matching

Jensen says that once you identify the items you want to buy, check prices both inside and outside of Amazon. Then, ask the retailer that’s selling the item you want if they offer price matching. 

Also, you should hang on to your receipts. “Some retailers offer post-purchase price matching within a certain timeframe,” Jensen noted. “If an item you recently purchased is available for a lower price on Prime Day, you may be able to request a refund for the difference.”

Negotiating tools for third-party sellers on Amazon

“Negotiating as a consumer, especially on platforms like Amazon where prices are generally fixed, can be a bit tricky,” Jensen told us. “However, there are some strategies you might employ to try and get a better deal or some added value when dealing with third-party suppliers."

Contact the seller directly: Politely ask if there are any available discounts or upcoming sales, and if you’re buying in bulk, ask if they can offer a reduced rate per item.

Leverage order history: If you’ve ordered from them before, mention your previous purchases and ask if they offer loyalty discounts.

Discuss bundle or package deals: If you’re buying a product, ask if they can offer a discount if you buy related products as a bundle.

Be polite and professional: Always be polite and professional in your communication, even if the negotiation doesn’t go your way.   

Negotiate on shipping: If purchasing multiple items, ask if they can offer reduced or combined shipping. If you need something shipped sooner, you can ask the seller if they can offer expedited shipping at a standard rate. Many sellers mark up the cost of shipping to their advantage and as long as they’re making money on the sale, they might be flexible in the price of shipping.   

Look for similar products: Sometimes mentioning that you’re considering a similar product from another seller might prompt them to offer you a better deal.

The abandoned cart trick: Nearly two-thirds of all online shopping carts are left abandoned which makes sellers crazy. Many employ sales widgets that will reach out to a shopper who left items in their cart and offer them a discount after a few days. It’s not a cinch, but it might save you 10-15%.

Offer to give them some extra promotion: Offer to promote their product on your social media in exchange for a discount, but be sure to mention that you’ll provide a detailed and honest review of the product.

Check for online coupons: Before negotiating, check if there are any online coupons or codes available that you can apply for an instant discount, and be sure to explore cash-back options through various platforms or credit card offers. 

Make sure you understand the Return Policy: Be sure you understand both the return and refund policy in case the product does not meet your expectations. Amazon is pretty flexible on its own products, but third-party sellers might not be, especially the ones who operate from overseas.

Follow the seller: Follow the seller’s Amazon store or subscribe to newsletters to be informed about future discounts and deals.

Amazon Prime’s Big Deal Days is this week and if you plan on trying to take advantage of the special deals, a world-renowned negotiator has come up with th...

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Amazon says ads are coming to Prime Video

Before you know it, streaming TV is going to be just like cable TV and over-the-air TV used to be. For many of us who signed up for Netflix, Prime, HBO, etc., we loved the ad-free landscape – something we could qualify as a reason to cut the cord.

In the battle against traditional TV, Disney+, Netflix, and Max have expanded into the ad-supported arena. Now, we can add Amazon Prime Video to that list, too. 

Amazon has announced that starting next year, Prime members will begin to see “limited advertisements.”

Amazon says that the extra revenue will allow it to continue to invest in “compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.” And it has certainly made a considerable investment with Thursday Night Football and one of the most expensive series of all time, “The Lord of the Rings.”

The upside: the cost of Prime memberships won’t go up

The trade-off may be that for some “limited ads,” Prime members won't be seeing a price jump in the membership fee, Amazon vows. However, if you don't want ads, then you’ll be paying Amazon $2.99 more a month. 

“We will email Prime members several weeks before ads are introduced into Prime Video with information on how to sign up for the ad-free option if they would like,” the company said regarding how things will roll out.

Before you know it, streaming TV is going to be just like cable TV and over-the-air TV used to be. For many of us who signed up for Netflix, Prime, HBO, et...

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Crunch Fitness adds Amazon One palm scanners

Amazon One technology has been implemented in places like Panera Bread, Whole Foods, and even baseball games

Now, consumers will be able to scan their palm print to get into the gym. Crunch Fitness announced it will implement Amazon One in select locations, allowing members to ditch any kind of physical ID card or mobile app pass, and instead scan their palms to gain access to the gym. 

“We are thrilled to be the first fitness brand and gym to offer Amazon One as an entry option,” said Molly Long, chief experience officer at Crunch Fitness. “Implementing Amazon One at Crunch gyms has been a win-win for our members and for our Crunch team. The feedback from our members has been positive – they appreciate the ability to enter the gym swiftly and efficiently without the need to remember to bring their membership key tag or open the mobile app.” 

Improving access to the gym

Currently, nine Crunch Fitness locations have installed palm readers for the Amazon One technology – five in San Francisco, three in New York City, and one in Los Angeles. 

Over the last four months that the palm-entry system has been in place, these locations have recorded 80% of members opting for entering with their handprint as opposed to a membership ID or mobile app pass. This success has led to plans for more Crunch locations to implement this technology in the coming months.

“The fast-growing adoption of Amazon One at Crunch Fitness center showcases the versatility of our palm recognition service, and how it can be used as a quick and convenient entry option in gyms and fitness centers across the country,” said Sanjay Dash, vice president of identity and checkout technologies, AWS Applications. “With Amazon One, Crunch members have a fast and innovative way to validate their membership, and get to their workout with the hassle of carrying membership tags or using their mobile app.” 

How it works

To start using your palm to enter the gym or checkout at Whole Foods, the first step is enrolling in Amazon One by linking your Amazon account with the Amazon One technology. Then, you need to register your unique handprint to your account at an Amazon One scanner near you, and you can start scanning with your palm. 

Each person’s handprint is unique to them, and Amazon One creates a palm signature that can’t be replicated or stolen. You have complete control over your palm signature and how it’s used, and Amazon says that your personal data surrounding your palm signature is never shared with third-party advertisers or government agencies. 

“Amazon One was designed to protect consumer privacy – the system operates beyond the normal light spectrum and cannot accurately perceive gender or skin tone,” wrote Gerard Medioni, vice president and distinguished scientist, AWS Applications. “Amazon One also does not use palm information to identify a person, only to match a unique identity with a payment instrument.” 

More information on Amazon One, including how to get started, is available here.

Amazon One technology has been implemented in places like Panera Bread, Whole Foods, and even baseball games. Now, consumers will be able to scan their...

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Prime Day happens next week. Here’s a sneak peak at some of the best deals.

If you’re a deal hog, you’ve probably already told Alexa to get you out of bed next Tuesday at 3 am – the time when Amazon’s 2023 Prime Day event kicks off.

The company promises more deals than ever before, with 48 hours of discounts on millions of products. Plus, it’s adding a new twist by dropping new deals every 30 minutes during select periods.

In an email to ConsumerAffairs, Amazon said the deals will be highlighted across the beauty, fashion, fitness, electronics, toys, and Amazon device categories, but that’s a little too big picture, right? Digging deeper, here’s what we found as far as specific deals are concerned.

Entertainment

How about up to 90% off channels & titles for Prime members? DealNews turned ConsumerAffairs on to this gem: Prime members can save on 2-month subscriptions to channels including Paramount+ (50% off), AMC+ (50% off), and Starz (90% off), as well as individual titles like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Black Adam, and select Indiana Jones movies.

And that’s not all.  Prime members can subscribe to select channels for $0.99 for up to two months and get 50% off for up to two months if they are not already subscribed.

And, if you have a student in the household, eligible customers who sign up for a new Prime Student membership can receive a $6 credit to rent or buy titles on Prime Video.

Other entertainment-related deals include:

  • Amazon Music Unlimited: Prime members who haven't yet tried Amazon Music Unlimited can get four months free, with access to more than 100 million songs and podcasts ad-free, on-demand, and in high-quality streaming audio. Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can also upgrade to a Family Plan for four months at no additional charge.

  • Books – both audio and digital: If you’re a book lover, check out these deals. Prime members can get the first three months free of Audible Premium Plus. Membership includes a massive selection of new releases and bestsellers, plus unlimited listening to thousands of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts. And, you can get three months of unlimited reading for free with Kindle Unlimited.

Expecting Moms

Having a baby or know someone who is? WhatToExpect’s Christine Mattheis says that every mom realizes one thing they should stock up on are diapers, wipes, and ointments. If anything is like last year, Amazon might offer up to 36% off diapers and wipes from big brand names like Pampers, Honest and Babyganics 

“This year, keep an eye out for similar deals. If you’re pregnant or have a newborn, consider buying at least one box each of sizes one through three on Prime Day. If your baby’s older, buy at least one box of whatever size they’re in now, plus one box of the following two sizes. It’s significant savings on something you’re guaranteed to need eventually,” she said.

Clothing

Need some new duds? Here are some Prime Day deals that might fit the bill:

  • Gap: Save 60% on select Gap men's, women's, kids', and baby apparel.

  • Victoria's Secret: Save up to 45% on select Victoria’s Secret products.

  • Pop Culture T-shirts: Merch on Demand t-shirts for adults and kids will be on sale for $13.99. Options include family favorites like Barbie, Disney, Hello Kitty, Marvel, and Star Wars, as well as classic music merch from artists including the Beatles, Dolly Parton, Pink Floyd, Slayer, and Whitney Houston.

Food Delivery

  • Grubhub: Prime members get $15 off Grubhub orders of $25 or more with code GRUBPRIME this Prime Day. Prime members also enjoy $0 delivery fees with a free, one-year Grubhub+ membership trial valued at $120—at no additional cost to their Prime membership.

  • Amazon Fresh: Prime members can save up to $40 when they shop for groceries online, and get $20 off $100 or more purchases on Prime Day. Additionally, Prime members can save 25% when they spend $50 or more at a local store. 

  • EBT Cardhold deals: Prime and Prime Access members with an EBT card can save on groceries with Amazon Access. If you’re shopping for groceries in Amazon stores for the first time, enjoy $5 off your first order over $15 of select Amazon foods.

Discount Travel

Now, here’s something we’ve never seen before on Prime Day – discounted travel. Priceline is joining forces with Amazon to bring shoppers the first-ever Prime Day online travel deal! The company is amplifying savings with things like 20% off Hotel Express Deals with Priceline - $300 minimum purchase with a maximum savings value of $75.

The little guy's got deals, too

More than 60% of sales in Amazon’s stores are from independent sellers, and not to be left out, small businesses are trying their best to carve out some deal action of their own. Here are some that might be worth checking out:

Check out the full selection of small business deals at amazon.com/primedaysmallbusiness.

Smart Speakers and Electronics

Amazon is taking the opportunity to move out excess inventory of its smart speaker line during Prime Day 2023 – many things as much as half-off. If you don’t have a smart speaker in your house, it might be worth buying one to replace an alarm clock, have Alexa answer the occasional question, play music or video chat with your family.

“It's absolutely worth buying Echo devices on Prime Day because these are the best prices we've ever seen for these smart speakers,” MakeUseOf’s Abriela Vatu, said. “If the trend from previous years keeps this time around, it will be a long time before we see these kinds of prices for these devices again. So, if you've been waiting to get an Echo, now's the time to add it to your cart!

As for your eyes and ears...

If you need a new Smart TV, the Amazon Fire 43” Omni Series will be 75% off; and JBL Live 660NC Noise Cancelling Headphones will be 55% off.

And for digital artists, they can save $50-150 off Wacom and Intuos graphics tablets -- including $29.95 for One by Wacom and $99.95 for Intuos Medium BT Pistachio -- in both Lightning Deals and over the two-day course of Prime Day.

Back to School

This Prime Day, Prime members can get a head start on back-to-school and off-to-college shopping. There are savings across all top categories for parents, students, and teachers, including:

  • Select kids’ uniform styles from Amazon brands for under $10

  • Up to 55% off select Crayola products

  • Up to 55% off select mattresses and beds from Zinus

  • 30% off lunch boxes from Bentgo

  • 30% off select shoes from Hey Dude

  • 30% off towels and bedding from Amazon Basics

  • Up to 25% off select laptops by Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, LG, MSI, and Samsung

  • 15% off backpacks from Champion

  • Prime members can stock up and save 20% off $30 of select school supplies and everyday essentials. Check out more deals on back to school items and college essentials.

How do you keep up with more deals?

Staying on top of every single price drop and deal announcement isn't going to be easy, but from watching Prime Days unfold over the years, it's apparent that Amazon is trying to make it easier than ever.

One nuance is the rollout of fun and inspirational shopping experiences like Inspire and Shop by Interest to help Prime members discover trending Prime Day deals in an immersive shopping feed that features recommendations from influencers, other customers, and brands.

The other in-the-know suggestion is Prime Night Live “Duel for the Deals.” Starting July 11 between 10 pm and 12 am EDT, tune into @prime’s TikTok Live—a two-hour game show featuring various contestants and special guests, including TikTok faves Alix Earle and Jake Shane, who will help viewers play along to unlock exclusive deals.

If you’re a deal hog, you’ve probably already told Alexa to get you out of bed next Tuesday at 3 am – the time when Amazon’s 2023 Prime Day event kicks off...

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Here comes Prime Day 2023!

Hey, Alexa, set a reminder for 3 a.m. on July 11.

Amazon has officially etched Prime Day in stone. The 48-hour event will start in the middle of the night on Tuesday, July 11 and run through July 12.

Members of Amazon's Prime program will have access to the lowest prices so far this year on select products from brands such as Bose, those wildly popular unlaced Hey Dude shoes, and Theragun massagers during the sale. Plus, every 30 minutes, deep discounts will drop on top products from the most popular brands throughout the event.

Because Amazon has its own line of company-owned products, those will get some special juice. The shopping experts at RetailMeNot told ConsumerAffairs that Echo devices (speakers and screens), Ring doorbells, and Amazon Fire tablets should be at hard-to-beat prices.

Other categories RetailMeNot deal analysts say should be in ample supply dealwise are pressure cookers, iRobot and Shark vacuums, and wireless headphones.

And Prime Day isn't the only rodeo in town this summer. If previous Prime Days are any indication, Walmart isn't to be denied. Plus, DealNews reports that Best Buy, Eddie Bauer, Nordstrom Rack, eBay, and others all have big sales of their own planned.

Aren't you special?

One new twist designed to make Prime members happy they’re subscribers is that this year's Prime Day event will also feature an invite-only deals program, allowing Prime members to request an invitation for exclusive deals expected to sell out.

Another nuance is added focus on small business owners who can now shop for more business products than ever before. 

Tips to help you prepare for Prime Day 2023

To save our readers some time, ConsumerAffairs has ID'ed the things shoppers can expect and how to get an edge when it comes to landing the best deals.

What’s on sale? Prime members can expect deals from popular brands such as Victoria’s Secret, YETI, Lancôme, Kérastase, Peloton, The Drop, and Sony, as well as save on new Amazon-exclusive deals from D’Amelio Footwear, OPI, and Alo Yoga. 

Beating everyone else to the punch. Amazon, those sneaky devils, may have July 11-12 as the “official” Prime Day dates, but it’s actually made some of those deals available now. There’s special pricing on Amazon Fresh, as well as back-to-school and off-to-college discounts, too. 

Did someone say “free money”? But the brass ring may be the $200 Amazon gift card that the company is offering Prime members who sign up – and are approved for – the Prime Visa credit card, an offer that runs from June 29 through July 26.

If free money is your favorite temptation, the company has more than that, too. Now through 11:59 p.m. PDT on July 7, Prime members will receive a $15 Amazon.com credit when they download the Amazon Photos app and upload their first photo.

Set up personalized alerts. There’s not a company alive that doesn’t want us to do everything possible via their app and Amazon is no exception. The company says that Prime members can subscribe to receive deal alert notifications related to their recent Amazon searches and recently viewed items.

The only thing you have to do is visit the Prime Day event page on the Amazon Shopping app sometime between now and Prime Day to create deal alerts. Then, when Prime Day arrives, you'll receive push notifications on any deals that match.

Give extra thought to how you want things delivered. Amazon Prime customers will get free delivery on millions of products, of course, but if they don’t want to wait for two-day delivery, they can try out same-day delivery for certain products in 90-plus U.S. markets.

Or they can try out the new “Your Amazon Day” option. With “Amazon Day,” a member picks out a day of the week that works for them and the company will deliver the items they order each week for free on that day.

Utilize price tracking. "Price trackers are the easiest way to monitor just how good a deal really is, especially for big-ticket items," a RetailMeNot spokesperson suggested. "By adding an Amazon price-tracking browser extension like camelcamelcamel, you’ll be able to easily monitor the prices of your most-wanted products as well as get price-drop alerts so that you never miss a deal."

Don’t want to spend the money to subscribe to Amazon Prime? We get it. Prime memberships aren’t hamburger-cheap, but the company doesn’t want to force anyone to spend $14.99 a month or $139 a year to take part either. To help those who just want to try the program out and take advantage of Prime Day deals, the company offers free 30-day trials

“Hey, Alexa, set a reminder for 3 a.m. on July 11.”Amazon has officially etched Prime Day in stone. The 48-hour event will start in the middle of the n...

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Amazon Anywhere will let you buy physical products from games or apps

Amazon is merging how consumers shop and play with the launch of Amazon Anywhere. 

The new technology will allow users to buy products – like sweatshirts, pillows, t-shirts, or other merchandise – directly from games they’re playing or apps they have open. 

“Whether you’re playing video games or using your favorite mobile app, Amazon is extending the fun within virtual worlds and interactive digital environments with a new immersive shopping experience called Amazon Anywhere,” wrote Steve Downer, vice president of consumer electronics at Amazon. “With Amazon Anywhere, you can now discover and buy physical products from Amazon stores without ever having to leave your game or app.” 

Expanding the Amazon shopping experience

Amazon announced that this new shopping feature will roll out with Peridot, an augmented reality game from the creators of Pokemon Go. The game is currently available for both Apple and Android users, and it involves caring for a virtual pet. 

With Amazon Anywhere, players will be able to purchase Peridot merchandise without having to pause their game. The first step is linking your Amazon account to the game, which will take with it all of your account’s saved payment options and delivery addresses.

Shoppers will see a full range of sizes and colors, a selection of images for each of the products, and the Amazon Prime availability and estimated delivery date – similar to shopping on the traditional Amazon site or app. 

Once the selections are made, users simply tap “buy,” and the purchase is complete. At that point, you can go right back to playing your game, and your order details will be located in the Amazon app or on the Amazon website at any time. 

Some of the current merchandise offerings include phone accessories, throw pillows, sweatshirts, and t-shirts, all featuring artwork and characters from the Peridot game. 

“We’re creating a new landscape for shoppable entertainment and digital experiences while continuing to meet our customers where they are, with the products they love,” Downer said. “Most shopping in virtual worlds is currently limited to purchases of virtual currency and in-game digital items, with no easy path to purchase physical products. We want to change that.” 

Currently, Amazon Anywhere is sending out invitations to creators and developers of virtual worlds to link their apps and games to the shopping platform. Creators who are interested in being included can access more information here

Amazon is merging how consumers shop and play with the launch of Amazon Anywhere. The new technology will allow users to buy products – like sweatshirt...

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Are you wasting your Amazon Prime benefits? Bet you are.

Are you using all you can squeeze out of your Amazon Prime membership? Probably not, especially if all you’re doing is dropping $139 a year for movies, two-day shipping, and little more. 

At a time when money is tight, ConsumerAffairs thought it might be interesting to find what unused Prime perks there are, especially ones that make perfect sense because a consumer can save money elsewhere and keep everything under one roof.

Here’s a few things that might help in that department:

Spending money and getting money back

There are lots of credit cards that offer “cash back” to customers when they make a purchase, but with Amazon Prime’s Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card, eligible Prime members earn 5% back on anything they buy at Amazon.com as well as Whole Foods Market. 

And as that 5% adds up, Prime Members can apply it to future purchases. Let’s say, you buy something for $100, that’s $5 off another purchase which makes things like buying a pound of coffee really inexpensive.

One-day – or quicker – delivery

Two-day delivery is the Prime standard, but Amazon has quietly amped up delivery to 24 hours or less on 20 million items. Plus, in some U.S. cities, customers can now shop for products from their favorite local retail stores like GNC, Sur la Table, PacSun and Superdry on Amazon and have their purchases delivered on the same day to their doorstep. And if you really want lickety-split service, there’s two-hour grocery delivery, free on orders over $150.

Gamers – especially Baby Boomers – gaming delight

A recent AARP study showed that Americans aged 50-plus are playing video games more than ever – a fact that Prime can address where major, youth-leaning gaming platforms such as Twitch, might not be able to. Prime members get access to free games and in-game content at Prime Gaming every month on top of a free monthly channel subscription on Twitch.tv.

A Prime membership also gives U.S. subscribers the opportunity to play a rotating selection of free games each month on Luna, Amazon’s cloud gaming service

Audiobooks your thing?

Baby Boomers also love audiobooks and if they’re a Prime member, they can take advantage of Audible Narration on top of the digital, downloadable books they can get on their Kindle e-readers.

According to BookWritten, the only bugaboo about Audible Narration is that it’s often confused with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, a separate paid subscription.

To find free audiobooks, BookWritten’s Pradeep Kumar says all you have to do is search for “Books with Audible Narration in Prime Reading.” And Kumar says it’s a pretty good selection, too – lots of fiction and non-fiction, but romance and comics, too. He says one cool option with Audible Narration is that you can switch between reading and listening to your book. 

Try before you buy

Buying clothes online is tricky. For one thing, you can’t see the quality of the item. For another, you can’t try on the item. But with Amazon’s Prime Try Before You Buy you have seven days to try on new styles and sizes before you’re charged for the ones you want to keep. It’s a whole department store of items, too – not just clothing, but shoes and accessories as well. 

Students get even better deals

We’re a few months away from heading back to campus, but here’s one plus that the students in the family can take advantage of: If they have a valid .edu email address, they can sign up as part of the Prime Student program, which gives them a six-month free trial for Amazon Prime. If they like what they’re getting out of it, they can upgrade to a full Prime Membership for 50% off.

Another advantage is that Amazon offers textbooks, too – usually at much lower prices than the college bookstore.

Unlimited photo storage

Google Photos probably has the corner on the photo storage market, but the company also started charging for storage past a certain point. Amazon, however, gives Prime members access to unlimited high-resolution photo storage with Amazon Photos, as well as 5 GB of video storage.

Are you using all you can squeeze out of your Amazon Prime membership? Probably not, especially if all you’re doing is dropping $139 a year for movies, two...

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Amazon goes after 'bad actors' a second time this week

It’s been a busy week at Amazon – sort of a “spring cleaning,” if you will. On Wednesday, the company started flagging products that had fake reviews and unsatisfied customer responses to cut back on returns and products that didn’t meet its customers’ standards. 

Then, on Thursday, Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) filed three lawsuits against a litany of companies that Amazon has branded as "bad actors." This bunch, however, was playing a different game.

Amazon said that the defendants in the lawsuits registered with Brand Registry, then created fake, disposable websites using product images scraped from the Amazon store, which they used as false evidence to make thousands of claims that selling partners were violating their copyrights.

When Amazon detected this attempted abuse, it acted quickly to protect customers and selling partners while also shutting down the accounts of the alleged violators.

The Amazon Brand Registry, according to SellerLabs, is an “official Amazon program where approved brand owners (or their registered agents) are on file with Amazon as trademarked brands. Being on file unlocks a preferred tier of Amazon services (protections and benefits) not available to unregistered brands or resellers.”

Amazon is sending a strong signal

Amazon doesn’t take kindly to violations of its policies, but this is new ground the company is plowing, trying to weed out anyone who does anything harmful to customers, brands, or its selling partners. 

For the moment, those sellers are off of Amazon’s platform and out of consumers’ lives, and the company vows that it will continue to hold any person or company accountable who tries something like this.

“We know how important it is to our selling partners to have a consistent Amazon store experience, and we will be unrelenting in our pursuit of bad actors who attempt to undermine that experience,” said Kebharu Smith, director of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit. 

“These lawsuits should serve as a warning to anyone that uses fraud in an attempt to harm any of the millions of selling partners that work with Amazon every day.” 

It’s been a busy week at Amazon – sort of a “spring cleaning,” if you will. On Wednesday, the company started flagging products that had fake reviews and u...

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Amazon wages new war against fake reviews and crappy products

Would it help if you knew how often other shoppers return items bought on Amazon?

The company does and is introducing a new ‘’frequently returned item” tag that will flag those products and, therefore, send a signal to shoppers that maybe they should do a little more homework before buying one of those items.

Amazon has to look itself in the mirror and ask who came up with this “free returns” idea in the first place, but that ship may have sailed its last big voyage. If it can convince consumers to pay close attention to the items it thinks are likely to be returned, the company saves itself some of the hassles that come with returns like restocking and repackaging – not to mention the workforce required to handle those returns.

With the company laying off more than 18,000 employees, reducing all that’s required with handling a return should enhance Amazon’s bottom line.

Blame it on junk and hyped-up reviews

The key factor in going this direction appears to be the tons of counterfeit and downright crappy products that third-party sellers have touted using tons of fake reviews.

“Having a visible warning that such items are usually returned not only deters consumers from buying them but also could encourage retailers to be honest about their listings or at least improve on issues that lead to higher product returns in the first place,” The Verge’s Jess Weatherbed said in coverage of Amazon’s change. 

The review sham has been a headache for Amazon. Last September, a company spokesperson told ConsumerAffairs how hard it works to keep that issue to a low roar.

“It’s important for readers to know Amazon aims to prevent fake reviews from ever appearing in our store. We continuously innovate and invest to help ensure that only authentic reviews appear in our store—and take our responsibility to monitor and enforce our policies seriously, so customers can shop in our store with confidence,” the spokesperson said.

The company even went as far as suing thousands of fake review brokers on Facebook to try and send a signal that it meant business. 

This rollout could take a while, so pull up a chair

When ConsumerAffairs tried to find some examples of Amazon’s new “Frequently returned item” badge, we came up empty. One site – TheInformation – listed two products that carried that badge, but when ConsumerAffairs looked at those products, there was no badge to be found there, either.

“That may suggest Amazon is deploying a gradual rollout or a limited test. In addition, the tagged products all appear to be from third-party vendors fulfilled by Amazon,” Weatherbed said.

But when Amazib begins using the new badge, here’s what you will be looking for: The wording is “Frequently returned item: Check the product details and customer reviews to learn more about this item.”

As far as where it will be displayed, all accounts say that it will be tucked under the bullet points about the item’s particulars like functionality, size, etc.

In the meantime, smart consumers will have to pay closer attention to the reviews to try and sniff out the fakes on their own. Searching for reviews on ConsumerAffairs is a good place to start.

Would it help if you knew how often other shoppers return items bought on Amazon?The company does and is introducing a new ‘’frequently returned item”...

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Amazon revs up its engine to get products to customers quicker

The race is on! Likely feeling some heat from Target’s recent announcement that it is investing $100 million to scale up its ability to deliver packages the next day and Walmart pumping up its “last mile” effort to get packages on doorsteps quicker, Amazon says bring it!

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the online retailer said it too will grow its “same-day site” warehouses and could expand to at least 150 in the next several years.

How much of a game-changer is this? Potentially huge. As Marc Wulfraat, president of MWPVL International, a global supply chain and logistics firm explained it to RetailDive, Amazon would build a combination fulfillment center and delivery station which would enable customers to get any of 100,000 items delivered within hours when all the elements are in place. 

Wulfraat said that an order could be picked up within 15-30 minutes of a customer placing the order, then rushed to an Amazon Flex driver who puts the package in their car and gets it on the customer’s doorstep within four hours. 

Amazon making a move for grocery dominance, too

Amazon also wants to pump up its grocery business, too. In a recent earnings call, Andy Jassy, the company’s CEO, said that even though the company’s Whole Foods chain continues to grow and is perfect for those who want a physical store experience, Amazon’s crystal ball shows that, over time, grocery shopping is going to shift to being more omnichannel.

“There are going to be a lot of people that order their grocery items online and have it delivered to them, and there are going to be a lot of people who continue to buy in physical stores,” Jassy said.

“But you're going to also see a hybrid of those, where people pick out what they want online and pick it up in stores, or people are in stores and there's something that's not in inventory in the stores, so they go to their app or to a kiosk and order it to be delivered from online.”

Jassy said that the wheels are already turning in the omnichannel direction due to the love the company’s Amazon Fresh is getting now.

“We're doing a fair bit of experimentation today in those stores to try to find a format that we think resonates with customers.”

The race is on! Likely feeling some heat from Target’s recent announcement that it is investing $100 million to scale up its ability to deliver packages th...

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Amazon's partnership with One Medical is designed to increase access to medical care

Amazon and One Medical have officially joined forces to make it easier for consumers to access health care on their own terms. 

By signing up for a One Medical membership, consumers have the option of meeting with a health care provider either in person or via video chat or message. Telehealth services are available 24/7, and in-person appointments are typically made for the same day or within one day. 

“For decades, you called your doctor, made an appointment three or four weeks out, drove 15-20 minutes to the doctor, parked your car, signed in, and waited several minutes in reception, eventually were placed in an exam room, where you waited another 10-15 minutes before another doctor came in, saw you for five to 10 minutes and prescribed medicine, and then you drove 20 minutes to the pharmacy to pick it up – and that’s if you didn’t have to then go see a specialist for additional evaluation, where the process repeated and could take even longer for an appointment,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO. 

“Customers want and deserve better, and that’s what One Medical has been working and innovating on for more than a decade. Together, we believe we can make the health care experience easier, faster, more personal, and more convenient for everyone,” Jassy said. 

What does the One Medical membership entail? 

With the new Amazon/One Medical partnership, the companies are offering patients an annual membership for $144. 

Members then gain access to the One Medical website or mobile app where they can get either asynchronous telehealth services, storing health information through a patient portal for a health care provider to review later, or on-demand 24/7 assistance through video chats or messaging. These services include: 

  • Access to vaccines and medical records

  • Reminders for referrals or follow-up care

  • “Treat Me Now” assessments for common health issues

  • Prescription renewals 

Members can also request in-person medical care, though One Medical will have to go through members’ insurance plans for that. 

With the membership, consumers can get access to physical and mental health professionals, as well as specialists, including sexual health, urgent care, and LGBTQIA+ services. The services can also be utilized to prevent illness, maintain wellness, or get care and treatment for chronic illnesses. 

For Amazon Prime members, there is currently no integration between Prime and One Medical. The two remain separate memberships, and adding One Medical would be an additional cost. 

Amazon and One Medical have officially joined forces to make it easier for consumers to access health care on their own terms. By signing up for a One...

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Amazon expanding Buy with Prime service by January 31

Though the holiday shopping rush may be over, Amazon says it is still working to make shopping easier and more convenient for Prime members.  

The company announced that it will expand its Buy with Prime service, which allows shoppers to make purchases with retailers outside of Amazon, while still getting many of the same perks of a Prime membership, like fast delivery and easy returns.

Amazon launched Buy with Prime on an invite-only basis in April 2022. It hand-picked select direct-to-consumer retailers to sell their products through the Prime platform. 

By the end of January, Buy with Prime will expand to feature any eligible retailer that signs up for the service. For shoppers, this means getting access to Prime membership benefits while having a wider reach of where they can shop. 

See Amazon reviews

With the expansion of Buy with Prime comes another feature that might benefit both sellers and consumers: Amazon reviews. 

Retailers will have the option of adding Amazon customer reviews on their own online stores. This can help shoppers feel more comfortable and confident in their purchases and might translate to more sales for merchants. 

Locking in more purchases 

While the expansion of Buy with Prime gives Prime members the opportunity to connect with new brands through a well-established source, the service can also benefit sellers. 

Amazon said it found that the Buy with Prime feature was effective at locking in 25% more sales for merchants. However, this figure is only an average, with some sellers seeing more or less than that number since utilizing Buy with Prime. 

As Amazon expands the service at the end of the month, Prime members will be exposed to even more new retailers while utilizing their Prime membership. 

Though the holiday shopping rush may be over, Amazon says it is still working to make shopping easier and more convenient for Prime members.  The compa...

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Amazon experts say shoppers can make their buying journey a lot better than they may realize

Because most shoppers are creatures of habit, both Amazon and Amazon experts say there are things consumers may be missing that could make life easier.

As you’re scurrying to try and make holiday gift giving as seamless as possible, here are seven tips that ConsumerAffairs found that could come in handy if the clock is running out or you’re all out of ideas as to what to buy your friends and family.

Maximize the use of “gift lists.” Rather than guess what your grandkids want or call your friend’s partner to find out what they’ve been wishing for, Amazon suggests either searching for your loved ones’ Amazon Wish Lists (aka gift lists) or suggest they make one.

These lists also make it simple for gift recipients to keep track of who purchased which gifts. And if someone wants to return or exchange a gift, a Gift List gives them a 90-day window to do that. 

Amazon expert Arishekar N says the most important use of having a list on Amazon is that you can share it with others, and in a special wish list guide, shares the 1-2-3 steps on how to do that

Use Amazon’s search feature to refine your options. But, if grandma or your BFF doesn’t have a wish list, Amazon’s search engine is smart enough to give insightful answers to queries that a shopper might use.

To see it in action, just type in “gifts for … (whoever you’re shopping for, e.g., grandma or a whiskey lover)” In the main search bar. Once you get those, you can narrow your options down further.

Use the Amazon Assistant browser extension to find even more deals. Amazon Assistant is a fairly easy-to-install extension for all the major web browsers (e.g., Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge). 

“With it, you can watch for product comparisons that save time and money, access shortcuts to popular Amazon hubs right in your browser, and get notified when deals that you're watching go live with desktop notifications,” reminds PocketLint’s Maggie Tillman. “It also lets you get information about orders and deliveries.”

Amazon’s gift wrappers may be better than yours. Not everyone was born to be a great gift wrapper or has the time to do it, especially when gift exchange time come. Amazon offers a gift bag wrapping service with a notecard that could take care of that. 

When ConsumerAffairs looked at the added cost for things like headphones and packing cubes, the added cost for gift wrapping was in the $3.50-$4.99 ballpark.

Look for the digital coupon codes. “One of the biggest ways to save money on Amazon is also one of the easiest. The retailer has a tendency to offer digital coupon codes on thousands of products. At times, the coupon will apply automatically during checkout,” said Tom’s Guide’s Louis Ramirez . 

Ramirez says the trick is to look for a tiny radio box layered below the Amazon price, the Prime “free returns” logo, and next to the orange “Coupon” banner. 

“Click the box and the coupon will be automatically applied at checkout. It’s such an easy trick, but it’s also very easy to overlook,” he said.

Consider “Amazon Family” for new families. Amazon Family doesn’t get much attention, but it’s perfect for new, Prime families. Not only does it have deals on your standard fare parenting items and household necessities, but it also holds regular sales on baby products and can come up with some ideas for age-based product recommendations.

Plus, if you use Amazon Family for your diaper subscription, you’ll get 20% off. 

Digital gifts

Consider a digital gift. If you’re really up against the clock, think about what “digital” items your giftee is into. On top of the traditional gift cards – which Amazon has in every shape, color, and brand – think a little further outside the digital box.

And if they’re someone you’d splurge more than $100 on, an Amazon Prime membership might go a long way because Prime has more than just delivery pluses. It has free gaming, free music, free reading of some Kindle books, and of course, movies via Prime video. Note: Some books are available only through the Kindle Unlimited program.

Watch the Amazon "shopping channel." If you traditionally go to HSN or QVC for product sales, have you ever considered Amazon’s platform that does the exact same thing?

Not only do the retailer’s presenters give you the complete background and some show-and-tell about the products they’re demoing, but as far as ConsumerAffairs could find out, everything they show is also on sale – with some at big discounts for shoppers who buy them by a certain time.

Because most shoppers are creatures of habit, both Amazon and Amazon experts say there are things consumers may be missing that could make life easier....

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Amazon says it’s ready for the holidays with alternate delivery methods and easy-peasy returns

If there are going to be any holiday shipping or returns issues, Amazon says it’s not going to be on its watch. It’s had a year to focus on improving ways to ensure that customers can get what they want, when and how they want it. 

Here's all the retailer is offering its customers this holiday season...

Pick up your package… at Dollar Tree?

Of the retailer’s three main focus areas, its alternate delivery methods may be the most consumer-aware. Realizing that American consumers aren’t a one-trick shopping pony, Amazon has secured package pickup arrangements with widespread store networks like 7-Eleven, Staples, Rite-Aid, Family Dollar, Chevron, Circle K, Ross, and Dollar Tree. 

But it doesn’t stop there. When ConsumerAffairs searched Amazon’s delivery options map, we saw dairies, flower shops, sub shops, and drugstores.

Need something in a day or less?

Amazon’s also been working on expanding its Same-Day Delivery option in 90+ metro areas so shoppers in those areas can get what they need the same day they order it.  

Those areas include the Atlanta metro area, as well as Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Phoenix/Scottsdale, Seattle, Miami, Nashville, Baltimore, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., and others. To find out if a specific metro area is included, all someone needs to do is check out the company’s Same-Day delivery page.

Now, mind you, not everything Amazon has in its store is available for same-day delivery. It has specific partnerships that are doing their part to make those happen and most of the items will likely have to be from those brands’ stores. At the moment, PacSun, GNC, SuperDry, and Diesel are in on the arrangement. For a complete list of retailers and item options, it’s available here.

An additional option is that some stores also offer the option to buy online and pick up in-store. It’s not a total freebie, however. A shopper has to spend $25 or more on qualifying items and for members who spend below $25, there’s a charge of $2.99. 

One neat spin ConsumerAffairs found with Amazon Day is for shoppers who want to have a gift delivered on a specific day as sort of a surprise for someone. Prime members can enjoy that added perk for free. 

No box, no label?

What – you didn’t really want those lavender Kim Kardashian headphones? No problem. Amazon says that holiday ‘22 will include the usual free returns on most items delivered in the U.S., but this season, customers can make returns at physical locations like Whole Foods Market, Kohl's, and UPS stores. The neatest part about the company’s new returns policy is that consumers don’t even have to have packaging – or a label – at select locations, 

If there are going to be any holiday shipping or returns issues, Amazon says it’s not going to be on its watch. It’s had a year to focus on improving ways...

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Amazon files suit against alleged tech support scam operator

Amazon, often a favorite of imposter scammers, appears to be fed up. It has targeted a California-based entrepreneur it said claimed to be the online retail giant in a scheme to defraud consumers.

Amazon has filed suit against “Pionera Inc,” a company it said ran a series of call centers in a scam operation that tried to convince customers into thinking they were receiving tech support on two Amazon-owned products – Prime Video and Ring. 

The complaint claims that the company also obtained hundreds of dollars in fraudulent payments from victims for fake services that those consumers did not need and Pionera did not provide. 

According to OpenCorporates.com, Pionera Inc. was dissolved as a corporation in February.

Amazon’s lawyers claim that once Pionera was able to convince its targets that it was there to help solve issues like a tech or account problem, the company gained remote access to those victims’ computers and could access the victims’ financial accounts.

Amazon said that the defendants targeted the public through online ads and websites, prompting consumers to call a phone number operated by Pionera personnel.  

“Amazon has no tolerance for scams that fraudulently impersonate our brand, and we’re appalled at these bad actors’ attempts to deceive our customers,” Amazon Vice President of Buyer Risk Prevention, Sriram Krishnan, said in a statement given to ConsumerAffairs. “We are advocating for customers by holding these bad actors accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” 

Consumers who own or use Apple products may recognize the name Pionera. Last year, someone on the Apple Community forum raised a question about the company, too, intimating that Pionera was possibly responsible for their iPad being hijacked and frozen, and requesting $400 for a 5-year security contract that would apparently clear up that problem. 

ConsumerAffairs reached out to Manoj Goel, the person listed as CEO of Pionera and a co-defendant in the lawsuit, for comment on the allegations, but did immediately hear back.

Amazon says it is taking fraud more seriously than ever

The last couple of years haven’t been good for Amazon in regards to being impersonated. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that Amazon was a runaway favorite for scammers from July 2020 through June 2021. Not only did reports about Amazon impersonators grow fivefold, but about one in three people who reported business scams said the scammer claimed to be from Amazon.

To its credit, Amazon says it’s had enough when it comes to scams and the company is putting its money where its mouth is. 

In 2021 alone, the online retailer said it invested over $900 million globally and employed more than 12,000 machine learning scientists, software developers, expert investigators, and others to protect both it and its customers from fraud and other forms of abuse. That investment paid off, too. Amazon said that it took action against more than 350 individuals and entities involved in impersonation scams in 2021 alone.

Now, the company is taking its efforts even further. On Tuesday, the company also announced that it's launched a cybersecurity awareness campaign with the National Cybersecurity Alliance as its partner. Together, the two have developed a microsite for consumers, ProtectConnect, to offer advice about multi-factor authentication, and how to identify and avoid phishing attempts.

How can Amazon customers protect themselves from scams?

To match its investment in people who can defend against bad actors, Amazon has also added consumer-side guidance to help its customers identify whether an email, phone call, text message, or webpage is really from Amazon. 

One of the things that can come in handy is Amazon’s recently released “self-reporting” tool. With this tool, consumers can report anything – such as an email or phone call – they think is suspicious and ask Amazon to investigate it further. 

Amazon said that one telltale sign of a scam call is if the person on the other end tries to pressure a customer into giving out account information. If that happens, then that’s where the self-reporting tool can be of help – as can reaching out to Amazon customer service via chat or a phone call. 

Amazon, often a favorite of imposter scammers, appears to be fed up. It has targeted a California-based entrepreneur it said claimed to be the online retai...

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Amazon Prime Video and Netflix to set new changes in motion

Video streaming has hit a new high in the U.S. A new survey conducted by HarrisX for MoffettNathanson Research shows that 81% of American households did some form of streaming in the second quarter of 2022, up from 75% a year ago. 

With all that extra attention, Amazon and Netflix are making some changes to entice even more subscribers and ensure that they’re getting paid what they think they’re due.

Amazon Prime

Streamers who have been Amazon Prime subscribers for a while have a pretty good handle on how to get around the platform. However, Amazon felt that it could do a better job and has decided to launch a Prime Video redesign.

Starting this week, Prime Video’s updated experience is centered on apps that are connected with other living room devices. Amazon says there are several major adjustments in the redesign, including:

An easy way to watch live and programmed sports. Now that we’re close to the kickoff of the 2022 NFL season – which, of course, includes Amazon’s hosting of Thursday Night Football – the company wants to make sure sports fans can find their games easily and quickly.

The home screen of Prime Video will now feature a locked-in “Sports” sub-navigation menu. Using that as a hub, viewers can find live sports, events, and sports-centric streaming channels that feature content like game replays and sports documentaries.

A more user-friendly navigation menu. Amazon wants to make it easier for consumers to navigate its menus so that they can find all the shows and videos they’re looking for. Fans of shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or The Boys will now have a direct path to those titles and episodes. 

The new menu will be located on the side of the screen and will contain six primary pages to start: “Home,” “Store,” “Find,” “Live TV,” “Free with Ads,” and “My Stuff”. There will also be sub-navigation options so users can more easily browse by the content or offer type, such as “Movies,” “TV shows,” and “Sports” on Home, as well as “Channels” or “Rent or Buy” on Store.

A faster way to find the shows you want. Taking a cue from Netflix’s Top 10 lists, Amazon’s app update will come with new “carousels” that feature the company’s own “Top 10 Chart” and a new “Super Carousel” that features its own originals and exclusives.

Other improvements that Amazon says Prime Video watchers will notice are immersive visuals, clearly marked content so a subscriber can instantly see if a program or movie is free or paid for, and a new “Find” page that gives users the option to search for a specific title and get predictive results as they type.

Netflix

In addition to Netflix’s recent partnership with Microsoft to offset its recent tidal wave of canceled subscriptions, it’s testing out another way to keep red ink off its balance sheet. The company has been grumbling about password sharing for years, but it said in a Q2 earnings call on Tuesday that it is now in the early stages of testing a new ‘add a home’ option that will charge customers for password-sharing. 

“Over the last 15 years, we’ve worked hard to build a streaming service that’s easy to use, including for people who travel or live together,” Netflix said in an announcement. “It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly. But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve our service.”

The company said the add-a-home option is currently being tested outside the U.S., where 60% of its customers are. If those tests prove positive, the company said it can roll out the feature in all markets in 2023. When it makes its way to the U.S., here’s what Netflix subscribers can expect:

One home per account: Each Netflix account - whatever your plan - will include one home where you can enjoy Netflix on any of your devices. 

Buy additional homes: To use a Netflix account in additional homes, the company will ask subscribers to pay a little more. Members on the Basic plan can add one extra home, Standard subscribers can add up to two extra homes, and those in the Premium tier can add up to three extra homes. 

Travel included: Users can watch Netflix all they want when traveling through the use of a tablet, laptop, or mobile device. 

New “manage homes” feature: The main subscriber still has the power to decide who else is using their account and can remove other users and homes at any time.

Video streaming has hit a new high in the U.S. A new survey conducted by HarrisX for MoffettNathanson Research shows that 81% of American households did so...

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Amazon sues thousands for allegedly posting fake reviews

Under growing pressure to curb the number of fake product reviews on its site, Amazon is suing the administrators of 10,000 Facebook groups over claims that they have orchestrated the phony reviews for profit.

According to Amazon, the defendants have recruited individuals who are willing to post misleading reviews on Amazon’s stores in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan in return for products and cash.

The online retailer, which has been prodded by Congress to rein in the phony reviews, said it will use information discovered in this legal action to “identify bad actors” and remove the fake reviews.

“Our teams stop millions of suspicious reviews before they’re ever seen by customers, and this lawsuit goes a step further to uncover perpetrators operating on social media,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of Selling Partner Services. “Proactive legal action targeting bad actors is one of many ways we protect customers by holding bad actors accountable.”

According to Amazon, the administrators of these groups solicit fake reviews for hundreds of products sold on Amazon, including car stereos and camera tripods. The lawsuit identified one such group – Amazon Product Review – and said it had more than 43,000 members until it was removed from the Facebook platform earlier this year.

Changing nature of marketing

Lawmakers and regulators have pushed Amazon to take action against phony reviews on its site because of the changing nature of marketing. Traditional advertising no longer has the power it once did. Instead, consumers often find the experience of other customers to be more persuasive.

Regulators say that when there is a paid effort to promote a particular product in the guise of a consumer review, it is highly deceptive and violates any number of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations.

Amazon said it strictly prohibits fake reviews and employs more than 12,000 people around the world to protect its stores from fraud and abuse, including fake reviews. For example, it says an Amazon team is assigned to investigate fake review schemes on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

10,000 fake reviews

Since 2020, Amazon said it has reported more than 10,000 fake review groups to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Of these, Amazon said Meta has taken down more than half of the groups for policy violations and continues to investigate others.

Fakespot, an app that identifies fake or unreliable reviews, says it has analyzed 3,629 products and 19,321,997 reviews for Amazon products and found that just under 20% are “unreliable.”

In a recent survey, 2,000 U.S. consumers reported spending an average of $899 per year on disappointing online purchases that didn’t live up to reviews, with clothing, tech, and toys providing the most disappointment.

Under growing pressure to curb the number of fake product reviews on its site, Amazon is suing the administrators of 10,000 Facebook groups over claims tha...

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What can Amazon’s Prime Day tell us about the economy?

For economists, Amazon’s Prime Day is more than just a sales promotion by the nation’s largest online retailer. It could be the canary in the coal mine.

The annual shopping event is under much scrutiny this year because of growing recession worries. On the final day of Prime Day, the government reported the worst inflation numbers in 41 years. So, how consumers behave during this sales event could say a lot about where the economy is right now.

The initial numbers present a mixed picture. Numerator is a market research and data firm that tracked results from the first 32 hours of Prime Day. The numbers showed that consumers were spending, but they aren't going overboard.

So far, the average order is $53.14, which is slightly higher than last year’s $47.14 average. Of those orders, 42% totaled no more than $20. About 13% of orders were $100 or more.

Shoppers are showing restraint

Those numbers are fairly encouraging for economists concerned about a recession. Fifty-two percent of households shopping on Prime Day have placed at least two orders so far, while 9% have logged at least five orders.

The average Prime Day spending per household is currently $117, with 16% of shoppers spending more than $200.

It should be noted that Prime Day is not a gauge for the overall population. Prime, after all, is a subscription service that carries a $14.99 a month fee. That said, consumers who receive some qualifying government assistance can get a Prime membership for $6.99 a month.

Many shoppers are mindful of inflation

Economists who are focused on inflation would prefer to see restrained spending. The Federal Reserve’s policy of aggressively raising interest rates is aimed at dampening consumer demand, which over the last few months has helped fuel inflation.

Those economists may be cheered by data collected by Numerator. In its survey, 83% of Prime Day shoppers said inflation and rising prices influenced their Amazon purchases. In fact, 33% of shoppers said they purposefully waited until Prime Day to make a purchase in order to get a lower price.

Others – nearly 20% – said they used the sale to stock up on items they needed. Another 27% admitted to passing up a purchase that was a great deal but not really necessary.

With hours to go before Prime Day 2022 ends, “household essentials” is the leading category of purchases, earning nearly a third of all orders. Health and beauty products make up 27% of orders, followed by consumer electronics at 27%.

For economists, Amazon’s Prime Day is more than just a sales promotion by the nation’s largest online retailer. It could be the canary in the coal mine....

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Amazon reveals what shoppers can expect on Prime Day

The countdown is officially on for Amazon Prime Day 2022. When it launches this coming Tuesday, July 12, the online retail giant says Prime members will be able to take advantage of exclusive offers on a wide range of products from larger brands and small businesses alike.

Some of the bigger deals start at home with Amazon’s own products, particularly its Fire-branded products. The company told ConsumerAffairs that it will be offering the lowest price ever for Fire TV smart TVs, including lightning deals for a $49.99 Insignia 32-inch Smart HD Fire TV (72% off), and a $99.99 Amazon Fire TV 50-inch 4K UHD Smart TV (79% off). 

Drilling down to specific categories, here are some other deals Prime shoppers will find:

Beauty and Wellness: Save up to 50% on select products from Oribe and Sunday Riley; 30% on Drybar and KORA Organics by Miranda Kerr; up to 20% on Goop, and PATTERN Beauty by Tracee Ellis Ross. For those who’d like to flesh out their family tree a bit, 23andMe Health + Ancestry Personal Genetic Service Kits will be available at half off. 

Electronics: Save up to 50% on select headphones from Beats, Sony, and JBL. Consumers can also save 30% on e-bikes, Segways, and scooters.

Fashion: Save up to 40% on select styles from Levi’s and baby apparel from Burt’s Bees and HonestBaby. Shoppers can also get up to 30% off on styles from Amazon Essentials, Champion, Ray-Ban, and Oakley.

Home & Kitchen: Consumers can save up to 50% on select products from Keurig, up to 45% on SharkNinja and Casper, up to 40% on the iRobot Roomba and products from SodaStream; and as much as 30% on Vitamix blenders.

Pets: Pet owners can get up to 30% off the price of pet essentials from Amazon brands, including Amazon Basics, Kitzy, Wag, and Wonder Bound.

Spotlight on parents

Trying to second-guess what a child wants for a Christmas present is far from easy, but Prime members who have a good idea can get ahead of the holiday shopping season and save some considerable hay on toys. Here's a sample:

  • Forty percent off select American Girl dolls
  • Up to 30% off on select toys from Fisher-Price and Mattel, including Barbie and Hot Wheels.
  • Up to 30% off on select LEGO sets.

Parents with school-aged children will be able to take advantage of Prime Day deals too. For college students, savings of up to 45% are available on dorm room essentials. For elementary students and high schoolers, deals include 30% off select backpacks, 30% off school supplies from Elmer’s, Sharpie, and Pilot, and 25% off select laptops, monitors, and desktops from HP, Dell, and Microsoft. 

How to save more

While Amazon doesn’t give its secrets away, Haley Jena at What To Expect told ConsumerAffairs that there are some tips and tricks that soon-to-be parents can employ to get even better deals. Here are her suggestions:

Create a registry on Amazon with your Prime Account to score a completion discount and compare. Users who sign up for baby registries can get a 15% discount on gear they need around the time of their baby’s due date. The registry needs to be active for two weeks, but you can compare the discounts you see on Prime Day to the completion discount to see whether it’s worth buying items on Prime Day or waiting for your completion discount.

Watch out for fake reviews. How does someone separate the real comments from the fake ones? Jena said reviews with images are more reliable and that consumers should look for the “Verified Purchase” stamp on the review.

Add products to your cart or wishlist to snag items fast and get deal notifications before Prime Day. Jena said consumers can avoid possible inventory shortages by turning on notifications for when items on someone’s wish list go on sale.

Check out Amazon Warehouse for deeply discounted products that have been returned or refurbished. When someone returns an item to Amazon, it doesn’t always mean that the product is broken – oftentimes, it’s just something that didn’t fit or the buyer decided they didn’t need it. The upside of that for consumers is that the retailer can’t really sell it as “new,” so the company will likely repackage it and sell it at a discounted price.

“Each product is thoroughly tested by Amazon return specialists to make sure it’s working properly during a 20-point inspection,” Jena said. “Just remember that some items, like car seats, breast pumps and cribs shouldn’t be bought secondhand for safety reasons.”

Look for CPSC approval when it’s relevant. Parents who are looking to buy something for a baby or toddler would be wise to check if a product has been recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to make sure it's safe. You can also find more information about recalls, including certain items for infants and babies, on ConsumerAffairs.

The countdown is officially on for Amazon Prime Day 2022. When it launches this coming Tuesday, July 12, the online retail giant says Prime members will be...

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New insights revealed for the next Amazon Prime Day

Since Amazon shared a sneak peek of what it had in store for this year’s Prime Day on July 12 and 13, shopping sleuths have been in full detective mode identifying the best things to buy on Prime Day as well as which ones are worth waiting on.

The price pundits at BlackFriday.com say that – like other Prime Days – Amazon will take care of itself first by featuring some of the best deals of the year on its own Amazon Echo devices and Amazon Fire TV products, as well as the company’s in-house lines of clothing, home goods, and fitness accessories at deeply marked down prices.

BlackFriday.com says that with a return to school only two months away or less, prices on back-to-school supplies are likely to get slashed, too.

What to avoid buying on Prime Day

While there are going to be lots of deals on Prime Day, there might be even better prices for consumers who can hold off a bit, according to BlackFriday.com.

High-end TVs: “Amazon is already showcasing great deals on Smart TVs, and we expect to see even more during Amazon Prime Day. If you are in the market for a high-end Samsung or LG TV, we recommend waiting until Black Friday to find the best deals,” BlackFriday.com’s Mackenzie Shand says, reasoning that because newer TV models are still relatively new to the market, consumers are likely to find steeper markdowns later this fall.

Only items found on Amazon: Shand also cautioned shoppers that while Prime Day is an Amazon-exclusive event, Target and Walmart are also trying to take advantage of Amazon’s hoopla by doing promotions of their own. “Target has revealed it will be hosting Deal Days from July 11 to 13, and we expect other retailers to announce major sales during this time as well. If you're shopping for a specific product, we recommend checking out all your options to ensure you're getting the best deal possible,” Shand said.

And some extra Amazon store credit too

CBS News reports that shoppers can pick up some almost-free money from Amazon ahead of Prime Day that they can turn around and use during the July 12 and 13 event. Mind you, it’ll take time clicking here and there, signing up for things, and filling out forms, but in today’s world, an extra $10 here and there adds up.

For starters, consumers can get a free $10 Amazon promotional credit when they purchase an Amazon e-gift card for the first time ($50 minimum). Plus, Amazon is throwing in another $10 when they reload that gift card with $100 or more. Then, yet another $10 is available when they activate and complete their 2022 Prime Stampcard by exploring the perks of an Amazon Prime membership.

Finally, Amazon shoppers can get up to $60 more by visiting and making purchases through Amazon's new Prime Day Offers hub. CBS also said that shoppers can earn even more free money if they buy movie tickets, shop for goods made by Procter & Gamble, and consider alternative financing options from Affirm.

Since Amazon shared a sneak peek of what it had in store for this year’s Prime Day on July 12 and 13, shopping sleuths have been in full detective mode ide...

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Amazon is starting to unveil some of its Prime Day 2022 deals

It’s Prime time at Amazon, again. The online giant just announced that Prime Day 2022 will be Tuesday and Wednesday, July 12 and 13. The retailer is covering all bases with special prices on everything from fashion to toys and says that select products from GE, Sony, and Bose will be available at the lowest price points it's ever offered.

An estimated 85% of American Prime members are planning to at least see what Amazon has in store, and the company is making every single look-see worth the effort. Starting June 21 every $1 a shopper spends on eligible small business products will get them an opportunity to win a cornucopia of prizes, including tickets to Super Bowl LVII and VIP passes to music experiences in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Sneak peeks

Amazon isn’t showing all its Prime deal cards yet, but it is letting members get in on some early deals on its own products and a smattering of others. Beginning Tuesday, June 21, it’s letting Prime members take advantage of members-only deals like up to 55% off select Amazon devices and up to 50% off Fire TVs. Pre-Prime Day deals also include the Apple Watch, iRobot Roomba, and Apple AirPods Pro. The best pre-Prime Day deal ConsumerAffairs found was the Toshiba 75-inch M550-Series 4K UHD Smart Fire TV, priced 50% off its regular $699.99 price tag.

BlackFriday.com has been tracking Prime Day deals for some time now, and if Amazon gives shoppers what they’re looking for, then there should be some great ​​deals on fashion, home decor, cleaning supplies, and electronics like computers and headphones.

How to play Prime Day to your advantage

While Amazon might own the trademark on Prime Day, its competition is ponying up to take advantage of all shoppers during those two days, too. BlackFriday.com said that Walmart and Target are just two of the major retailers that tend to host major sales during this same time period. In Walmart's situation, Business Insider says the company is likely to try to take advantage by offering deals starting a day earlier and lasting a day longer. 

If you’re looking for some ideas that might lead to good deals, keep these in mind:

Shop everything summer. Consumers might want to consider this time as if it were Black Friday in July, and look for deals on seasonal products like summer toys, apparel, and outdoor essentials.

Know that some things won't change. “Amazon's own products are often marked down to half their price (or more) during Prime Day and Black Friday,” BlackFriday.com’s Mackenzie Shand said. “If you see savings of 50% off or more on Echo smart speakers, Fire TV and Ring products, we suggest adding them to cart – unless you want to wait until November.”

It’s Prime time at Amazon, again. The online giant just announced that Prime Day 2022 will be Tuesday and Wednesday, July 12 and 13. The retailer is coveri...

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Amazon loses nearly $4 billion in first quarter

You won't see a request for some spare change in your next Amazon order, but the company is facing a tall order to try to replace nearly $4 billion that it lost in the first quarter of 2022.

In Amazon’s first-quarter results released Thursday, it reported a net loss of $3.8 billion, a backward slide from the $8.1 billion profit it made during the same period in 2021. Analysts were caught off-guard too. The financial soothsayers that Refinitiv had surveyed predicted a $4.4 billion profit.

Where Amazon took the hit

The company attributed much of the loss to a $7.6 billion loss from its investment in electric automaker Rivian Automotive. Much of Amazon's investment in Rivian was tied to an electric delivery van that Rivian was producing for the company.

And what would a good finger-pointing be these days without mentioning COVID-19 and Ukraine? “The pandemic and subsequent war in Ukraine have brought unusual growth and challenges,” said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. 

Despite the setback, Jassy says Amazon isn't down for the count. 

“Our Consumer business has grown 23% annually over the past two years. We know how to do this and have done it before. This may take some time, particularly as we work through ongoing inflationary and supply chain pressures, but we see encouraging progress on a number of customer experience dimensions, including delivery speed performance as we’re now approaching levels not seen since the months immediately preceding the pandemic in early 2020.”

Some good news

Jassy said despite taking it on the chin with the multi-billion loss, Amazon has reasons to celebrate. 

For one thing, it’s coming out with Buy with Prime, a new benefit for Prime members in the U.S. that's designed to extend the convenience of shopping with Prime to online stores beyond doing it online at Amazon.com. When the program hits its stride, Prime members will be able to shop directly from participating merchants’ online stores using their Prime member benefits, including fast and free delivery, a seamless checkout experience, and free returns on eligible orders.

Prime Day is officially on the company calendar and is scheduled for this coming July.

Prime Video lovers will be able to binge a bit more, as well. Amazon just closed its deal to buy MGM, which means an additional 4,000 film titles and 17,000 TV episodes available to stream – everything from Raging Bull to The Silence of the Lambs.

The company is also licking its chops over the response it’s gotten for the teaser trailer it ran for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which debuts Labor Day weekend. That teaser broke a global record for the most-watched entertainment trailer to debut during a Super Bowl telecast, with 257 million views globally in the first 24 hours of its release. 

Sports junkies will also be getting some extra fodder. Amazon is bringing over analyst Kirk Herbstreit from ESPN and pairing him up with play-by-play stalwart Al Michaels as the voices for its exclusive coverage of NFL Thursday Night Football, kicking off Thursday, September 15, 2022.

Techies aren’t being left out in the cold either. Amazon said it has launched new Alexa experiences, including one which allows customers to ask Alexa about symptoms for common health ailments and possible causes. It will also allow users to virtually connect with health care professionals through a new collaboration with Teladoc, a virtual doctor service.

You won't see a request for some spare change in your next Amazon order, but the company is facing a tall order to try to replace nearly $4 billion that it...

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Amazon to charge sellers additional 5% fuel and inflation surcharge

In an attempt to keep its bottom line from going into the red, Amazon has announced that it will increase its fulfillment fee rates to sellers by 5% – a surcharge related to inflation and rising fuel prices. The company said that it’s the first time in its 28-year history that it’s had to do that.

Effective April 28, sellers will see an average increase of $0.24 to their per unit fulfillment fee rates. As an example, if a seller had previously paid $5 in fulfillment fees, they’ll now pay $5.25. This fee covers the cost for Amazon to pick, pack, ship the products in less than two days, and provide customer service on the orders.

"Like many, we have experienced significant cost increases and absorbed them, wherever possible, to reduce the impact on our selling partners,” Amazon said in an email sent to its sellers. 

The company noted that while the surcharge is a mechanism broadly used across supply chain providers, the move was unplanned. Going into 2022, Amazon anticipated a return to business as usual as COVID-19 restrictions eased, but fuel prices and inflation presented the company with unexpected challenges.

Consumers may have to pay more

ConsumerAffairs reached out to Amazon to see if the company expected the extra surcharge to result in consumers paying more for products, but the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Amazon sellers are already speaking out.

“Consumers will lose,” Dan Brownsher, the owner of e-commerce consulting business Channel Key, told Bloomberg News. “Amazon already raised fees in January, so sellers will have to raise prices.”

While Amazon is in the spotlight at the moment, it’s not the only company raising prices or adding surcharges to offset the impact of inflation and gas prices. Rideshare leaders Lyft and Uber have also added fuel surcharges to help compensate their drivers for the spike in fuel prices that they have to pay out of their own pockets.

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Update: This story has been updated to reflect a clarification on how Amazon will be applying the 5% surcharge to sellers.

In an attempt to keep its bottom line from going into the red, Amazon has announced that it will begin charging sellers a 5% surcharge related to inflation...

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Amazon to shutter bookstores, pop-ups, and home goods shops

Amazon is saying goodbye to its 68 physical bookstores, pop-up shops, and home goods stores and putting all its brick-and-mortar eggs into its grocery and fashion baskets. 

The news, first reported by Reuters, is somewhat of an ironic move given Amazon’s beginning as a bookseller. But as Borders, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers have found out, that market has almost completely shifted online.

Amazon said it would focus its physical presence on grocery stores and a department store concept that it’s working on going forward.

The right move to make

Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst, told Reuters that this was a smart move on Amazon’s part. He believes Amazon and physical bookstores were as bad a match as electric car maker Tesla opening gas stations.

Pachter said Amazon's new chief executive, Andy Jassy, probably made this call as he reviewed the retailer's various businesses. "Retail is hard, and they're discovering that," he said.

Reuters reports that Amazon hasn’t issued a firm timeline on when its 4-star, pop-up, and bookstore locations will close their doors, but the company plans to notify customers via signage at the various locations. Workers will reportedly be given a choice between severance pay or receiving help finding jobs at any nearby company stores like the Amazon Fresh grocery locations it announced last year.

Amazon is saying goodbye to its 68 physical bookstores, pop-up shops, and home goods stores and putting all its brick-and-mortar eggs into its grocery and...

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Amazon rolls out its virtual health service nationwide

After a gradual launch over nearly two years, Amazon is rolling out its digital health service, Amazon Care, to consumers across the country.

Amazon began the process in 2019 when it introduced Amazon Care as a pilot program for employees near the company’s Seattle headquarters. Last year, it expanded the program to Amazon employees nationwide and to employees of all companies in Washington state.

The program provides virtual visits with health care providers, as well as telehealth consultations and in-home visits for a fee from nurses for tests and vaccinations. Since its launch, it has become more of a primary care service.

The service is aimed at patients who do not have convenient access to doctors’ offices or who have mobility issues. But it could also help consumers like Mark, of Hickory Creek, Texas, an Anthem policyholder who moved and was forced to find a new physician, which they said was a frustrating process.

“I selected a doctor and found that not only had he relocated to another state, the phone number listed didn't even belong to a doctor's office,” Mark wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “The second doctor I added as my PCP (primary care physician) no longer worked at the office listed on Anthem's website.”

Continuing trend?

Government data shows that virtual doctor visits increased 63-fold as the COVID-19 pandemic closed or limited access to many health facilities. While things have slowly gotten back to normal, Amazon is banking on the trend of telehealth services continuing.

But Amazon Care is not limited to telehealth services. The company is expanding in-person care to more U.S. cities, with plans to provide these services later this year in 20 cities, including New York City, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco.

The in-person service provides a health care professional who will visit the patient’s home to perform tasks such as measuring vital signs, giving injections, and doing blood work. According to Medicare, home health care is “usually less expensive, more convenient, and just as effective as care you get in a hospital or skilled nursing facility.”

After a gradual launch over nearly two years, Amazon is rolling out its digital health service, Amazon Care, to consumers across the country.Amazon beg...

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Amazon is raising the price of Prime memberships

Amazon is raising the price of its Prime membership, citing rising costs and a continued expansion of membership benefits.

The rate is going up from $119 a year and $12.99 a month to $139 a year and 14.99 a month. New subscribers will pay the higher rate starting February 18, while existing members will pay the higher charges after March 25.

Amazon announced the price hike late Thursday when it reported its quarterly earnings. The company told investors and analysts that it continues to invest heavily in Prime.

For example, the company says it has added more products that are available with free unlimited Prime shipping in the last few years. Amazon said Prime members also have access to more digital content because it has tripled the number of Amazon Originals and is rolling out new series and movies like The Boys, The Wheel of Time, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Underground Railroad, Sound of Metal, Coming 2 America, The Tomorrow War, and Being the Ricardos.

It has also written a pretty large check to the NFL so that Prime will become the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football this fall as part of a historic 11-year agreement.

How will consumers respond?

While some consumers may absorb the higher cost others might not. Colleen, of Everett, Wash., tells us she has been a Prime member for years but lately has been less satisfied.

“Obviously prime membership fees have gone up over the years, but unfortunately the service has declined,” Colleen wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “The drivers don't leave packages where the instructions state. Heck, I've come home to find out they left them 4 or 5 houses down.”

But Renee, of Las Vegas, might be okay paying the higher fee because she says the company is easy to work with.

“Always satisfied, they refund if there is a problem,” Renee told ConsumerAffairs. “You can now drop at UPS or Kohls and just have them scan code on your phone and don't have to pack. 

In recent months, Amazon has put more money into lessening the time between ordering and delivery. Prime membership began with free two-day delivery. 

Since 2018, the company has expanded the markets where Prime members can get same-day delivery to more than 90. It also said the number of items eligible for Prime shipping has increased by 50% during that time.

Amazon is raising the price of its Prime membership, citing rising costs and a continued expansion of membership benefits.The rate is going up from $11...

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Amazon’s Alexa told a child to touch a live wire with a coin

Amazon said it has updated its Alexa personal assistant after the device instructed a British girl to touch a coin to a live wire.

The incident reportedly occurred when the 10-year-old girl asked Alexa for a “challenge to do.” According to the child’s mother, who reported the incident on Twitter, her daughter had been performing different physical challenges to stay busy. 

When bad weather prevented outdoor activity, the girl asked Alexa for a “challenge” she could perform indoors.

"Plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs," the smart speaker said.

In a statement to the BBC, Amazon said it reprogrammed Alexa to remove the instruction as soon as the company became aware of it. According to Kristin Livdahl, the girl’s mother, Alexa described the dangerous challenge as “something I found on the web.”

"We were doing some physical challenges, like laying down and rolling over holding a shoe on your foot, from a [physical education] teacher on YouTube earlier,” Livdahl wrote on Twitter. “Bad weather outside. She just wanted another one."

Originated on TikTok

According to the BBC, "the penny challenge" began circulating on TikTok and other social media during the pandemic. While not usually lethal, the resulting shock can cause serious injury.

"Customer trust is at the center of everything we do and Alexa is designed to provide accurate, relevant, and helpful information to customers," Amazon said in a statement. 

PopBuzz, a pop culture website, reports that the dangerous challenge originated on TikTok. Users of the app have previously suggested “challenges” that come with different degrees of danger.

“Over the course of the past 12 months, TikTok has introduced us to a wide variety of challenges,” the site reports. “At the start of the year, we had the Buss It Challenge (everyone loves a good makeover), then there was the Milk Crate Challenge (this one ended in a lot of injuries), and more recently people have been doing the Wear It Big Challenge (the perfect viral thirst trap moment).”

The “penny challenge” is among the most dangerous of the suggested challenges, safety experts warn. Not only will the person get a dangerous jolt of electricity, but the stunt can cause a fire or serious injuries.

Amazon said it has updated its Alexa personal assistant after the device instructed a British girl to touch a coin to a live wire.The incident reported...

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Amazon Web Services outage interrupts package deliveries

An outage at Amazon’s “Amazon Web Services” (AWS) cloud services on Tuesday interrupted internet traffic for a time, but the residual effect will be a slowdown in Amazon’s precise package delivery schedule.

In addition to taking down popular websites, streaming services, and gaming platforms, the outage affected the app that Amazon’s delivery personnel use to move orders from the online retail giant. 

Amazon has not yet commented on the outage, but various media reports cite delivery service partners who say the outage blocked drivers from getting delivery instructions and interrupted communications within the system. According to Bloomberg, Amazon Flex drivers could not log into the Amazon app to pick up assignments.

AWS reported the problem on its dashboard at 9:37 a.m. (PST), saying that it was “seeing impact to multiple AWS APIs in the US-EAST-1 Region. This issue is also affecting some of our monitoring and incident response tooling, which is delaying our ability to provide updates. We have identified the root cause and are actively working towards recovery.”

By 4:35 p.m. (PST) it reported the issues had been resolved. “We will provide additional updates for impaired services within the appropriate entry in the Service Health Dashboard,” the company said.

“Bethany,” who says she works at an Amazon facility, reported on Twitter Wednesday morning that operations were back to normal at her location. Her Twitter feed gives a running account of how the outage interrupted operations, including a video showing a line of Amazon trucks parked along a road.

Many websites were down 

DownDetecrtor, which monitors interruptions in internet traffic, reported that the outage originated in the eastern U.S. on Tuesday morning. The list of sites that were affected reads like a who’s who of the internet.

At one point, some users were unable to access Netflix, Disney+, Robinhood, and other popular websites. Amazon services were also affected. In some homes, Alexa was suddenly silent, Roomba took a break from house cleaning, and Ring stopped monitoring who was at the door.

According to AWS, the cause of the outage was “increased error rates.” While engineers worked to correct the problem, affected customers were redirected to servers that were operating normally.

An outage at Amazon’s “Amazon Web Services” (AWS) cloud services on Tuesday interrupted internet traffic for a time, but the residual effect will be a slow...

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Amazon on target to become the king of delivery in early 2022

If someone asked you which company runs the biggest delivery service in the U.S., which one would you say? Well, by early 2022, one Amazon executive said his company will be overtaking both FedEx and UPS.

The online retailer was already close to that goal. It delivered more than 3.5 billion packages the year before the pandemic, which was enough to make its shipping business two-thirds the size of UPS.

Now, buoyed by a recent study by Transimpact that showed 32.2% of consumers are doing more than half of their holiday shopping on Amazon, the company has never been in a better position to take the lead.

“We expect we will be one of the largest carriers in the world by the end of this year,” Clark said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I think we’ll probably be the largest package delivery carrier in the U.S. by the time we get to the end of the year, if not in early ‘22.”

Building slowly but successfully

Ever since 2013, when Amazon trusted other carriers to deliver its packages and wound up with a holiday shipping catastrophe, the company has been investing in its logistics and fulfillment operations.

In fact, Amazon got so good at the delivery game that it began shipping cargo for third-party companies, reportedly including the U.S. Postal Service. Now, with 400,000 drivers, 40,000 trucks, 30,000 vans, and 70 planes, it’s proven how serious it is about delivery.

“Since they’re servicing delivery routes already, it’s almost all marginal revenue to pick up and deliver third party shipments,” said ViewFromTheWing’s Gary Leff. “That puts them in a position to undercut competitor pricing. They’ve already tested a lower-priced and lower-fee competitor to overnight shipping services in Los Angeles and London.”

Holiday shipping tests Amazon

While Amazon appears to be improving its delivery game, the influx of packages that it will have to handle during the holidays is sure to test its capabilities. One ConsumerAffairs reviewer thinks the company still has some work to do before it’s crowned the king of all delivery. 

“My family and I have two Prime memberships. Overall, my experiences with Amazon have been positive and we have given the company tens of thousands of dollars in business,” wrote Joseph of South Plainfield, N.J. 

“I do understand that the pandemic and the shortage of qualified labor can result in less than perfect results, but packing fragile merchandise in unpadded envelopes is totally unacceptable. In the last two weeks I received three shipments packed in envelopes and in each case the product was damaged. Amazon needs to fix this at once.”

If someone asked you which company runs the biggest delivery service in the U.S., which one would you say? Well, by early 2022, one Amazon executive said h...

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Amazon pays $500,000 to settle claims of hiding COVID-19 cases from workers

Amazon will pay $500,000 to the state of California to settle claims that it hid COVID-19 cases from its warehouse workers. The company also agreed to reverse its misstep by improving its health safety measures and conforming to a state law that requires employees and local health agencies to be notified about workplace COVID-19 exposures within one business day.

Amazon employs about 150,000 people in California, the majority of them at fulfillment centers. It recently announced plans to add another 23,000 jobs in the state.

Earlier this year, Amazon came under fire for a lack of coronavirus-related protection for its employees. When the company disclosed that 13 of its facilities had been affected by at least one coronavirus case, it was hit with criticism by workers who said they had faced pressure to work longer hours during the crisis and hadn’t been offered protective gear or screening for possible coronavirus symptoms. 

Sending a clear message

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called Amazon out for “harmful labor practices” in the state’s judgment against the retailer, saying the company failed to provide key information on workplace protections as part of California’s “right-to-know” law. Bonta charged the retailer of not allowing workers to effectively monitor the spread of the virus. 

“As our nation continues to battle the pandemic, it is absolutely critical that businesses do their part to protect workers now — and especially during this holiday season,” commented Bonta. “Bottom line: Californians have a right to know about potential exposures to the coronavirus to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. … This judgment sends a clear message that businesses must comply with this important law. It helps protect us all.”

The agreement still has to get court approval, but Bonta said Amazon will notify local health agencies within 48 hours of new COVID-19 cases if all goes according to plan.

In a statement, Barbara Agrait, a spokesperson for Amazon, said that the company was “glad to have this resolved and to see that the AG found no substantive issues with the safety measures in our buildings.”

Amazon will pay $500,000 to the state of California to settle claims that it hid COVID-19 cases from its warehouse workers. The company also agreed to reve...

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Amazon to expand Alexa into hospitals and nursing homes

Amazon is moving Alexa into U.S. hospitals and senior care facilities. The company announced that the personal assistant will serve a number of roles, from supporting medical staff to helping patients communicate with family members

While Alexa was originally introduced as a home device, Amazon has modified it in recent years for use in large facilities -- such as hotels, apartment buildings, and vacation rentals. Alexa Smart Properties will enable senior living and health care providers to integrate the digital assistant into their properties and “empower residents and patients to stay connected, informed and entertained,” according to an Amazon press release.

Besides supporting patients and keeping them more connected, Amazon said the service will increase care team productivity and operational efficiency.

“We believe the intuitive and accessible nature of voice and Alexa has the potential to help and delight customers in many scenarios, in and outside of the home,” said Liron Torres, head of Alexa Smart Properties, Amazon. “We’re excited to extend the experiences customers already love to senior living communities and healthcare systems, and give providers new ways to save time and personalize care for their patients and residents.”

Tested during the pandemic

The move follows a more than year-long pilot project that tested the concept. It coincided with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, long-term care facilities shut off access to visitors to protect residents from the virus.

Amazon’s pilot program introduced Alexa into these facilities in a bid to reduce residents’ sense of isolation. The pilot project also introduced Alexa into hospitals.

For example, doctors were able to use Alexa’s intercom-like feature to communicate with patients without having to go into their rooms. It not only reduced the risk of transmitting germs, it also allowed medical personnel to cover more ground in a shorter amount of time.

Nationwide rollout

Hospital systems that have already adopted Alexa include Northwell Health, Cedars-Sinai, BayCare, and Houston Methodist. In the weeks ahead, Amazon stated that it will make Echo devices and the Alexa assistant available to hospitals nationwide. 

“We’ve consistently moved to put our residents in the position to live their best lives, now,” said John Moore, CEO of Atria Senior Living. “Technology has played a critical role in this effort. When you combine our resident and family app with the deployment of Alexa Smart Properties in our communities, seniors have an even greater ability to write the next chapter of their lives through easy-to-use technology that keeps them engaged and connected to their families at all times.”

Amazon is moving Alexa into U.S. hospitals and senior care facilities. The company announced that the personal assistant will serve a number of roles, from...

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Congress accuses Amazon of providing misleading or false testimony

Several members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee have written to Amazon’s legal department, claiming that the online merchant’s top brass -- including founder Jeff Bezos -- misled or lied to Congress about the company’s business practices.

The letter allegedly stated that the committee is considering "whether a referral of this matter to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation is appropriate.”

The letter came on the heels of a Reuters investigation suggesting that the company ran a “systematic campaign of creating knockoffs and manipulating search results to boost its own product lines in India.” The letter stated that "credible reporting" in the Reuters story and recent articles in several other news outlets "directly contradicts the sworn testimony and representations of Amazon's top executives – including former CEO Jeffrey Bezos."

Amazon accused of misleading lawmakers

The House Judiciary Committee has been taking a long look into the competitive battlefield in digital markets, including how Amazon uses its proprietary seller data and whether it unfairly gives its own products an advantage when a website visitor searches for a certain product. 

"At best, this reporting confirms that Amazon's representatives misled the Committee. At worst, it demonstrates that they may have lied to Congress in possible violation of federal criminal law," the letter reads. 

Firing back, an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement that Amazon and its executives “did not mislead the committee, and we have denied and sought to correct the record on the inaccurate media articles in question."

"As we have previously stated, we have an internal policy, which goes beyond that of any other retailer's policy that we're aware of, that prohibits the use of individual seller data to develop Amazon private label products. We investigate any allegations that this policy may have been violated and take appropriate action," the company said.

Amazon must respond by November

It’s a safe bet that the attorneys at Amazon will be working overtime for the next few weeks. The congressional letter gives newly minted Amazon CEO Andy Jassy one last chance to turn over evidence that will verify statements and testimony the company gave earlier. 

Adding in a bit of a threat, the letter reminds Amazon that "it is criminally illegal to knowingly and willfully make statements that are materially false, conceal a material fact, or otherwise provide false documentation in response to a congressional investigation."

The clock is ticking fast. Congress is only giving Amazon’s new CEO until Nov. 1 to explain how the online retailer uses non-public individual seller data to develop and market its own line of products. It also wants to know why Amazon's search rankings seem to favor its own products when a consumer searches for them.

Several members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee have written to Amazon’s legal department, claiming that the online merchant’s top brass -- including...

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Amazon to start production on its first Amazon-built TV

The first Amazon-built TV is on the way. The official name is the “Fire TV Omni Series Smart TVs with 4K Ultra HD” and features hands-free voice control powered by who else but Alexa. 

The company says the price for the TVs starts at an “affordable” $369.99 and will be available exclusively at Amazon and Best Buy come October. If anyone wants to beat the rush and get their order in early, Amazon is giving $110 off the 50” Fire TV Omni and 4-Series models during the introductory period.

“We’ve reimagined what a TV can do by building it with two of our most popular experiences at the core — the intelligent always-available power of far-field Alexa, and Fire TV’s content-forward approach to entertainment,” said Daniel Rausch, Vice President, Amazon Entertainment Devices and Services. “Our new Fire TV Omni Series smart TVs, with hands-free access to Alexa, make controlling your TV faster, simpler, and more natural.”

“Alexa, turn on the Mets game…”

Amazon likes its chances with anything it can build Alexa into, and the TVs are no different. The company says Alexa provides for smarter content delivery without the need to remember which channel name, streaming service, or input device to switch to. Users can also use voice to control playback, closed captions, and brightness, and manage TV or sound bar volume, switch inputs, and more. And as with Alexa-powered Echo units, TV users can create a routine so when a user says, “Alexa, kick off my day,” their Fire TV and smart lights turn on, and Alexa will share the weather, remind them of that day’s calendar events, and tune to the news on live TV.

The company could force users to stick with Amazon-created and powered content, but it realizes that limits its chance of success. Instead, it cut a partnership deal with Netflix to give users additional cross-platform access. The Netflix integration will be available from the get-go, but the company says that an “Alexa, Play Something on Netflix” feature will be added “soon.”

One of the cool features in the new Fire TV will delight movie fans who depend on IMDb to look up who a certain actor is in a movie they’re watching on Prime Video. Fire TV’s “X-Ray” feature will allow users to ask things like “Alexa, who is this actor?” to see details about the actors in that scene, which will appear at the bottom of the TV screen. Upstaging IMDb a bit further, the feature will allow users to access bios, filmographies, facts, trivia, character backstories, photo galleries, bonus video content, and more, so they don’t have to pick up their phone and go on a search mission to get those answers.

The first Amazon-built TV is on the way. The official name is the “Fire TV Omni Series Smart TVs with 4K Ultra HD” and features hands-free voice control po...

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Amazon reportedly looks into rolling out department stores

Is there anything Amazon can’t -- or won’t -- do? The giant of darn near everything is reportedly toying with the idea of opening department stores.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the company is adding to its existing brick-and-mortar landscape of bookstores, grocery stores, and cashless convenience stores starting in Ohio and California. In regards to size, the stores won’t have the footprint of a traditional department store like Macy’s. It will most likely be closer to the size of a Kohl’s or T.J. Maxx store, and it may be featured in strip malls rather than traditional shopping malls.

Why department stores?

If you’re the largest retailer on the planet and doing it all online, why do you need a physical catch-all presence like a department store? That’s a fair question. If you've been tracking Amazon’s every move, there are lots of little clues the company has dropped leading up to this. 

Little by little, the company has tried to create niches for itself, including its entry into the high-fashion world with “Luxury Stores,” the wide array of Alexa-centered tech, and all of its little private label products ranging from luggage to cleaning products. Those alone may be enough to fill up a department store.

Amazon’s decision to enter the department store game comes at an odd time. Thanks to the pandemic, shopping malls and anchor stores like JCPenney and Lord & Taylor shuttered or went bankrupt, and others like Macy’s and Nordstrom have been putting lots of money into trying to bring back consumers who have moved their shopping online.

But there are those who say the time is right for Amazon. Even though physical stores took a bit of a hit during the pandemic, foot traffic has slowly returned. 

“People are absolutely returning and shopping in department stores,” John Idol, the chief executive of the Michael Kors parent Capri Holdings Ltd., told analysts on a conference call last month.

Is there anything Amazon can’t -- or won’t -- do? The giant of darn near everything is reportedly toying with the idea of opening department stores.Acc...

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Amazon officially opens new air hub in Kentucky

Amazon has unveiled a new $1.5 billion air hub in northern Kentucky that it says will help customers get their packages delivered significantly faster. The e-commerce giant says the new Amazon Air hub will also give it greater control over its logistics network. 

After more than four years in planning and development, operations at the 600-acre hub officially got underway on Wednesday. The hub was designed to be able to accommodate 100 Amazon-branded planes and handle an estimated 200 flights per day, but Amazon says its main focus right now is handling package volume. 

“Right now, we’re focused on our customers for sure,” Amazon Global Air vice president Sarah Rhoads told CNBC. “We built the hub in Cincinnati to serve our Amazon customers, there’s really no other purpose than that.”

Future plans

The sortation building, which spans 800,000 square feet, will use robotic arms to move and sort packages and mobile drive units to move packages within the building. The company said more than 2,000 people will eventually be employed there, and millions of packages will be processed each week. 

"Across the coming years, Amazon Air will help attract more manufacturers, service providers, and tech companies to Kentucky seeking to take similar advantage of our key geographic location,'' Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement. "Congratulations and thanks to Amazon for this monumental investment in our state and workforce. We look forward to continuing the commonwealth’s longstanding and successful partnership with Amazon for decades to come.''

Amazon also has air hubs at airports in Texas, Puerto Rico, and Florida. The company has plans to expand to San Bernardino International Airport in California in 2021.

Amazon has unveiled a new $1.5 billion air hub in northern Kentucky that it says will help customers get their packages delivered significantly faster. The...

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Amazon will pay for damages or injuries caused by third-party products

Starting September 1, Amazon will pay customers who suffer injury or damages caused by products sold by its third-party sellers. It will not admit liability and will limit claims to $1,000.

The policy is intended to head off lawsuits that consumers have filed over the years that seek to hold the multi-billion dollar company responsible for damages or injuries caused by small businesses that use its platform. Amazon’s position has been that the third-party seller is responsible, and the courts have generally agreed.

To a casual consumer, everything for sale on Amazon may look like it is an Amazon product, but the number of third-party sellers on the platform has been increasing over the years. By some estimates, more than 50% of products sold on the platform are now offered through third-party sellers.

Consumers have sometimes complained about the quality and safety of these products. Recently Tim, of Schenectady, N.Y., posted a ConsumerAffairs review about a fold-away football goal for his son that was purchased from a third-party Amazon seller.

“It came folded in a thin fabric bag, as we opened it snapped open, the plastic/composite bars that were folded in tension burst out, all them were snapped from the metal bars that held them together and so their spiked edges flew out almost catching me in the eye,” Tim wrote.

Going after counterfeiters

Amazon’s third-party marketplace has often been accused of being riddled with unsafe and counterfeit products. Along with the new policy on claims, Amazon said it is launching a crackdown on counterfeiters.

The company joined GoPro in a lawsuit against seven individuals and two entities on Tuesday, accusing them of counterfeiting GoPro’s popular camera accessories, including the floating hand grip, “The Handler,” and the “3-Way” grip, extension arm, and tripod mount. 

The suit claims that the defendants attempted to offer the infringing products on Amazon’s platform, violating the company’s policies, infringing on GoPro’s trademarks, and breaking the law.

"When counterfeiters attempt to sell in our store, they not only violate the intellectual property rights of companies like GoPro, they also mislead consumers and harm Amazon's reputation as a place to buy authentic goods,” said Kebharu Smith, director of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. It claims that nine defendants used GoPro’s registered trademarks without authorization “to deceive customers about the authenticity and origin of the products and create a false affiliation with GoPro.”

Amazon said it has closed the defendants’ selling accounts and has refunded affected customers.

Starting September 1, Amazon will pay customers who suffer injury or damages caused by products sold by its third-party sellers. It will not admit liabilit...

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Amazon users get harassed by companies after leaving negative reviews, report suggests

Here’s a head-scratcher for the Amazon shopping aficionado: Have you ever noticed that there are some inexpensive, unbranded products that score a huge number of glowing 4- and 5-star reviews but never seem to get hit with less-than-positive 1- or 2-star reviews?

That very question caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal. When it investigated the matter, it found that some sellers are flipping the scenarios of the poor reviews by offering refunds or gift cards to unhappy buyers in exchange for revising or deleting their negative reviews. Once you eliminate the bad reviews from the bunch, the overall average star rating for a product can rise exponentially.

It’s a no-no, but…

Amazon sellers take an oath that they won’t reach out to customers outside of Amazon’s official channels, but the Journal’s investigation suggests that they do. As an example, the publication told the story of Amazon customer Katherine Scott, who purchased an oil spray bottle for cooking based on close to 1,000 impressive, 4.5-star reviews of the product. However, when the $10 sprayer arrived, Scott said the item didn’t work as advertised.

“It was like a Super Soaker gun instead of a spray-paint can, which defeats the purpose of the product,” she said.

Scott left a negative review for the product, but a week later, and despite Amazon’s policy, she supposedly received an email from someone claiming to be from the customer service team at the company that makes the oil sprayer. 

“We are willing to refund in full,” the representative wrote. “We hope you can reconsider deleting comments at your convenience okay?” Then, came the kicker: “When we do not receive a response, we will assume that you did not see it, and will continue to send emails.”

Buyer beware

Amazon says that while it does not share customer email addresses with third-party sellers or brands, both are permitted to communicate with buyers through Amazon’s built-in messaging platform, which hides the customer’s email address. The company says sellers and brands also aren’t allowed to ask customers to remove negative reviews.

In Scott’s situation, she reportedly told the representative who contacted her that she would accept a refund but that she wouldn’t delete her review. The next day, another representative reached out and declined her refund request.

“A bad review is a fatal blow to us,” read the email. “Could you help me delete the review? If you can, I want to refund $20 to you to express my gratitude.” (twice what Ms. Scott paid.) A few hours later, she received another plea from the same email address.

“It was so creepy. They emailed me directly about it over and over,” Scott told the Journal.

When ConsumerAffairs reached out to Amazon about the Journal's story, a spokesperson said the company takes its reviews seriously.

"We have clear policies for both reviewers and selling partners that prohibit abuse of our community features, and we suspend, ban, and take legal action against those who violate these policies," they said. Bad actors that attempt to abuse our system make up a tiny fraction of activity on our site and we use sophisticated tools to combat them and we make it increasingly difficult for them to hide."

The official confirmed that paying users to edit or delete reviews is a violation of its community features.

What should consumers do when this happens?

Nicole Nguyen, the Journal’s personal tech columnist, says there are several things consumers can do to avoid getting wrapped up in this kind of situation.

Don’t use your name in Amazon reviews. “I encourage people to leave as many Amazon reviews as possible. But if you do, keep your real name or initials out of the write-up to prevent the seller or brand from contacting you off-platform,” she wrote.

Change your public name on Amazon. Nguyen says Amazon users can change their public name on Amazon’s platform by going to their account page and clicking on their Amazon profile under “Ordering and shopping preferences.” The process is simple: Click “Edit your public profile,” and then select “Edit privacy settings” to manage what appears on your profile. You can also choose to hide all your activity as an added protection.

Save all of your communications. If someone -- like a seller or a brand company behind a product -- sends you a questionable or abusive email, download or make screenshots of the messages so you can share them with Amazon’s customer service team. They can take the matter from there.

Report abuse to Amazon. Nguyen says she found out during her conversation with Amazon that customers can report abuse by emailing community-help@amazon.com. Users should include every detail they can about the negative experience and include any screenshots they may have taken. Next to product reviews, there is a “Report Abuse” link you can use as well.

Block their email address. Nguyen warns Amazon users against contacting a brand or company that sends you these kinds of messages because it may only confirm that you’re a real person -- and that could prompt them to send even more messages. To block emails in Gmail, click the three dots in the top right corner of the email message. If you use Outlook, select a message, then in the menu bar, go to Message > Junk Mail > Block Sender.

Amazon’s other review issues

Pulling back the curtain on bad actors trying to game Amazon’s review process may complicate what the company is already going through with officials from the U.K. Earlier this summer, regulators opened an investigation into Amazon and Google over the companies’ failure to remove fake product reviews. 

Reviews submitted to ConsumerAffairs show that Amazon’s treatment of reviews can be particularly frustrating. Marc from Texas recently wrote to say that he’s been a long-time Amazon user but that the platform’s “censoring of product reviews is absolutely abhorrent.”

Here’s a head-scratcher for the Amazon shopping aficionado: Have you ever noticed that there are some inexpensive, unbranded products that score a huge num...

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Amazon announces new programs for reselling returned and overstocked items

Amazon has announced a pair of new programs to resell customer returns and overstocked items. The unveiling of the new programs follows backlash to the results of an investigation showing that the e-commerce giant was destroying thousands of items. 

In June, U.K. outlet ITV News published a report saying that Amazon was destroying new items rather than reselling them. The report contained footage from inside one of the company’s warehouses near Glasgow, Scotland, where items in their original packaging were on carts headed to a “destruction zone.”  

In a blog post on Wednesday, Amazon said it’s launching two programs that will help ensure that customer returns and overstocked products get a second life. Amazon says the new programs are part of its “commitment to both sellers and sustainability.”

Giving inventory ‘new life’

The first program, called FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) Grade and Resell, will let third-party sellers list returned items as “used” products that can be purchased by customers. Item pricing will be determined by Amazon based on condition. The program is rolling out first in the U.K. but will come to the U.S. and other markets later. 

A second program, called FBA Liquidations, lets sellers ship returned or overstocked inventory to wholesalers using the company’s wholesale resale channel. Sellers can connect with Amazon’s bulk resale partners and try to “recover a portion of their inventory cost,” Amazon said. This program has already started in the U.S., Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, and it’s set to begin in the U.K. this month.

Amazon executive Libby Johnson McKee described customer returns as “a fact of life for all retailers.” What becomes of those products is “an industry-wide challenge,” she said. 

“These new programmes are examples of the steps we’re taking to ensure that products sold on Amazon—whether by us or our small business partners—go to good use and don’t become waste,” McKee said.

Amazon has announced a pair of new programs to resell customer returns and overstocked items. The unveiling of the new programs follows backlash to the res...

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Amazon to give $10 in credit to those who enroll in its palm print payment system

Amazon is offering $10 in promotional credit to those who sign up to its palm print payments system, Amazon One

The contactless payment option, which Amazon launched last September, lets customers link their card to their palm signature. The company has since brought the technology to 53 of its retail establishments across the U.S. 

The payment option can be found at Amazon Go convenience stores, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Books, Amazon 4-star stores, and Amazon Pop Ups. Now, Amazon is seeking to expand the number of customers who use the technology at these locations. 

Shoppers who sign up to use Amazon One can get a $10 voucher. Amazon says the sign-up process takes less than a minute and that paying using the tech takes just a second. After linking a payment card to one or both palm signatures, customers can then begin paying for their items simply by hovering their palm over the reader device.

Privacy a priority

Amazon has promised to secure palm data using encryption, data isolation, and dedicated secure zones with restricted access control. The company has also promised to keep palm data separate from other Amazon customer data. 

A small subset of “anonymous” palm data will be used to help Amazon improve its system. Amazon said that data will be "protected using multiple layers of security controls." The company also said it will delete palm signature data in the event that an Amazon One ID is canceled or if a user hasn’t interacted with one of its palm scanners for two years. 

“Customer trust is our top priority. We treat your palm signature just like other highly sensitive personal data and keep it safe using best-in-class technical and physical security controls,” Amazon said. 

Amazon is offering $10 in promotional credit to those who sign up to its palm print payments system, Amazon One. The contactless payment option, which...

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Older Amazon Kindles will soon no longer have internet access, company says

That old Kindle of yours might soon become obsolete if you use it to access the web. With 2G and 3G networks going the way of the digital dinosaur, so will a number of Amazon Kindles when it comes to accessing the internet.

Amazon is being upfront about the situation. In a post, it said the following devices will no longer be able to connect to the internet in the U.S. by December:

  • Kindle (1st and 2nd Generation)

  • Kindle DX (2nd Generation)

If you own one of the following devices, you should still be able to access the web with no problems: 

  • Kindle Keyboard (3rd Generation)

  • Kindle Touch (4th Generation)

  • Kindle Paperwhite (5th Generation)/(6th Generation)/(7th Generation)

  • Kindle Voyage (7th Generation)

  • Kindle Oasis (8th Generation)

If you are unsure what device you have, visit Identify Your Kindle E-Reader for more information.

This is not Amazon’s fault

Before throwing Amazon under the bus for selling something that eventually becomes obsolete, it’s important to know that the company really had no hand in this and that the issue is completely out of its control.

However, if you do have one of the affected models, Amazon is offering to help ease the sting a bit by offering registered users a couple of options: 

  1.  $15 in credit for ebooks and $50 off a new Kindle Paperwhite ($129.99) or Kindle Oasis ($249.99) using the code NEWKINDLE50. 

  2. Trade in the old model for a new one. 

  3. Recycle the old device.

That old Kindle of yours might soon become obsolete if you use it to access the web. With 2G and 3G networks going the way of the digital dinosaur, so will...

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Amazon announces plans to hire 100,000 veterans and military spouses by 2024

Amazon’s revenue is growing at a clip of 40+% over last year, and there’s no sign that things will be slowing down anytime soon. To keep up with that growth, the online retailer is planning to add another notch to its growing list of hiring sprees by employing an additional 100,000 U.S. military vets and their spouses by 2024.

Amazon has been down this path before -- and with great success. It launched a hiring initiative called Joining Forces in 2016, with the goal of hiring 25,000 veterans and military spouses by 2021. The company surpassed that goal and currently counts more than 40,000 veterans and military spouses among its workforce and across its various businesses, including Alexa and Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

“Amazon is focused on recruiting and developing military talent with training programs specifically designed to help veterans transition into roles in the private sector,” said John Quintas, Amazon’s director of global military affairs. “We value the unique skills and experience that the military community brings—and our new hiring commitment will expand the impact that military members currently have on every single business across the company.”

What vets and their spouses can expect from Amazon

In addition to a guaranteed starting rate of $15 per hour, a company-matched 401(k) plan, up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave, and a benefits package, vets and their spouses will also have access to programs that can teach them skills that will lead to higher-paying jobs in growth areas like robotics and cloud computing.

In addition, Amazon offers a prepaid tuition program called Career Choice and Amazon Technical Academy, a free nine-month training program that gives non-technical Amazon employees the skills necessary to transition into software engineering careers.

Veterans and spouses will also receive some nice perks outside the company’s walls. Included is access to fellowships, mentorships, military spouse support, and deployment benefits. They can also become a part of the Warriors@Amazon affinity group -- a community that supports veterans and military spouses through their transition into the Amazon workforce.

Amazon’s revenue is growing at a clip of 40+% over last year, and there’s no sign that things will be slowing down anytime soon. To keep up with that growt...

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CPSC sues Amazon over ‘defective and dangerous’ products on its website

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is suingAmazon to force the online retailer to accept responsibility for recalling potentially hazardous products sold on the site. 

“Today’s vote to file an administrative complaint against Amazon was a huge step forward for this small agency,” said Acting Chairman Robert Adler. “But it’s a huge step across a vast desert—we must grapple with how to deal with these massive third-party platforms more efficiently, and how best to protect the American consumers who rely on them.”

Over the years Amazon has expanded its product offerings by allowing thousands of other merchants to sell their products on Amazon.com. But the addition of so many independent sellers has not been without issues.

The government’s complaint charges that some products are defective and pose a risk of serious injury or death to consumers. The suit said it is Amazon’s responsibility to recall them.

Among the allegedly defective items named in the suit are 24,000 carbon monoxide detectors that fail to alarm, numerous children’s sleepwear garments that are reportedly in violation of the flammable fabric safety standard, and nearly 400,000 hair dryers that the CPSC says pose a threat of shock and electrocution.

The company responds

In a statement to media outlets, Amazon said it had already removed most of the objectionable products from its website and offered refunds to customers who purchased them. 

The CPSC complaint acknowledges as much but complained the refunds were offered in the form of account credits. One Amazon customer, Barbara of Riverdale, Ga., also finds that objectionable.

“Requested a refund credited to original form of payment but it was applied to an Amazon gift card,” Barbara wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. “Called and was told that it cannot be reversed. Amazon always tries to keep your money. Always check that refund is applied to correct form of payment.”

The CPSC voted 3-1 to file the suit, which seeks to force Amazon to stop selling dangerous products, work with CPSC staff on a recall of the products, and to directly notify consumers who purchased them about the recall and offer them a full refund. 

“Although Amazon has taken certain action with respect to some of the named products, the complaint charges that those actions are insufficient,” CPSC said in a statement.

For its part, Amazon pushed back against the federal agency, saying it failed to provide the company with enough information for it to identify and take action on the few remaining objectionable products. 

"Despite our requests, CPSC has remained unresponsive," the company said.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is suing Amazon to force the online retailer to accept responsibility for recalling potentially hazardou...

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U.K. to investigate Amazon and Google over failure to remove fake product reviews

British regulators are examining whether Amazon and Google have crossed the line and breached consumer protection laws by failing to protect shoppers and users from fake product reviews listed on their sites.

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that it’s been investigating the situation since 2020. While Amazon and Google wound up as the two firms in the agency’s crosshairs, CMA said it had actually assessed several platforms’ internal systems and processes for identifying and dealing with fake reviews.

“Our worry is that millions of online shoppers could be misled by reading fake reviews and then spending their money based on those recommendations,” said Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s Chief Executive. “Equally, it’s simply not fair if some businesses can fake 5-star reviews to give their products or services the most prominence, while law-abiding businesses lose out.”

The investigation is another shot across the bow of Big Tech as both U.S. and European regulators continue to call those companies on the carpet for antitrust and anticompetitive behavior. If investigators find fire where they see smoke, it could mean massive fines. It may also force tech companies to change how they’re doing business.

What investigators want to know

Investigators are intent on finding out whether Google and Amazon have done enough in four key areas:

Detecting fake and misleading reviews or suspicious patterns of behavior. As an example, CMA cited a situation where the same people reviewed the same range of products or businesses at similar times to each other, but without any logical connection between those products or businesses. 

Marking incentive-based reviews. A review should note whether the reviewer has received a payment or other incentive -- like a bonus gift -- to write a positive review.

Investigating and removing fake and misleading reviews promptly. It might be a herculean effort to remove years of fake reviews, but the CMA wants the companies to at least get in front of the problem now and monitor the situation aggressively going forward.

Taking action against reviewers and businesses behind fake reviews. Another proactive measure that the CMA is asking Google and Amazon to make is imposing sufficient sanctions on reviewers or businesses to discourage them and others from posting fake or misleading reviews.

Not effectively stopping fake reviews

While Amazon may claim it’s already doing what the CMA is asking, the agency said it hasn’t been effective at combating fake reviews or stopping sellers from manipulating shoppers.

“The CMA is also concerned that Amazon’s systems have been failing adequately to prevent and deter some sellers from manipulating product listings – for example, by co-opting positive reviews from other products,” the agency said.

While it may appear to be a foregone conclusion that CMA is accusing Amazon and Google of breaking the law, the CMA says it’s not -- this is purely an investigation.

However, if the investigation determines that either of the two companies has broken consumer protection law, then an enforcement action could be on the horizon. Punitive actions might include the companies making commitments to change the way they deal with fake reviews or, if worse comes to worst, the CMA said it would consider court action. 

British regulators are examining whether Amazon and Google have crossed the line and breached consumer protection laws by failing to protect shoppers and u...

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Amazon tests out cashierless tech in its first full-size grocery trial

Before you know it, you’ll be able to walk into a grocery store at any time of the day or night, buy what you want, and check out using your phone without having to interact with anyone. On Tuesday, Amazon took a calculated leap in that direction. At its fourteenth U.S. Amazon Fresh store, the company is giving cashierless technology its first real-time, big store opportunity.

The company’s cashier-free Just Walk Out technology will get quite a sizable test when it debuts on June 17. The new Amazon Fresh location in Bellevue, Washington, is 25,000 square feet -- more than twice the size of the company’s Amazon Go Grocery stores.

What shoppers can expect

Amazon has designed its Amazon Fresh stores to resemble a traditional full-service grocery store to keep customers comfortable with the experience. But new additions like smart grocery carts and Amazon Echo devices will change up the game and help shoppers navigate the store’s aisles.

The cashierless part also comes into play rather innocuously. The beta test store will utilize a collection of cameras and sensors to log what shoppers put in their carts and remove the need for checkout lines. When a customer has finished shopping, all they have to do is scan their smartphone at the store’s exit and walk out. 

The shopper’s credit card will be charged after they leave, and they can input their email address at an in-store kiosk if they want a receipt. If they use the same credit card at a Just Walk Out-enabled store in the future, a receipt will be emailed to them automatically.

The shape of things to come?

Amazon’s 2018 forecast for launching cashierless stores was hopeful -- 3,000 by 2021 -- but the pandemic took a bite out of those plans. Nonetheless, the company appears to be moving forward with thoughtful baby steps.

Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s vice president of physical retail and technology, told Reuters that Amazon had no market forecast to share, but he left it to consumers to decide just how big the cashierless, automated niche will be. 

“Do customers like standing in lines?” he asked. “This has pretty broad applicability across store sizes, across industries, because it fundamentally tackles a problem of how do you get convenience in physical locations, especially when people are hard-pressed for time.”

One possibility Amazon is trying to leverage is selling its Just Walk Out technology to others; it has already set up shop to offer that. In his comments, Kumar said Amazon could “potentially” sell the service to big-box rivals like Walmart or Target, but he didn’t speculate further.

Do consumers want cashierless and tech-based shopping?

While Kumar may think that a cashierless service is a slam dunk, others say that might not necessarily be the case. One customer engagement expert says that Amazon may be moving too fast and too soon.

“The cashierless model allows Amazon to double down on the reputation it has built for convenience – starting with Prime, then Prime Now, and of course its cashierless convenience stores,” Stefan Read, SVP Engagement Advisory, Strategy Practice Lead at Jackman, told ConsumerAffairs. “Given the incredible rise in comfort with digital and contactless shopping models through the pandemic, this is going to be very attractive for certain customers.”

However, Read said he believes customers are now looking for more human interaction and connection. That presents an opportunity for traditional grocers to zig where Amazon has zagged by doubling down on human-to-human interactions in the shopping experience. 

“Cashierless is undoubtedly the right play for Amazon given what they stand for, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a fit for all grocers,” Read stated.

Before you know it, you’ll be able to walk into a grocery store at any time of the day or night, buy what you want, and check out using your phone without...

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Amazon turns on internet-sharing feature on users’ devices

Amazon has activated Sidewalk, a new opt-in service that lets users share internet between Amazon devices that are always on. Sidewalk enables compatible Amazon devices, like Echo smart speakers and Ring cameras, to create a larger web of connectivity. 

Amazon said Sidewalk should make the process of setting up new devices faster and easier and allow for more expansive location tracking and notifications from devices. The company also noted that the service should help certain devices stay connected to the internet if they’re prone to being knocked offline because of wireless range issues.

Sidewalk lets customers contribute a small portion of their internet bandwidth to their greater neighborhood network. By pooling it together, users can “create a network that benefits all Sidewalk-enabled devices in a community,” Amazon stated. 

“This can include experiences ranging from finding pets or valuables that may be lost and improving reliability for devices like leak sensors or smart lighting, to diagnostics for appliances and power tools. For example, smart lighting at the edge of a user’s property, or a garage door lock in a poor coverage zone, can receive connectivity support from a participating neighbor’s gateway and continue to operate if the device falls offline for a period of time.”

Privacy and security

The company said privacy and security were of paramount importance when designing Sidewalk. Amazon even released a white paper detailing the protections integrated into the service. However, some security researchers say there’s still a risk that user data could be compromised. 

“Amazon uses layered security and restricts the amount of data that the gateway, application, and cloud can see, but every system has bugs, and it’s really hard to tell until time passes and things are found,” Omar Alrawi, founder of the YourThings project and a Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Tech specializing in security for smart-home Internet of Things devices, told the New York Times

“I think the third-party integration is a potential issue. How do you enforce that a third party won’t abuse your information?”

Participation optional

Starting Tuesday, Amazon devices will automatically start participating in the service. It is, however, completely optional for users to keep it activated. Sidewalk can be turned on or off at any time through a simple change in settings. 

Here’s how to turn it off on Ring and Echo devices: 

  • On Echo speakers. Open the Alexa mobile app and go to More, Settings, Account Settings, Amazon Sidewalk, and choose ‘Disable.’

  • Ring app. Go to the Control Center, Amazon Sidewalk, Disable, Confirm.

Amazon has activated Sidewalk, a new opt-in service that lets users share internet between Amazon devices that are always on. Sidewalk enables compatible A...

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Amazon announces dates and early deals for Prime Day 2021 event

It’s Prime Time! Amazon has announced the details for Prime Day 2021. The company is shining a bright light on the number of deals it will offer, and it also has a special perk for shoppers who buy from the retailer’s small business sellers.

Now in its sixth year, the two-day shopping extravaganza will happen on June 21 and June 22. It will offer Prime members over 2 million deals across every category — automotive, cosmetics, electronics, fashion, electronics, home décor, toys, and more.

Can’t wait until June 21?

If the anticipation of getting in on a good deal is too much to ask, Amazon does have some specials it can throw your way for now.

Early deals started being offered on Wednesday from top brands like LEGO, Mattel, BLACK+DECKER, and Le Creuset. The online retailer is also offering what it says is its best deal ever from Amazon Music, which will allow Prime members who have never tried the service to get four months free.

Here’s a quick highlight of what shoppers can buy before Prime Day officially begins:

Electronics: Save on JBL Headphones.

Toys: Save on select toys and games from LEGO, Hasbro, Barbie, Fisher-Price, Radio Flyer, and Paw Patrol.

Kitchen: Parrotheads and beach bums can save on select Margaritaville blenders, 25% on select GoWise air fryers, and up to 30% on Le Creuset cast iron and stoneware products.

Home: Select furniture, rugs, home décor, and artwork are on sale, as well as robotic vacuums from Shark and Bissel and air purifiers from Levoit and Toshiba.

Pet Products: Save up to 20% off PetSafe Feeders and up to 19% off PetSafe Easy Walk Harnesses.

Home Improvement: Maybe as an easy way to check that Father’s Day gift off your to-do list, Amazon is offering deals on select DEWALT 20-Volt MAX tools and the Z GRILLS Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker. 

Books: Amazon wouldn’t be Amazon without books, and customers can enjoy deals and discounts on select Kindle books. For book lovers who also like their books in audio form, Prime members can save over 50% on the first four months of Audible Premium Plus, at $6.95 a month.

Prime Gaming: While online gaming might not be on your list of fun things to do, it certainly is for some 41.5 million Prime Gaming users in the U.S. For a limited time, Prime members can immerse themselves — for free — in Battlefield 4, plus free games and in-game content for games like Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, and Apex Legends. 

If you’re feeling left out because you’re not a Prime member, no sweat. Anyone can join Prime or start a 30-day free trial to participate in the event. 

$10 for you and $10 for...

If you’ve seen any of Amazon’s recent TV commercials, it’s no surprise that the company is solidly behind the hundreds of thousands who are trying to incubate their own business on the company’s main platform or through Amazon Handmade or Amazon Launchpad. 

Starting on Monday, June 7, and lasting through Sunday, June 20, Amazon will offer a $10 credit to use on Prime Day to members who spend $10 on select small business products from local Black-owned, woman-owned, military family-owned, and other small businesses.

To make it easy for customers to support small businesses this Prime Day, Amazon has curated collections to connect customers with its small business partners at amazon.com/supportsmall.

As part of the Spend $10, Get $10 promotion, Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card and Amazon Prime Store Card holders with an eligible Prime membership will earn 10% back in rewards on select small business purchases. 

Prime Day = more job opportunities

In order for Amazon to make good on fulfilling all the orders it anticipates it will get during Prime Day, it’s hiring 75,000 people for its fulfillment and transportation networks. To compete with its peers like Walmart and Costco, it’s also increasing its average starting pay. The company is now offering starting wages of over $17 per hour, plus health benefits and sign-on bonuses of up to $1,000 in many locations.

The locations with the most open roles include Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin.

It’s Prime Time! Amazon has announced the details for Prime Day 2021. The company is shining a bright light on the number of deals it will offer, and it al...

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Amazon will no longer screen prospective employees for marijuana use

Following the legalization of marijuana, Amazon has announced that it will no longer test job applicants for marijauana use. In a blog post on Tuesday, the e-commerce giant said it will now treat marijuana the same as alcohol. 

"In the past, like many employers, we've disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use," the company said. "However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we've changed course."

The company added that it will continue to do “impairment checks” while workers are on the job and will test for all drugs and alcohol after any accidents or other incidents. Amazon said the only job candidates it will screen for marijuana use will be those applying for positions regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT). That category includes delivery truck drivers and operators of heavy machinery. 

In the announcement, the company also said it is backing a federal marijuana legalization bill called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (the MORE Act). 

"We hope other employers will join us, and that policymakers will act swiftly to pass this law," the company said.

‘Time off Task’ policy change

In addition to changing its stance on marijuana, Amazon said it’s also reexamining its “Time off Task” tool. Time Off Task monitors workers' productivity by keeping track of the time they spend on breaks. Critics have argued that the tool makes an already fast-paced work environment feel even more stressful. 

Dave Clark, CEO of Amazon's worldwide consumer division, claimed that the policy is “similar to policies that you’d find at many logistics and manufacturing facilities.” However, he said it can “easily be misunderstood.” 

“The primary goal of the Time off Task metric is to understand whether there are issues with the tools that people use to be productive, and only secondarily to identify under-performing employees,” he said. “Starting today, we're now averaging Time off Task over a longer period to ensure that there's more signal and less noise—reinforcing the original intent of the program, and focusing Time off Task conversations on how we can help.” 

The goal, Clark added, is to “re-focus the conversations on instances where there are likely true operational issues to resolve. We believe this change will help ensure the Time off Task policy is used in the way it was intended.”

The changes come as Amazon seeks to expand its workforce in an effort to keep up with consumer demand. Clark noted that former CEO Jeff Bezos shared the company’s vision of becoming “Earth’s Best Employer and Earth’s Safest Place to Work” last month. He said the two changes unveiled Tuesday will help the company move farther down the “path to achieving this long-term vision.” 

Following the legalization of marijuana, Amazon has announced that it will no longer test job applicants for marijauana use. In a blog post on Tuesday, the...

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Senator Klobuchar raises concerns over Amazon’s purchase of MGM

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was anything but elated on hearing the news of Amazon’s proposed purchase of MGM. She was so out of sorts that she called on the Justice Department to investigate the deal before it’s finally put to bed.

“This is a major acquisition that has the potential to impact millions of consumers,” Klobuchar said in a statement on Wednesday. “The Department of Justice must conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that this deal won’t risk harming competition.” 

While the Amazon/MGM deal seems good in theory because of all the added content that Amazon Prime Video members will now have access to, Klobuchar says the move will only give the company more power in another consumer category. 

Amazon reportedly has its eye on yet another prize that’s certain to get Klobuchar’s attention -- opening up brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

Lawmakers on both sides are wary of Amazon’s deal

Klobuchar is certainly in the right place to raise such a concern. She chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights -- the committee that has a responsibility to keep an eye on competition in digital markets.

Just ask Google or Apple how much power she wields. Under her supervision, the committee forced the two tech giants to appear before them for a hearing over app store antitrust practices. And while the Justice Department is pretty strong on its own, she’s proven that she’s not afraid to press the agency about its handling of Big Tech.

Klobuchar’s anxiety over Amazon’s newest in-road isn’t limited to Democrats. Two key Republicans -- Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) --  also made it known that they feel Amazon should not be permitted to purchase MGM.

“This sale should not go through. Amazon is already a monopoly platform that owns e-commerce, shipping, groceries & the cloud. They shouldn’t be permitted to buy anything else. Period,” Hawley said in a tweet Wednesday. Buck tweeted back his support with a simple “Agreed.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was anything but elated on hearing the news of Amazon’s proposed purchase of MGM. She was so out of sorts that she called on the...

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Amazon reportedly considers setting up brick-and-mortar pharmacies

Reports are circulating that Amazon is seriously thinking about building out brick-and-mortar pharmacies in the U.S. The news -- first reported by Business Insider -- was met with silence at Amazon. 

A company spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on rumors. However, they did say Amazon Pharmacy -- the company’s online Rx delivery service that was launched last November -- is focused on making at-home delivery pharmacy easier and more convenient for customers.

If Amazon goes the brick-and-mortar route, it seems like a logical step. Amazon Pharmacy was built on the back of the company’s acquisition of PillPack. At the time, Amazon promised that its new acquisition would remain separate from its main online business and was simply an outlet to cater to consumers who prefer pre-packaged doses of medications.

The stock market goes wild on the news

The news that Amazon might jump into other pharmacies' space spurred a price drop of the stocks of drugstore chain operators CVS Health, Rite Aid, and Walgreens.

All of these moves are speculative, but there’s usually a knee-jerk reaction whenever Amazon says it’s “considering” something. When word hit the street that the company was looking at buying Whole Foods in 2017, grocery store chain stock values went crazy for nearly a month as investors feared that the whole grocery experience was about to change forever.

“I would encourage investors to remember this: It will take decades for Amazon to roll out the thousands and thousands of stores that CVS and Walgreens have open, and try to replicate that model,” one Yahoo Finance analyst advised. “Just because Amazon opens five pharmacies outside rural locations trying to hawk medicine doesn’t mean they’re going to be the next CVS or Walgreens, or actually want to be the next CVS or Walgreens.”

Reports are circulating that Amazon is seriously thinking about building out brick-and-mortar pharmacies in the U.S. The news -- first reported by Business...

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DC attorney general files antitrust suit against Amazon

DC Attorney General Karl Racine has filed an antitrust suit against Amazon, accusing the company of limiting competition by placing restrictions on what third-party sellers can do outside of its marketplace. 

In the suit, Racine accused Amazon of abusing its market dominance and unlawfully stifling competition, leading to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers. 

“Amazon’s online retail sales platform benefits from, and is protected by, Amazon’s anticompetitive business practices,” the lawsuit stated. “Far from enabling consumers to obtain the best products at the lowest prices, Amazon instead causes prices across the entire online retail sales market to be artificially inflated, both for products sold on Amazon’s online retail sales platform and on its competitors’ online retail sales platforms.” 

Less innovation

The suit, which was filed in DC Superior Court, alleges that Amazon holds onto its market dominance by barring third-party sellers from offering products at lower prices on competing platforms. The suit claims that these “most favored nation” agreements have led to higher prices for consumers and less innovation in general. 

“Amazon’s policies have prevented competing platforms, including sellers’ own websites, from competing on price and gaining market share,” Racine said in a press call. “The loss of competition results in less innovation.”

The suit noted that there is a clause that prohibits independent sellers from “offering their products on a competing online retail sales platform, including the TPS’s own website, at a lower price or on better terms than the TPS offered the products on Amazon.”

Policing big tech 

Racine is calling on Amazon to stop engaging in this anticompetitive conduct by doing away with the strict rules that independent sellers must agree to.  

“As a direct and proximate cause of Amazon’s exclusionary scheme, District residents have been injured because they have been denied a competitive marketplace for online retail sales and paid higher prices for products than they would have paid absent Amazon’s anticompetitive acts,” the suit said. “District consumers are deprived of choosing from a full, competitive range of online retailers who may have offered lower prices.” 

Tech companies have faced a slew of antitrust lawsuits in recent years. At the end of 2020, 48 state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Facebook for allegedly buying up companies that it may have perceived as competitive threats. 

Not long after that suit was filed, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an antitrust suit against Google for allegedly abusing its market power in the online advertising space. 

DC Attorney General Karl Racine has filed an antitrust suit against Amazon, accusing the company of limiting competition by placing restrictions on what th...

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Amazon to shut down Prime Now app and website

Amazon announced Friday that it’s pulling the plug on its Prime Now app and website. The company’s standalone app and website will be gone by the end of this year. 

The platform was launched in 2014 as a service that provides two-hour delivery for essential goods and groceries. Amazon isn’t doing away with those features, but it is moving them to its primary app. 

“To make this experience even more seamless for customers, we are moving the experience from a separate Prime Now app onto the Amazon app and website so customers can shop all Amazon has to offer from one convenient location,” said Stephenie Landry, vice president of grocery at Amazon.

Consumers can select two-hour delivery on essentials and other goods through the Amazon app or website. Amazon said users will be able to add items until it confirms that it is preparing the order. Two-hour grocery delivery is also available through Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods, which are both on Amazon’s main app. 

Streamlining its grocery strategy

In recent years, Amazon has focused on expanding and streamlining its grocery offerings. In January, the tech giant announced that it was discontinuing its Prime Pantry service for the sake of simplicity. 

“We have decided to transfer Amazon Pantry selection to the main Amazon.com store so customers can get everyday household products faster, without an extra subscription or purchase requirement,” Amazon said at the time. 

Last year, the company also launched its own chain of Fresh grocery stores, separate from its Whole Foods stores. 

The company has been hinting at the end of the Prime Now app and website lately, directing consumers to the Amazon app and website via a pop-up in the app. 

Amazon announced Friday that it’s pulling the plug on its Prime Now app and website. The company’s standalone app and website will be gone by the end of th...

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Amazon to offer $1,000 signing bonuses at some locations in push to hire 75,000 workers

Amazon has announced that it’s recruiting 75,000 workers and that it will offer $1,000 signing bonuses in some locations. 

The company is looking to fill positions in its fulfillment and transportation segments. Some areas with large numbers of open positions include California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Michigan. 

Most new roles will offer an average pay of $17 an hour. In addition to the $1,000 signing bonuses, Amazon said it will also provide an additional $100 to new employees who provide proof that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Worker mistreatment claims

Amazon saw demand grow exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic and has worked to bring on significantly more workers since last March. Simultaneously, it’s faced numerous complaints about its treatment of fulfillment center workers. 

Employees and advocates have complained that the company imposes impossibly high quotas on workers, while others argued that the company’s health and safety practices during the pandemic have been insufficient. 

A large-scale unionization effort at one of its fulfillment centers recently failed, but founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos said the unionization drive clearly demonstrated that the company needed to do more for its employees. 

“While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it’s clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees — a vision for their success,” Bezos wrote in his last shareholder letter. 

“We don’t set unreasonable performance goals. We set achievable performance goals that take into account tenure and actual employee performance data. Performance is evaluated over a long period of time as we know that a variety of things can impact performance in any given week, day, or hour,” Bezos said. “If employees are on track to miss a performance target over a period of time, their manager talks with them and provides coaching.” 

Raising pay

Last month, Amazon announced that it would be raising wages for more than 500,000 hourly employees by between 50 cents and $3 an hour -- a total investment of more than $1 billion. 

Over the past year, the company has added more than 400,000 workers to help it meet consumer demand stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Its total number of employees is currently more than 1 million, and the company is looking to bring on tens of thousands more U.S. workers by early 2022. 

Amazon has announced that it’s recruiting 75,000 workers and that it will offer $1,000 signing bonuses in some locations. The company is looking to fil...

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Amazon can now deliver your groceries inside your garage

Amazon customers in 5,000 cities will be able to get groceries ordered from Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh delivered inside their garage. The new delivery option follows a successful trial of the service in a handful of major cities back in November. 

“Customers who tried Key In-Garage Grocery Delivery have loved the service, which is why we’re expanding it to everywhere Amazon offers grocery delivery,” Pete Gerstberger, Head of Key by Amazon, said in a statement. 

With the new garage delivery option, Amazon is striving to make grocery deliveries more convenient for consumers while also keeping the groceries from being stolen or left out in bad weather. 

How to use it

Customers will need a compatible smart or Wi-Fi-enabled garage door opener to use the new option. Prime members can pair their device to the Key by Amazon app, shop for Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh groceries online, and then select "key delivery" at checkout.

The Amazon driver that brings the groceries will use a handheld scanner to open the garage door, drop the groceries off inside, and close the door behind them. For security purposes, customers are notified about the delivery in real-time, and drivers are only allowed one-time access to open the garage door.

Amazon, which experienced a massive surge in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, is currently looking to expand its grocery business. The company purchased Whole Foods in 2017 and has recently been opening up more Amazon Fresh locations that use its “Dash Cart” technology. 

Through expanding its delivery options, Amazon is hoping to boost the convenience factor and entice Prime members to do more of their grocery shopping through its services. Amazon has also taken steps to increase convenience for in-store shoppers. Earlier this month, the company announced plans to introduce a new way to pay with your palm in Whole Foods stores. 

Amazon customers in 5,000 cities will be able to get groceries ordered from Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh delivered inside their garage. The new delivery opt...

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Amazon to raise wages for half a million workers

Amazon has announced that it’s hiking the pay of more than 500,000 of its workers. In a blog post Wednesday, Amazon’s vice president of people experience and technology Darcie Henry said 500,000 workers will see their pay go up between 50 cents and $3 an hour. 

"This is on top of our already industry-leading starting wage of at least $15 an hour and the more than $2.5 billion that we invested last year in additional bonuses and incentives for front-line teams," Henry said.

The pay bump comes during a time of increased scrutiny over the company’s labor practices. Workers and activists have complained that Amazon imposes impossibly high productivity quotas on its employees. 

Attracting workers with higher pay

Amazon saw customer demand skyrocket during the pandemic. To keep up with demand, the company has had to bring on more workers. 

Amazon said it’s currently looking to recruit hundreds of thousands of frontline employees in the U.S. to fill roles in customer fulfillment, delivery, package sortation, and specialty fulfillment. The pay increase represents a total investment of more than $1 billion in its workers. 

Although Amazon will be raising pay for half a million of its workers, the e-commerce giant did not say it would officially raise its $15 minimum wage. Experts say pay bumps are becoming increasingly necessary given the current state of the labor market. 

"An increasing tightness in the labor market means its $15 minimum wage is decreasingly effective at recruitment and retention of qualified workers, and a substantial raise can help with that," Arindrajit Dube, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told CNN Business. 

Amazon has announced that it’s hiking the pay of more than 500,000 of its workers. In a blog post Wednesday, Amazon’s vice president of people experience a...

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Amazon brings palm signature reading technology to Whole Foods

Amazon has announced that it’s bringing Amazon One -- a new contactless payment option that lets customers link their card to their palm print -- to a Whole Foods store in Seattle. The technology enables shoppers to pay for their items simply by hovering their palm over the reader device. 

In a blog post, Amazon said customers can sign up to use the technology at any Amazon One kiosk or device. Consumers can choose to enroll with just one palm signature or both. The company said enrollment takes less than a minute and paying using the tech takes just a second.  

Previously, the palm signature reading technology was only available in Amazon Go, Amazon Books, and other smaller Amazon stores. The company said it’s collected “great” customer feedback on Amazon One since its introduction. Customers have appreciated its touchless nature and how quickly they are able to pay for goods. 

Expanding the technology 

The new technology has been installed at a Whole Foods store at Madison Broadway in Seattle, but Amazon has plans to expand it to seven others in the Seattle area “over the coming months.” Eventually, the retailer plans to offer it to third-party retailers. 

“At Whole Foods Market, we’re always looking for new and innovative ways to improve the shopping experience for our customers,” Arun Rajan, senior vice president of technology and chief technology officer at Whole Foods Market, said in a statement. 

“Working closely with Amazon, we’ve brought benefits like Prime member discounts, online grocery delivery and pickup, and free returns to our customers, and we’re excited to add Amazon One as a payment option beginning today. We’re starting with an initial store at Madison Broadway in Seattle and look forward to hearing what customers think as we expand this option to additional stores over time.”

Amazon has announced that it’s bringing Amazon One -- a new contactless payment option that lets customers link their card to their palm print -- to a Whol...

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Consumers can now ask Alexa where to get a COVID-19 vaccine

Now that every adult in the U.S. is now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Amazon has given its digital assistant Alexa the ability to help people find out where they can get inoculated locally. 

Consumers can now ask, “Alexa, where can I get a COVID vaccine?” Users can also include their location in the question by saying, for example, “Alexa, where can I get a COVID vaccine in Seattle?” 

Users can then get in contact with the vaccination site by saying “Alexa, call the first one.” For users outside of the U.S., Alexa can be used to learn more about vaccine availability and eligibility and find a nearby testing location. 

“We will continue to evolve our experiences over time to provide customers with information that is important to them,” Amazon said on its website. The company added that consumers can find out more about its efforts to support the COVID-19 vaccine rollout by visiting its COVID-19 testing and vaccination blog.

Amazon isn’t the only major tech corporation striving to help get COVID-19 vaccinations into more arms. Facebook recently added new features to its Covid Information Center. The social media giant now offers a tool that shows users when and where they can get vaccinated, plus a link to make an appointment. 

Now that every adult in the U.S. is now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Amazon has given its digital assistant Alexa the ability to help people find ou...

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Amazon moves deeper into health care

Amazon has launched a new initiative that moves the online retailer deeper into health care services, with an emphasis on digital services.

The company has announced that it is expanding its Amazon Care service to employees nationwide soon and to employees of all companies in Washington state immediately. 

It’s a major expansion of digital health care services that saw huge growth over the last 12 months of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The parts of the program going national are virtual consultations using the Amazon Care app as well as in-person office visits in some markets.

The service can also send health care professionals to the patient to provide blood work, additional primary health services, and prescription delivery.

Launched 18 months ago

Amazon launched Amazon Care 18 months ago, serving a limited number of employees and their families. Patients may connect with medical professionals via chat or video conference, eliminating the need for office visits that can take huge amounts of time from the workday.

“Amazon Care can dispatch a medical professional to a patient’s home for additional care, ranging from routine blood draws to listening to a patient’s lungs, and also offer prescription delivery right to a patient’s door,” the company said in a press release

The biggest change is in eligibility. Until this week Amazon Care has only served Amazon employees and their families in Washington state, where Amazon is based. 

Amazon is expanding the service to employees of other Washington-based companies immediately. This summer, the virtual service will be offered to all Amazon employees and other company employees, no matter where they are based.

Amazon Care’s in-person service will expand to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and other cities later this year.

Slow expansion of services

The retailer has been edging toward health services for some time. In 2018, Amazon joined with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway to form a non-profit joint venture to manage and streamline their employee healthcare programs.

The CEOs of these giant companies -- Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Jamie Dimon of Chase, and Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway -- said the new company would focus on technology solutions that will provide high-quality health benefits at a reasonable cost.

Amazon Care, meanwhile, is aimed at addressing a wide spectrum of patient needs through its primary care and urgent care offerings. Using the service, patients can access preventive care such as annual vaccinations, health screenings, and lifestyle advice. 

The service is also focused on wellness needs, with an emphasis on nutrition, pre-pregnancy planning, sexual health, smoking cessation, and other health-oriented services.

Amazon has launched a new initiative that moves the online retailer deeper into health care services, with an emphasis on digital services.The company...

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Biden signals support for Amazon warehouse workers’ movement to unionize

In a video posted over the weekend, President Joe Biden implied that he supports the Amazon warehouse workers’ union drive happening in Bessemer, Alabama. While he didn’t name Amazon specifically or explicitly direct workers to vote in favor of unionization, the president said in the video that he supports the effort taking place in Alabama. 

"Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama and all across America are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace," Biden said in a video shared to his Twitter page. "This is vitally important — a vitally important choice, as America grapples with the deadly pandemic, the economic crisis and the reckoning on race — what it reveals is the deep disparities that still exist in our country."

Biden said in the video that this month’s vote should not be met with any intimidation, coercion, threats, or “anti-union propaganda.” 

"It's not up to an employer" to decide any union election, Biden added in the video posted to Twitter. “I made it clear during my campaign that my policy would be to support unions organizing and the right to collectively bargain. I’m keeping that promise.”

Vote taking place

This month, more than 5,800 warehouse workers at the Bessemer, Alabama facility are voting on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Mail-in voting started this week and will continue through the end of March. 

In a statement, the RWDSU thanked Biden for his support of the organizing drive. 

“As President Biden points out, the best way for working people to protect themselves and their families is by organizing into unions,” said RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum in a statement. “And that is why so many working women and men are fighting for a union at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama.”

Amazon has said the workers organizing the union drive at the Alabama facility don’t represent the majority of its workers. The e-commerce giant has tried to convince workers that a union will only result in money being pulled from their paycheck with little benefit. 

“Amazon already offers what unions are requesting for employees: industry-leading pay, comprehensive benefits from the first day on the job, opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe, modern and inclusive work environment,” said Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty. “At Amazon, these benefits and opportunities come with the job, as does the ability to communicate directly with the leadership of the company.”

In a video posted over the weekend, President Joe Biden implied that he supports the Amazon warehouse workers’ union drive happening in Bessemer, Alabama....