Tag: consumers

CVS, Walgreens Look For Big Data Reward From Covid-19 Vaccinations

Thelasko shares a report from The Wall Street Journal: Administering Covid-19 vaccines comes with a valuable perk for retail pharmacies: access to troves of consumer data. Chains such as CVS Health Corp., Walmart Inc. and Walgreens-Boots Alliance, Inc. are collecting data from millions of customers as they sign up for shots, enrolling them in patient systems and having recipients register customer…

Disney CEO Suggests There’s No ‘Going Back’ To Pre-COVID Film Releases

As Disney prepares to release “Raya and the Last Dragon” in theaters and as a premium on-demand title this Friday, CEO Bob Chapek says that he thinks the experimentation his studio and others in Hollywood are doing with releasing movies during the pandemic will permanently change the movie business. From a report “The consumer is probably more impatient than they’ve ever…

EU Law Requires Companies To Fix Electronic Goods For Up To 10 Years

Companies that sell refrigerators, washers, hairdryers, or TVs in the European Union will need to ensure those appliances can be repaired for up to 10 years, to help reduce the vast mountain of electrical waste that piles up each year on the continent. Euronews reports: The “right to repair,” as it is sometimes called, comes into force across the 27-nation bloc…

Banks in Germany Tell Customers To Take Deposits Elsewhere

Interest rates have been negative in Europe for years. But it took the flood of savings unleashed in the pandemic for banks finally to charge depositors in earnest. From a report: Germany’s biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, have told new customers since last year to pay a 0.5% annual rate to keep large sums of money with them. The banks…

Aptera Promises The World’s First Mass-Produced Solar Car This Year

California-based Aptera Motors “is rolling out the first mass-produced solar car this year,” reports the Washington Post, after successfully crowdfunding a restart of their development effort: It’s a three-wheel, ultra-aerodynamic electric vehicle covered in 34 square feet of solar cells. The car is so efficient that, on a clear day, those cells alone could provide enough energy to drive about 40…

Best Buy Lays Off 5,000 Workers, Will Close More Stores

Best Buy said it laid off 5,000 workers this month and is planning to close more stores this year as more consumers buy electronics online. From a report: The news comes at a time when big chains face growing competition from Amazon and other sites that sell items like TVs and laptops. Fry’s Electronics said Wednesday that it would abruptly close…

Experian Challenged Over Massive Data Leak in Brazil

Experian may be in trouble again — this time in Brazil. ZDNet reports on “the emergence of a leak that exposed the personal data of more than 220 million citizens and companies, which is being offered for sale in the dark web.” After receiving feedback from Experian over a massive data leak in Brazil, São Paulo state consumer rights foundation Procon…

Texas Was ‘Seconds and Minutes’ Away From Catastrophic Monthslong Blackouts, Officials Say

Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said yesterday. Texas Tribune reports: As millions of customers throughout the state begin to have power restored after days of massive blackouts, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or…