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…
Tag: walmart
Walmart’s E-Commerce Chief Is Leaving To Build ‘a City of the Future’
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Recode: Marc Lore, a serial entrepreneur who sold his startup Jet.com to Walmart for $3 billion and then oversaw the transformation of the retail giant’s e-commerce business over the last four years, is leaving his full-time role with the company at the end of the month, he told Recode. His next big entrepreneurial swing…
Amazon, Walmart Are Telling Some Consumers to Skip Returns of Unwanted Items
Amazon, Walmart, and other companies are using artificial intelligence “to decide whether it makes economic sense to process a return,” reports the Wall Street Journal: For inexpensive items or large ones that would incur hefty shipping fees, it is often cheaper to refund the purchase price and let customers keep the products. The relatively new approach, popularized by Amazon and a…
Surprise Ending for Publishers: In 2020, Business Was Good
Like everybody else, book publishers will be happy to see the end of 2020. But for many of them, the year has brought some positive news, which has been as welcome as it was surprising: Business has been good. From a report: With so many people stuck at home and activities from concerts to movies off limits, people have been reading…
Bitcoin Surges 50% in Just One Month. CNN Ponders ‘Insane’ Record Run
The price of Bitcoin increased 50% — in the last four weeks. Now priced at $26,579, “Bitcoin is crashing — upward,” quips CNN Business: The digital currency has a market value north of $500 billion. Think Bitcoin is just a fad? It’s worth more than Visa or Mastercard. Or Walmart… Its rapid rise has been remarkable — or insane, depending on…
Justice Department Sues Walmart, Saying it Fueled the Nation’s Opioid Crisis
The Justice Department sued Walmart on Tuesday for what it said was the company’s role in fueling the nation’s opioid crisis by allowing its network of pharmacies to fill millions of prescriptions for opioids, thousands of which authorities said were suspicious. From a report: The 160-page civil complaint alleges that the retail giant knew that its system for detecting illegitimate prescriptions…
Can’t Get a PlayStation 5? Meet the Grinch Bots Snapping Up the Holidays’ Hottest Gift.
Computer programs that automate online tasks, called bots, have aligned with the coronavirus pandemic and low inventories of hot products to create a perfect storm of holiday disappointment — or opportunity, depending on your perspective. From a report: On Black Friday, when it launched a deal on the console, Walmart.com says it blocked more than 20 million bot attempts in the…
Walmart Will Use Fully Driverless Trucks To Make Deliveries In 2021
Starting in 2021, Walmart will use fully autonomous box trucks to make deliveries in Arkansas without any safety drivers in the vehicles. The Verge reports: The big-box retailer has been working with a startup called Gatik on a delivery pilot for 18 months. Gatik, which is based in Palo Alto and Toronto, outfitted several multitemperature box trucks with sensors and software…
Third Monolith Reappears, Fourth and Fifth Monoliths Discovered
“People taking a stroll on Sunday morning stumbled upon another mysterious monolith,” reports Insider.com. “This one was found in a northern province of the Netherlands.”
The monolith was covered in ice and surrounded by a small pool of water, according to local reports. The hikers told the Dutch paper Algemeen Dagblad that they’re not sure how the monolith got there. They said…
Pushed by Pandemic, Amazon Goes on a Hiring Spree Without Equal
Amazon has embarked on an extraordinary hiring binge this year, vacuuming up an average of 1,400 new workers a day and solidifying its power as online shopping becomes more entrenched in the coronavirus pandemic. From a report: The hiring has taken place at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, at its hundreds of warehouses in rural communities and suburbs, and in countries such…