Walmart, Microsoft deepen their partnership to take on Amazon

@Walmart Inc. agreed to use @Microsoft Corp.’s cloud technology to power functions that could include algorithms for purchasing and sales-data sharing with vendors, the two companies said, deepening a partnership between two of @Amazon.com Inc.’s most powerful rivals. The five-year deal, to be announced Tuesday, pairs Amazon’s AMZN, +1.18% largest retail competitor with its closest challenger in cloud computing. Walmart WMT, +0.63% has warmed recently to working with technology companies, as it fends off Amazon’s retail ambitions and expertise in data.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/walmart-microsoft-deepen-their-partnership-to-take-on-amazon-2018-07-17

Walmart and IBM Dedicated to Using Blockchain for Increased Food Safety in China

Thanks to a #blockchain -based collaboration between @Walmart and @IBM, people in China will soon be able to trace the journey of their food, from farm to store, using nothing more than their smartphones. According to a report by the @SouthChina Morning Post, Walmart announced the food quality collaboration with IBM last year, to develop blockchain-powered traceability solutions which will enable customers to scan quick-response codes on food products with their smart phones, and determine the origins of the products. The initiative to use technology for ensuring food quality and safety is a welcome step as customers in China have grown increasingly suspicious about the quality of products, following a string of scandals including a contaminated baby milk formula incident several years ago. Now, on the first anniversary of the Walmart ‘Food Safety Collaboration Center’ in China, Walmart’s vice-president for food safety, Frank Yiannas, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the project and provided progress updates. According to Yiannas, following successful pilots in China and the US, Walmart’s 400-store network across mainland China is “in active conversation to accelerate the progress” of implementing blockchain tech to trace the origins of food products. While speaking to South China Morning Post at a forum in Beijing on the day of the anniversary, Yiannas said: “Blockchain technology is a game changer in the food industry and China is probably the place to scale its adoption as the Chinese government is already interested in tracing (the supply chain of food) and Chinese consumers are so tech-savvy.” The DLT-based technology developed in collaboration with IBM stores data in a unified storage platform, which decreases the time required to trace the origins of a product. This is expected to be a significantly useful feature in the case of contaminated products, as it can ensure rapid product recalls, thus reducing customers’ exposure to tainted goods. Yannis stated:  “The process of finding out where the food is first produced, how many times it changes hands between different wholesalers, brokers before reaching our dinner tables, can be very complex. By tracking how and where the food we sell is produced, blockchain provides new levels of transparency and accountability – responsible systems result in safer food.” The food industry is one of the many sectors where blockchain tech (which is at the core of cryptocurrencies) is bringing about a revolution. The healthcare industry is also looking into the potential of DLT tech to change the way medical data is stored, shared, and managed.

https://cryptovest.com/news/walmart-and-ibm-dedicated-to-using-blockchain-for-increased-food-safety-in-china/

Amazon’s AWS Revenues Rose 43% to ~$3.7 Billion

#Amazon as a target As the dominant e-commerce company, Amazon (AMZN) is targeted by competitors like #Walmart (WMT) and #Sears (SHLD). As the leading cloud computing provider, Amazon is also seeing growing threats from #Microsoft (MSFT), #Oracle (ORCL), and #Alphabet ’s (GOOGL) #Google. To cope with the increasing competition, Amazon must keep its wheels spinning faster wherever it has a presence. Its 1Q17 results offer a hint of what’s happening.

http://marketrealist.com/2017/05/amazons-aws-revenues-rose-43-to-3-7-billion/

'Skull Island:' The Epic Battle Between Walmart And Amazon

The epic battle between #Walmart and #Amazon is threatening to turn traditional retail industry into a ‘skull island,’ filled with shattered neighborhood stores, changing a decades old culture of shopping experience. Once, neighborhood stores were an integral part of American traditional life, places to spend time outside home on weekends and evenings, browsing new merchandise and running into friends and neighbors. Meanwhile, neighborhood stores offered hundreds of thousands of jobs to local employees, and sales tax revenues to local governments. Simply put, neighborhood stores provided the kind of shopping experience that nurtured a sense of community across America, which can explain the affinity for these types of stores shared by Americans.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2017/04/29/skull-island-the-epic-battle-between-walmart-and-amazon/#39d8ec2b7a4a

Amazon and Walmart are in an all-out price war that is terrifying America’s biggest brands

The result in recent months has been a high-stakes race to the bottom between #Walmart and #Amazon that seems great for shoppers, but has consumer packaged goods brands feeling the pressure.

The pricing crackdown also comes in the wake of Walmart’s $3 billion acquisition of #Jet.com and its CEO Marc Lore. Lore now runs Walmart.com and has said one of his mandates is to create new ways for the retailer to beat everyone else on price, including Amazon.

The pricing pressure has ignited intense wargaming inside the largest CPG companies, according to people familiar with discussions at Procter & Gamble, Unilever, PepsiCo, Mondelez and Kimberly-Clark. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

“It’s dominating the conversation every week,” said an executive at one of these companies.

Representatives for these companies either declined to comment or failed to respond to requests for comment. Executives inside these companies would only speak on a condition of anonymity because negotiations with retailers are confidential.

An Amazon spokesperson said in an email: “At Amazon we protect low prices for our customers, every single day — nothing has changed in terms of our focus or how we operate.”
https://www.recode.net/2017/3/30/14831602/amazon-walmart-cpg-grocery-price-war

Amazon lowers its free shipping threshold to counter Walmart

When #Walmart ditched its #Amazon Prime-style subscriptions and offered free two-day shipping for all orders over $35, it was a shot across the bow -- we might not compete directly, but we can still undercut you. Well, Amazon is responding in kind. Just a year after it hiked its free shipping minimum to $49, the online shopping giant has lowered that threshold back to $35. That won't deliver your goods any sooner (you still need Prime for that), but it could tip the balance if you're more interested in avoiding fees than getting your order in a hurry. Amazon likely raised the minimum last year in response to rapidly rising logistics costs. Simply put, it couldn't afford to hand out gratis shipping as freely as it had in the past. Either Amazon got those costs in check, or it's willing to take a financial hit to prevent Walmart from luring away customers. No matter what, it's clear that the fierce competition between internet stores is helping your bank account.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/19/amazon-lowers-free-shipping-minimum/

IBM and Walmart to boost traceability with blockchain

#IBM, #Walmart and #TsinghuaUniversity are to work together on a 16-week project to improve the way food is tracked, transported and sold to consumers across China. They will use technology designed to generate transparency and efficiency in supply chain record-keeping. The partners have worked alongside each other on a variety of projects in the past. One example is the work by IBM and Tsinghua University on Green Horizons to address environmental challenges. Blockchain provides a record of transactions which are grouped in blocks that cannot be altered. Food products can be digitally tracked from suppliers to store shelves and consumers. Alternative to current methods IBM said it is an alternative to traditional paper tracking and manual inspection systems, which can leave supply chains vulnerable to inaccuracies. The firm added it could create a new model for food traceability, supply chain transparency and auditability. "As advocates of promoting greater transparency in the food system for our customers, we look forward to working with IBM and Tsinghua University to explore how this technology might be used as a more effective food traceability solution," said Frank Yiannas, VP, Food Safety at Walmart. Digital product information such as farm origin details, batch numbers, factory and processing data, expiration dates, storage temperatures and shipping detail are digitally connected to food items and the information is entered into the blockchain at each step of the process. The information is agreed upon by all members of the business network; once there is a consensus, it becomes a permanent record that can't be altered. Each piece of information provides data points that could reveal food safety issues with the product. IBM told us that food safety is a global challenge in the 21st century.

http://mobile.foodqualitynews.com/R-D/Walmart-partners-with-IBM-in-China-on-supply-chain

Twitter downgrade; Walmart takes on Amazon’s Prime Day; Netflix warning

#Yahoo Finance is tracking the stocks you’re following, based on your Yahoo Finance ticker searches. #Twitter (TWTR) – #SunTrust downgraded Twitter to neutral from buy on concerns over user growth and monetization challenges. Twitter also announced it has reached a deal with CBS to live-stream the Democratic and Republican National Conventions later this month. #Wal-Mart (WMT) – The retail giant is taking on #Amazon ’s Prime Day by offering free shipping this week with no minimum purchase. This offer will be in addition to its recently launched 30-day free trial of ShippingPass, which offers unlimited 2-day shipping for $49 per year. Netflix (NFLX) – The online streaming giant is on investors’ radars after a Barron’s article warned that the stock could drop 40%. The article cited content spending as the biggest risk to #Netflix. #Ford (F) – The auto giant is out with details on its new 2017 F-150. Ford says its 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine and 10-speed automatic transmission will be set to go this fall. ConocoPhillips (COP) – JPMorgan has upgraded ConocoPhillips to neutral from underweight with a $44 price target.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitter-downgrade-walmart-amazon-prime-000000678.html