Economic conditions look good for back-to-school spending this year—unemployment is low, consumer confidence is at a 16-year high, housing prices have risen and gas prices remain low—leading to healthy forecasts for shopping this season. Fung Global Retail & Technology expects… Continue Reading
We recently attended the Rise 2017 Conference in Hong Kong, which is one of the largest technology conferences in Asia. The event featured a talk by Stephen Wang from Tencent, which owns the WeChat mobile app. Wang gave an overview… Continue Reading
This week saw Amazon offer up its third annual Prime Day—a feast of special offers available exclusively to Amazon Prime members. By the time this is published, many readers will have seen a slew of statistics on the sales values… Continue Reading
As we look forward to the Fourth of July holiday and start easing into the dog days of summer, we also approach a major, if recently invented, shopping event—Amazon Prime Day—which will celebrate its third anniversary on Tuesday, July 11.… Continue Reading
Amazon Takes a Bite Out of the Grocery Market Amazon’s planned purchase of Whole Foods Market is one of the most startling retail news stories of this decade, for several reasons: It is Amazon’s largest acquisition by far. The company… Continue Reading
Retail loyalty programs have a long history in the US. According to rewards program solutions company Smile.io, these programs started in the 18th century, when retailers would give customers copper tokens that could be redeemed for future purchases. Starting in… Continue Reading
In recent months, Walmart has made a flurry of innovations and acquisitions as it seeks to strengthen its multichannel offering and ultimately compete more strongly against Amazon. Walmart acquired Internet pure-play retailer Jet.com in September 2016, online outdoor retailer Moosejaw… Continue Reading
The Fung Global Retail & Technology team recently visited the newly opened Amazon Books location at The Shops at Columbus Circle in New York City. This is Amazon’s seventh bookstore, and follows store openings in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon and… Continue Reading
Voice technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and delivery drones have been at the forefront of our conversations with retailers in the past week. Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com this week announced that it is planning to build China’s largest drone logistics network.… Continue Reading
Last week, Amazon reduced its minimum purchase to $25 for free shipping, following Walmart’s reduction of its minimum purchase to $35 and Target’s raising of its free-shipping minimum to $35 from $25, following Amazon’s reduction of its minimum purchase to… Continue Reading