Amazon News – October 2019

Amazon News – October 2019: What have you done this October? I mostly attended holiday meals. But while we were busy celebrating Sukkot there were a lot of new things happening on Amazon.

This month, Amazon has published its financial reports for Q3 2019 with some very interesting data, presented innovations for Marketplace customers, purchased a healthcare startup, launched an anti-counterfeit program, and more.

Thank you to the good people of Edge by Ascential who list every month the important things happening on Amazon. Read all of them with the addition of my insights below. There are so many interesting things to discuss, that this summary came out pretty long, so feel free to jump ahead to items you find interesting.

If you’d like to get the monthly Amazon News Summary to your Email, please get in touch with me.

Enjoy and feel free to share!

Q3 Financial Results

Amazon published the Q3 2019 Financial reports stating that the company’s stocks fell 7%.

Here are the main points:
Total Revenue was $70 billion – more than the market predictions of $68.81 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2019.

In the third quarter of the year, the net income was $2.1 Billion – a decrease compared to last year’s 2.9 Billion. (This is the first time Amazon’s profits have dropped since June 2017).

Amazon predicts an income of $80-86.5 Billion in the 4th quarter – less than the $87.4 the analysts predicted. These are low numbers for what’s considered Amazon’s strongest quarter.

Amazon AWS has grown 37% compared to last year.

https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001304653 <<

https://ir.aboutamazon.com/quarterly-results <<

Amazon Holiday Season

1. Amazon Holiday Store – The first sign of the beginnings of a quarter filled with holidays and discounts. Starting with Singles Day on 11.11 (that will probably be celebrated by Amazon this year), Black Friday, Cyber Monday Christmas, etc…
Here is the preliminary holiday page, take a look:

https://www.amazon.com/b?node=384082011 <<

https://blog.aboutamazon.com/shopping/making-holiday-gifting-easier-than-ever <<

Amazon Marketplace

Add-on products are now Prime eligible and delivered in the same day.

What are Add On products? Small, low costing and light items that were previously available as part of a larger order.

What Changed?
Amazon has removed the limit on Add On products and Prime members can now get products costing over $1 delivered on the same day.
On the one hand, this is a significant advantage for Amazon that contributes to an increase in sales. But it’s far from meeting Amazon’s Sustainability standards. Plus, the shipping of a single toothbrush cannot be profitable, so it’s hard to say how all this will hold up in the future.

www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/14/20906728/amazon-prime-low-price-products-add-on-one-day-delivery <<

2. Amazon Counter Expands

Amazon Counter is a program that combines the online and offline and allows customers to choose online and then collect the purchase from stores or lockers at a time convenient for them.

The Program is expanding to a number of chains, such as RiteAid, Health Mart GNC, and Stage Stores. It’s interesting to note that these are mostly pharm and supplement chains – a possible connection to Amazon Health and the shift in this direction.

For stores, the program creates customer traffic and profit, so many chains are interested to partner with Amazon.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/23/amazon-expands-its-in-store-pickup-service-counter-to-thousands-more-stores/ <<

Amazon Counter – https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=18730480011

3. Amazon Day launched in the UK

Amazon Day allows the customer to choose one day during the week when all their Amazon shopping from the previous week is delivered. This way, the customer knows when to expect their delivery, Amazon saves on shipping costs. And, it’s also more sustainable and allows to use less packaging.

Amazon Day delivery service quietly launches in the UK <<

Amazon Day – https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=17928921011

Amazon Counterfeits Plans

Amazon Project Zero Comes to Japan –

One of the biggest pain points for Amazon sellers are counterfeits. Amazon has several programs with which it tries to assist brands:

Amazon Brand Registry – a veteran program that allows connecting a trademark to a seller of vendor account to facilitate a proactive control of the brand identity on Amazon.

Amazon Transparency – A list of products with unique product numbers that can be authenticated when shipped to Amazon warehouses.

Project Zero an AI engine that scans the platform, finds counterfeits and automatically removes them.

https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/amazon-project-zero <<

https://japan.cnet.com/article/35143700/ <<

2. Amazon Intellectual Property Accelerator –

A new program launched by Amazon as part of the battle with counterfeiters. This service broadens the services offered by the Amazon Service Providers Network that allows sellers to find qualified partners in a number of fields.
Currently, you can now find legal advisors on the network. Amazon sellers will be able to go on the platform, choose the legal services they are interested in, and get a list of legal firms that can provide the needed services to protect their trademark on the platform.

Main Page – https://brandservices.amazon.com/ipaccelerator

Amazon Blog – https://blog.aboutamazon.com/policy/amazon-intellectual-property-accelerator

FAQ – https://brandservices.amazon.com/ipaccelaerator/faq

Amazon Hardware & Services

1.Amazon Kindle – Kids Edition – Amazon releases a Kindle for Kids: a digital reading experience for children that allows parental control, a Badge System for reading progress, and other gamification features.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191007005503/en <<

2. Alexa Speaks Spanish???

Starting October, Alexa supports Spanish in the US. This possibility allows developers to reach a new audience and develop a multitude of abilities and connections for Spanish-speaking clients in the US.

3. This month a new Amazon Music app was launched on Apple TV

https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/11/alexa-now-speaks-spanish-including-in-multi-lingual-mode <<

https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/10/amazon-music-arrives-on-apple-tv/ <<

At the same time, Apple Tv launched an app for Amazon Fire TVs

www.theverge.com/2019/10/24/20930244/apple-tv-app-amazon-fire-tv-stick-models-now-available <<

This move continues the cooperation between the companies: In March, Apple Music launched its services on Amazon Fire TV and before that on Amazon Echo Speakers.

Photo: Amazon

4. Amazon Pay clients in India will now be able to pay their electricity, phone, and water bills using Alexa. Amazon expands the voice command services of Alexa and Amazon Pay in India and makes a variety of payments possible using Alexa and Amazon Pay.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/16/amazon-pay-users-in-india-can-now-pay-their-utility-mobile-and-cable-bills-with-alexa/ <<

Amazon Groceries

1/ Amazon is considering making the Cashier-less technology used in Amazon Go stores available for licensing to be used in airports and cinemas. This will allow Amazon to increase its Retail exposure without opening more stores and bring new and interesting cooperations.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/30/amazon-go-cashierless-tech-planned-for-airport-stores-movie-theaters.html <<

2/ Amazon steps up the competition with Walmart and announces that Amazon Fresh and Amazon Whole Foods Market delivery services, which had cost 14.95$ until now, will be free for Prime customers in a variety of US locations. This is part of a wide move by Amazon into the Grocery Delivery industry that’s now available in 2000 cities if we combine Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh.
Prime customers can sign up to get a delivery in two hours.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/reuters-america-update-2-amazon-drops-grocery-delivery-fee-as-competitors-close-in.html?&qsearchterm=amazon

Amazon Healthcare

1/Amazon purchases Health Navigator

If you’ve read my September post, you’ll remember I already mentioned Amazon’s making steps to enter the world of healthcare. It began with the purchase of Pill Pack in 2018 and continued last month with the declaration of the investment in Amazon Care Clinics, technologically advanced medical facilites. And now Amazon purchases Health Navigator.

Amazon Health Navigator – a Backend system that provides online diagnostics and initial symptom analysis for companies. According to the press, Amazon plans to make the system part of Amazon Care and offer it to employees as part of its pilot.
If you’ve followed Amazon’s healthcare relates actives, you will recognize a clear plan to build an infrastructure for the future.

Possible Scenario: The combination of a diagnostic capacity with the ability ro provide drugs on the same days with Amazon’s vast delivery logistics may become an amazing advantage for Prime members.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/23/amazon-acquires-digital-health-start-up-health-navigator.html <<