Amazon

“Introducing Amazon’s Exclusive Value Fashion Store in India”

Gettyimages 1169387081
“Your products will be featured in a special store on Amazon, making them easy for customers to find,” the company wrote in the communication. TechCrunch reported earlier this month, citing job recruitment posts, that Amazon was looking to expand its focus on fast fashion. Top player Flipkart leads the category but faces mounting competition from Ambani’s Ajio, which has amassed about 30% market share, according to research firm Bernstein. The fashion market is extremely fragmented offline, and the online market is seeing similar trends with multiple players emerging to gain share. (Amazon is instead doubling down on AWS in India, and plans to deploy $12.7 billion in the cloud business in the country by 2030.)

“E-commerce Fulfillment Provider TechTaka Secures $9.5M in Funding”

Gettyimages 683975638
TechTaka, a South Korean online shopping fulfillment startup that provides third-party logistics services for e-commerce sellers, has raised $9.5 million (12.6 billion KRW) in a Series B round of funding from a sole investor, Altos Ventures. The outfit helps e-commerce sellers manage the supply chain, from warehousing, order packing and shipping, so that TechTaka users can focus on product and marketing. His expertise and interests in logistics and optimization led him to start TechTaka to offer quick and reliable logistics services. (Coupang has its own fulfillment centers, and Naver bolsters its fulfillment service in collaboration with logistics and fulfillment companies like TechTaka.) “We tested our service in the U.S. by introducing Korean e-commerce sellers to Amazon, starting in May 2023,” Kim said.

Ring Reverses Decision, Rescinds Police’s Neighbors App Access to Amazon Footage

Gettyimages 621058316 2
Update: Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Matthew Guariglia offered TechCrunch the following statement,Today, Amazon Ring has announced that it will no longer facilitate police’s warrantless requests for footage from Ring users. Now, Ring hopefully will altogether be out of the business of platforming casual and warrantless police requests for footage to its users. Amazon today announced that it is end-of-lifing Request for Assistance (RFA), a controversial tool that allowed police and fire departments to request doorbell video through Ring’s Neighbors app. “Public safety agencies like fire and police departments can still use the Neighbors app to share helpful safety tips, updates, and community events,” Neighbors app head, Eric Kuhn, noted in a blog post. In 2021, Amazon made police requests public as part of its biannual transparency report.

Amazon Reverses Decision and Withdraws Police Access to Ring Footage Through Neighbors Platform

Gettyimages 621058316 1
Amazon today announced that it is end-of-lifing Request for Assistance (RFA), a controversial tool that allowed police and fire departments to request doorbell video through Ring’s Neighbors app. “Public safety agencies like fire and police departments can still use the Neighbors app to share helpful safety tips, updates, and community events,” Neighbors app head, Eric Kuhn, noted in a blog post. “They will no longer be able to use the RFA tool to request and receive video in the app. Public safety agency posts are still public, and will be available for users to view on the Neighbors app feed and on the agency’s profile.”The feature has been a major concern for privacy advocates for a number of years. In 2021, Amazon made police requests public as part of its biannual transparency report.

Amazon Reverses Decision, Rescinding Police Access to Ring Footage Through Neighbors App

Gettyimages 621058316
Amazon today announced that it is end-of-lifing Request for Assistance (RFA), a controversial tool that allowed police and fire departments to request doorbell video through Ring’s Neighbors app. “Public safety agencies like fire and police departments can still use the Neighbors app to share helpful safety tips, updates, and community events,” Neighbors app head, Eric Kuhn, noted in a blog post. “They will no longer be able to use the RFA tool to request and receive video in the app. Public safety agency posts are still public, and will be available for users to view on the Neighbors app feed and on the agency’s profile.”The feature has been a major concern for privacy advocates for a number of years. In 2021, Amazon made police requests public as part of its biannual transparency report.

Amazon Hit with $35 Million Fine from French Watchdog for Warehouse Employee Monitoring Tactics

Gettyimages 1867481034
France’s data privacy watchdog, the CNIL, has fined Amazon’s logistics subsidiary in France €32 million, or $35 million at today’s exchange rate. Again, it’s worth pointing out that the CNIL is listing some data processing wrongdoings. This isn’t a labor case, it’s a data processing case about illegitimate and excessive monitoring of the warehouse workers. “As implemented, the processing is considered to be excessively intrusive.”According to the French regulator, Amazon uses this performance data to assess the overall performance of its warehouse workers on a weekly basis. The company’s first argument is that Amazon isn’t the only company in the logistics industry using a connected warehouse management system.

“Shopify Powers Flexport’s Growth, Kia EV9 Takes the Driver’s Seat, and Amazon’s Strategic Investments”

Kia Ev9 Close Up
This week, read about Amazon, EV startup Fisker, electric boats, a bunch of new funding deals and my time driving the all-new Kia EV9. Remember Lordstown Motors, the EV startup that went public via a SPAC and has since filed for bankruptcy protection? Steve Burns, who founded and was then ousted from Lordstown Motors, is back with a new EV startup called LandX Motors. Northvolt, the Swedish battery startup, secured a $5 billion debt deal to help pay for the expansion of its first gigafactory. The Kia EV9 comes in five trims with the cheapest — the rear-wheel drive EV9 Light — starting at $54,900.

Potential EU Intervention Looms Over Amazon and iRobot Partnership

Gettyimages 1451099623 E1680772849833
The deal’s latest hurdle is the European Commission, which has set a February 14 deadline to reach a final decision. According to a new report, the EU regulatory body is set to vote against acquisition, citing the perceived anti-competitive nature of deal. In July, Amazon announced that it was lowering its asking price from $61 to $51.75 per share. The day the initial deal was announced, iRobot cut its headcount by 10% — around 140 people – as part of a restructure. As of this writing, share prices have dipped below $20 – one-third of where things where when the deal was announced.

Amazon Announces Additional Job Cuts in Buy with Prime Division

Gettyimages 1232458870
As Amazon initiates job cuts across its entire business, including its streaming division, the e-commerce giant is now laying off employees within its Buy with Prime segment. Launched in 2022, Buy with Prime is a service that enables third-party merchants to offer Prime benefits like free shipping and returns. Buy with Prime expanded its availability in early 2023, adding more U.S. brands like BigCommerce and Sustainable Glam. “Buy with Prime is a top priority for Amazon, with strong adoption from merchants and positive feedback from customers, and we will continue investing significant resources in Buy with Prime to build on that momentum. Earlier this month, Amazon laid off 500 Twitch workers and hundreds of employees at Prime Video and MGM Studios.

Amazon Prime Video to End Local Originals Support in Africa and Middle East

Gettyimages 1242123707
Amazon Prime Video is said to be downsizing its Africa and Middle East operations in a move that will affect teams in the two regions; according to a Variety report, the company will instead focus on European originals. Following the changes, Prime Video will stop contracting originals in Africa and Middle East markets. It’s interesting to note that Amazon Prime Video entered the African market in 2016 as part of its global expansion to over 200 countries, presenting substantial competition to Netflix’s simultaneous global launch. As the third-largest video streaming platform in Africa, Amazon Prime Video aimed to strengthen its subscriber base in emerging markets by launching localized plans. The strategy included increased investment in local production, unveiling slates of localized originals, and offering discounted Amazon Prime memberships to customers.