Tag: amazon

Amazon Expands Prime Now And Web Services To Global Markets

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch & VentureBeat

Amazon has expanded Prime Now, its one-hour delivery service for Prime members, to London. An update to the Prime Now app notes the services is now “available in selected London postcodes”. This is the first foray for Prime Now outside the U.S., which first launched in Manhattan last December, which puts Amazon in direct competition with local on-demand delivery services such as Weengs.

Similarly, the ecommerce giant also announced new expansion for its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform in India. Encouraged by the “ huge potential in the Indian economy and for the growth of e-commerce in India”, the Seattle-based company plans to open a new data center in the growing market in 2016. This marks Amazon’s first expansion in India, and, combined with the expansion of Prime Now service, signals an accelerated ambition in Amazon’s global development.

Why Amazon Unbundled Virtual Assistant Alexa From Echo

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original article on: TechCrunch

On Thursday, Amazon unveiled a tri-fold initiative that unbundles Alexa, its own speech-command virtual assistant, from the smart speaker Echo it originally inhabits. This includes an API set that allows third-party developers easily add Alexa into their own apps, Alexa Voice Service that let gadget makers to integrate Alexa into connected hardware, as well as a $100 million Alexa Fund dedicated to supporting app developers and startups that are looking to build voice-powered experiences.

This unbundling came just a month after Microsoft’s announcement of Project Oxford, which includes a set of APIs and SDKs to allow developers to integrate Cortana, its own virtual assistant service, into third-party platforms and apps. At the time, we wondered about the potential of speech-driven digital assistants like Cortana and Siri to become the new universal UI. And now, with Amazon starts pushing Alexa into new apps and platforms, it seems like we are one step closer to an inevitable virtual assistant showdown, which could have a ripple effect on both the mobile ecosystem and the development of Internet of Things.

 

How Digital Retailers Are Entering The Local Market

Posted on by Lab Team

As more and more brick-and-mortar retailers branches out into ecommerce in order to meet shifting consumer behaviors, online retailers are also increasingly exploring new, innovative solutions to bridge the physical with the digital, especially when it comes to local markets. This week, Groupon and Amazon stood out as two most recent examples.

Popular local deal-finding service Groupon just updated their iOS app to add support for the Apple Watch. On the watch, Groupon taps into the location data on the watch to trigger hyperlocal deals for users—instead of dividing deals on a city or regional level, it only notify users of the offers that are in close proximity. It also offer a “one-click-to-buy” function if user’s payment info is already saved on the Groupon mobile app, creating a remarkably seamless shopping experience to the wearable device.

If Groupon’s entry into Apple Watch seemed a bit advanced and out there, then Amazon’s new experiment would look endearingly retro in comparison. After testing out pop-up storefronts in NYC and California last year, the ecommerce giant continues to tap into physical retail with a new “Amazon Treasure Truck” initiative. Launched in Seattle this week, an Amazon truck will be cruising through various neighborhoods carrying stocks of one daily special item. Customers are encouraged to use their Amazon mobile app to track the truck and learn more about the daily deal. If interested, they can just complete the purchase within the app and then proceed to meet the truck for pick-up.

 

Header image taken from Amazon’s Launch Video on YouTube

Amazon Will Pay E-Book Authors Per Page Read

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Atlantic

Amazon has come up with a new way to distribute the revenue pool to self-publishing authors on its subscription-based e-book service Kindle Unlimited, as well as its Prime member’s Kindle Lending Library. After complaints from authors that the current scheme treats books of all lengths equally no matter how much time authors put into them, Amazon will go a step further than paying per page written.

It may seem like a crazy idea at first glance, but it is in fact in tune with the pricing scheme that most over-the-top subscription-based services employ, aligning consumption with compensation. Moreover, this per-page-read compensation model would offer Amazon and publishers a granular metric for measuring reader behaviors. This kind of digital-enabled “measurable intimacy” (which you can read more about in our 2015 Outlook) provides a great way for brands to connect with their audience, as well as getting nuanced feedbacks.

Amazon Turns Boxes Of Its Packages Into Advertising Space

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch

As the undisputable leader in ecommerce, Amazon has always been quite tech-savvy, actively exploring emerging media platforms like connected cars and smart home devices. Ironically, however, the ecommerce giant had been overlooking a low-tech, yet prime ad space right under its nose—the Amazon shipping box.

Perhaps realizing this missed opportunity, Amazon inked a deal with Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment to put cute cartoon characters from the Minions movie to help promote its impending release, the first time Amazon has ever allowed a third party to completely brand its iconic delivery boxes.

By accepting advertising on its packages, which litter doorsteps and apartment building lobbies across the states, Amazon may just have found a lucrative new revenue stream. Given that the mostly positive early responses from the customers, it seems reasonable to expect more branded boxes to pop up in the near future.

 

Why Amazon Launched A New Pinterest-Inspired Retail Curation

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Next Web

Today Amazon launched a curated product page named Amazon Stream which, with a visual repository of daily updated products and a conspicuous “Save” button, took some clear inspiration from Pinterest. Currently, all items featured in Stream are part of the “Amazon’s Sponsored Products” program.

The ecommerce giant has two obvious reasons for experimenting with the new layout. Firstly, Stream offers a new platform to showcase the sponsored products, therefore adding more value to its sponsored ad program. More importantly, Stream transforms the conventional “search-led” online shopping experience into a more “browsing-led” experience that is closer to brick-and-mortar retail experience.

As ecommerce continues to erode physical retail sales, online retailers have also been experimenting with new formats and designs to improve user experience. For more, you can click here to read our POV on “Shoppable Media” to learn how leading ecommerce brands like Amazon are integrating points of sale to create a consistent customer experience across platforms.

 

Head image screen-cap’ed from www.amazon.com/stream

 

How eBay Is Quietly Staging A Comeback

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original article on: WSJ Blog

In recent years, eBay has been lagging behind its competitors like Amazon and Alibaba, which was partly why it decided to spin off PayPal last year. Now just months before the planned split, the former ecommerce leader has quietly started to stage its comeback.

New reports claim that eBay is testing an Amazon Prime-like subscription program in Germany. The program, known as eBay+, promises customers free, expedited shipping and returns for just €15 to €20 (about $17 to $22) per year. For sellers, eBay will be offering discounts on selling fees and a subsidy to help cut the cost of shipping and returns.

Moreover, eBay is also reportedly planning a new ad unit called Promoted Listing that will allow some sellers to elevate their listings above others among the search results. Instead of the usual pay-per-click model, sellers only have to pay when a promoted listing translates into sales.

While it remains to be seen whether this comeback plan will work or not, it is clear that the ecommerce landscape will continues to evolve and expand. Brands operating in ecommerce space need to keep up with the constant changes, as well as the new opportunities they bring.

Amazon To Turn Connected Audi Cars Into Mailboxes

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Engadget

In a great combination of connected mobility and German efficiency, Amazon is teaming up with Audi and DHL for a trial program that delivers Amazon Prime purchases directly to connected Audi cars. Prime shoppers in the Munich area just need to provide the rough location of their car during the delivery window, and the DHL couriers will be granted temporary access to open the vehicle trunks and drop off the packages. As connected cars continues to infiltrate the market, we expect to see more brands to come up with innovative and practical ways like this to make use of connected car features.

How To Be As Good At Targeted Recommendation As Amazon

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Wired

Last week, Amazon quietly launched a new service aimed at opening its own AI technology, which its mighty recommendation engine is built on, to all businesses to use. The new service, known as the Amazon Machine Learning Service, is designed to help developers easily integrate targeted recommendation engines based on data and machine learning into their own websites and apps. As part its ever-growing suite of AWS cloud computing services, Amazon continues to claim Internet infrastructures, one piece at a time.

Amazon Echo Adds Smart Home Integration

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch

Back in November when Amazon launched Echo—an intriguing hybrid of connected speaker and virtual assistant—we wondered about its potential in becoming a control hub for smart home devices. Today, Amazon announced a software update for Echo, which will add support for a variety of connected home devices from companies such as WeMo and Philips. This will enables users to, for example, turn on Hue lights in the hallway or turn off the coffee maker plugged into Smart Switch by WeMo, all by voice command.