Netflix opened their first online shop this week, powered by Shopify. They've teamed up with a few radical designers to release their first bits of clothing, all with inspiration from some of Netflix's own IP. Shows like Yasuke and Eden lead the way, with collaboration and production power from the streetwear brand Hypland as well as clothing and product maker EDEN.
Amazon plans to hold its Prime Day 2021 over a 48-hour period starting June 21 at midnight Pacific Time. Competitors Walmart and Target are gearing up to compete with the online retailer with their own sales, both of which will take place on the same dates as Prime Day. Target is calling its June sale 'Deal Days,' while Walmart is referring to its own Prime Day alternative as 'Deals for Days.'
Here in June of 2021, Amazon Prime Day will take place near the end of the month, jam packed full of products. Like other Amazon Prime Day events, this newest Amazon Prime Day 2021 will contain a whole bunch of products with prices slightly lower than they would otherwise be. As with other Amazon Prime Day events, it's important to keep track of the standard prices of products NOW, before the event, so you're able to see if the "sale" prices are actually worth the effort.
Instacart has announced a new Priority Delivery option that will enable customers in eligible regions to get their orders in as fast as half an hour. The company describes this new option as akin to the 'express lane' checkout in a grocery store, though it will only be available in some of the largest cities in the US to start.
As part of its I/O 2021 keynote today, Google talked about online shopping and the ways it is boosting this experience for both merchants and shoppers. Among other things, the company introduced its Shopping Graph, a dataset 'enhanced' using artificial intelligence to monitor a variety of constantly changing parameters, ensuring shoppers can find products they're looking for in real-time.
By now, most of us probably suspect that fake reviews on internet shopping sites are a real thing. Whether being offering so-called "free product trials" after buying something or encountering a review that makes the product a little too good to be true, it's easy to assume that fake reviews are a thing that happens. Today, however, a new security breach is giving us a better idea of just how widespread this might be.
Amazon is reportedly set to trial a new home assembly service for larger items, where delivery drivers would also put together furniture, appliances, or other larger items. The move, which is said to be planned for just a handful of markets as the online retail behemoth gauges popularity and feasibility, could make home shopping even easier, though there are concerns that delivery drivers themselves may face impractical expectations.
Amazon really turned the retail industry on its head and even until now big shot competitors from brick and mortar businesses are still trying to catch up to it. One of Amazon's biggest weapons is Prime membership and its perks and rivals are still trying their hand at offering their customers something similar. After Walmart's own Walmart+, Best Buy is now testing its own paid subscription program but with a more "human" spin to set it apart from Amazon Prime.
Social networks have always been a great channel for getting the word out on a new product but, save for a few, they haven't exactly been great for actually buying said product. Over the years, social networks, especially Facebook, have been working to bridge that gap and make it easy, perhaps too easy, to just jump in and buy something. Unsurprisingly, Twitter won't be left behind and is already testing a big "SHOP" button on some of its tweets.
If you're looking for some hard-to-find PC gaming hardware at the moment (as so many people seem to be), then you might want to have a look at Newegg right now. The company is hosting another Newegg Shuffle today, giving people the chance to buy in-demand hardware without having to race through check out. As we detailed last week, Newegg Shuffle is more or less a lottery where people pick out items they'd like to buy and then Newegg selects a certain number of shoppers to complete their orders.
As the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X continue to sell out immediately - seemingly the moment new stock is listed - there's a lot of concern from regular consumers that scalpers are beating everyone to the punch. When it comes to the latest PS5 restock from UK retailer Argos, that seems to quite literally be the case, as a group of organized scalpers were able to take advantage of a loophole to buy up stock before Argos intended to open sales to the general public.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X restock situation has been frustrating to say the least. The problem of limited stock is exacerbated by people shopping with bots and the fact that some retailers aren't allowing for in-store purchases. Stock disappears nearly as quickly as it's listed, and because of that, Twitter might just be the best tool anyone has at their disposal to land one of these hard-to-find consoles.