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  Geebo 9:01 am on June 5, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon, walmart ( 24 )   

  Walmart to possibly have employees deliver packages 

  

  In case you were unaware, the nation’s largest retailer, Walmart, has an online presence that is working on rivaling Amazon. The place where Amazon beats Walmart is delivery. With an Amazon Prime subscription you can get unlimited free delivery. Now, Walmart is planning on challenging that by asking their employees to deliver packages from their stores.

  Late last week, Walmart announced the testing of a new program where their employees can deliver online orders to houses during their commute home in their own cars. Walmart doesn’t have the greatest reputation when it comes to their employees, as many believe they are underpaid and in some cases grossly overworked. By asking their employees to use their own cars, one has to wonder if the employees making the deliveries will be fairly reimbursed. While Walmart says the program is voluntary for employees, in the past Walmart has been accused of having a very liberal interpretation of the word ‘voluntary’.

  However, Walmart does have one valid point. They have said all their stores they are within a mile of 90% of the US population. All companies that use any kind of delivery say the last mile is the most expensive part of any delivery so Walmart could end up potentially beating Amazon in this area. The real problem is will the Walmart employees who volunteer for this program be fairly treated?

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  Geebo 10:36 am on March 29, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon, Amazon Go ( 8 )   

  Amazon Go breaks down when there’s too many people in it 

  

  Previously on this blog, we’ve posted about Amazon’s proposed brick and mortar store called Amazon Go. The store is supposed to work without cashiers with scanners and cameras doing most of the work. While we were wondering what’s keeping customers from stealing everything, Amazon has run into a much bigger problem. According to reports Amazon has run into the problem where the stores break down if they have more than 20 people in them.

  If there are more than 20 people in any given store the electronics behind the store find it incredibly difficult not only to track all the customers, but track the correct placement of items on the shelves as well. Because of this glitch, to put it mildly, Amazon has delayed the opening of their Amazon Go stores. The first store was supposed to open this month in Seattle.

  With such setbacks one has to wonder what would be more cost-effective, fine tuning the algorithms and equipment to make sure customers have a seamless experience, or hiring cashiers who can handle a crowd of people right off the bat?

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  Geebo 12:04 pm on March 17, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Alexa ( 4 ), Amazon, Echo ( 3 ), Siri ( 2 )   

  Will iPhone users divorce Siri in favor of Alexa? 

  

  Have you ever wanted to have the full capabilities of an Amazon Echo but couldn’t afford one since you spent all your money on having the latest and greatest iPhone? Well, fret no more as Amazon’s app on iOS now has full Echo capability.

  With its latest update, the iOS Amazon app now allows you to access the Echo functionality from your iPhone. Some are even saying that it’s a much better alternative to Apple’s built-in assistant Siri. While Siri has been around a lot long than the Echo, many Apple users still say that it’s buggy and glitchy to the point of being not very helpful.

  Also with the new Echo app, you don’t have to worry about jokers saying “Alexa, buy me a doll house” around your iPhone. With the Amazon app you actually have to press the microphone button within the app before Alexa will respond.

  While now, it’s only out for iOS devices, Amazon says that it should be available to Android devices shortly.

   
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  Geebo 10:37 am on February 10, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon, Google ( 30 ), identity theft ( 107 ), scam ( 22 ), tech support scam ( 50 )   

  Google ad for Amazon was actually link to scam site 

  

  Many tech news sites are reporting that there was a false ad for Amazon this past week when you searched for the retail giant on Google. The ad, that would come first in the search results, did not take you to Amazon, but instead took to you to a site that tried to perpetrate a tech support scam.

  If you went to the site on a Windows computer the site would emulate the infamous blue screen of death and advise you to call a tech support number. If you were in an Apple computer you’d receive a warning that your machine had been infected by ransomware and again be given a number to call. As long as you didn’t call the number your machine would be relatively ok.

  This scam has been around for about as long as the internet has. Fictitious sites would inundate you with pop ups telling you that your computer had been infected with some kind of malware and if you call an ‘official’ tech support number your computer will be fixed. When you call the number usually a ‘technician’ would gain access to your computer remotely with your permission and would use that opportunity to root around your computer for any information worth stealing.

  The problem with this particular scam is that it was perpetrated through Google, possibly the most perceived legitimate site on the internet. Google says that the problem has fixed but still leaves users concerned since this fake ad made it through their screening purpose. In the future users may want to not click on ads on Google’s search page and instead click on the listings instead, at least for now.

   
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  Geebo 10:59 am on January 9, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon, Amazon Go ( 8 ), Loss prevention, shrinkage ( 2 ), theft ( 6 )   

  Amazon’s store without people will have people 

  

  Previously, Amazon.com announced that they were going to have brick and mortar stores that would have no cashiers called Amazon Go. While their technological wonderstore seemed impressive, we asked at this blog what would be preventing people from just walking out with whatever they wanted? It turns out that the store of the future will be using a tool of the past, people.

  Tech blog Recode recently reported that Amazon will have people assisting the machine that is Amazon Go. While they didn’t come right out and say that the people working there will be used as security guards that has to be part of the plan even tough that Amazon claims that humans are there just to assist the Amazon Go algorithm.

  Even the most heavily monitored brick and mortar stores with the highest security technology still fall victim to theft to the tune of millions of dollars a year. That’s with both electronic surveillance and human loss prevention specialists. While Amazon Go may seem like a technological utopian store, it feels like it puts way too much faith in humanity.

   
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  Geebo 10:56 am on December 6, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon, Amazon Go ( 8 ), retail ( 49 ), shoplifting ( 2 ), shrinkage ( 2 ), theft ( 6 )   

  Amazon to unveil store without cashiers 

  

  Recently, online retail monolith Amazon announced that they were opening a new brick and mortar store that would have no cashiers or check out lines. The store, called Amazon Go, touts itself as a high-tech store that uses several different technologies in order to determine what you’ve purchased and how to charge your Amazon account for it.

  Amazon’s announcement made quite a splash in the recent news cycle, but with all the articles that have been written about it there’s one problem that has yet to be addressed, theft, or as they call it in the retail space, shrinkage. When someone develops a new and innovative system of commerce at anytime there are always going to be people looking to beat the system. Amazon Go sounds like it relies heavily on the honor system but as the saying goes there is no honor among thieves.

  With this new proposed concept by Amazon, cashiers may be seen as the proverbial buggy whip manufacturers, however they do serve a purpose beyond just checking and bagging our groceries. Just by their presence they act as a line of defense to discourage many people from just walking out of the store with a cart full of groceries that they didn’t pay for.

  Maybe Amazon has already addressed this issue internally, but by not discussing it publicly it seems that they are almost daring a battalion of five-finger discount practitioners to make Amazon Go a target.

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  Geebo 10:56 am on November 28, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon, Cyber Monday ( 2 ), gift cards ( 101 ), Scams ( 1,368 )   

  Beware of this Amazon scam on Cyber Monday 

  

  Today is known as Cyber-Monday, an internet alternative to Black Friday. It’s supposed to be a day of deals, but it can also be a day of scams.

  While you wouldn’t think of Amazon.com being a haven for scammers it sure can be. Not unlike Ebay, Amazon has a number of third-party vendors. Some of these vendors can be potential scammers, especially if they’re asking for payments in Amazon gift cards. A number of people claim that they’ve ordered something on Amazon, bur they were asked to contact the seller before purchasing the item. The seller would then request that the buyer purchase an Amazon gift card, then give them the serial number of the card. The problem was that the sellers were scammers and got away with the gift card money. Sadly, Amazon is not being very consumer friendly when it comes to the victims trying to get their money back. Amazon basically says that once the gift card is exhausted, the matter is out of their hands.

  There can be some good to take out of this story. When purchasing something online, whether it’s Amazon or not, never make a payment with gift cards to a third-party. This is a scam that has been going on since the dawn of gift cards. No legitimate retailer will ever ask you to pay this way.

  So on this Cyber-Monday, gift cards still make a great gift for someone on your Christmas list. However, they’re not good for making payments outside of the vendor itself.

   
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  Geebo 10:01 am on November 2, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon, Amazon Prime ( 6 )   

  Amazon charges more to non-Prime customers in physical stores 

  

  Online retail giant Amazon has opened physical brick and mortar stores in Seattle, Portland, and San Diego. They plan on opening two more stores in Chicago and Boston. At these physical locations they sell mostly books, which is where Amazon originally made their bread and butter. However they’ve started a minor controversy by charging Amazon Prime members lower prices at their physical stores.

  Amazon Prime is a paid perk for Amazon.com members where they can receive additional benefits like faster delivery and access to their Netflix-like service, Amazon Video. However, what the Prime membership doesn’t do is give Prime members better prices on their website. By using the stick and carrot of lower prices at the physical stores to get customers to sign up for Prime, it seems that they’re trying to extort their customers into paying close to $100 a year just to get a few bucks off for books at their physical location.

  Now some may say that this sounds like any other ‘price club’ that a lot of stores have. The store gives you a card and when you present their card at checkout you get a discount on sale items. So how is that different from Amazon Prime? Well, at most of these stores that have price clubs, membership is free. That’s a far cry from $100 a year just for books. This sounds like it may be a minor backfire for Amazon as the only people they’ll be getting at their physical stores are people who need to have a book right now and will be willing to pay a few extra bucks for the non-Prime price.