Walmart’s latest membership program, Walmart+, launches Sept. 15 for $98 annually, or $12.95 monthly, said the retailer Tuesday. It replaces the Delivery Unlimited subscription service introduced last September. The new service has unlimited free delivery for technology, toys, groceries and household essentials. Members can scan items as they shop and use Walmart Pay for a “touch-free” payment experience; they can also get fuel discounts up to 5 cents a gallon at Walmart, Murphy USA and Murphy Express. Walmart has tried and ended several membership programs.
COVID-19's disruption of the U.S. labor force will continue to shape how and where people work, with the U.S. mobile worker segment forecast to grow from 78.5 million this year to 93.5 million in 2024, some 60% of employees, reported IDC Tuesday. Information workers will surge over the next 12-18 months due to an expansion in remote and work-from-home workers post-pandemic. IDC finds 90% of companies think it's likely more of their staff will work from home in the future.
Health concerns due to COVID-19 advanced the market for wearables by 14% in Q2 on strong demand for hearables, reported IDC Monday. Hearables grew 32.6% year on year, and were 60% of all wearables. Apple shipped 29.4 million wearables in Q2 -- including 23.7 million Airpods and Beats products -- some 25% higher year on year, led by AirPods. Samsung had wearables growth of under a point to 7.1 million. Hearables were dominated by smartphone brands that have bundling opportunities; traditional headphone makers including Sony, Bose and Jabra focus on the lower-volume premium end of the market. Fitbit's shipments plunged in Q2 by 29% to 2.5 million. Ear-worn wearables continue to be popular as people work and learn from home, enabling privacy while remaining connected with devices and services.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is “committed to working with Congress to secure the necessary authority and funding to enhance remote learning services and broadband connectivity in various cities and towns affected by” COVID-19, he said in a letter to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., released Monday. Pai responded to a letter Warner sent in April urging the FCC to increase wireless power limits and decrease the size of the 75-kilometer exclusion zones where unlicensed access to the 5850-5895 MHz band is prohibited (see 2004160064). Pai wants Congress to allocate at least $430 million more for the FCC’s COVID-19 telehealth program in the next pandemic aid bill, and additional money for other connectivity (see 2008240054). Congress provided related funding in March.
Responding to growing interest in contactless retail payment during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mastercard announced artificial intelligence-based solutions it said Friday will deliver “low touch, high engagement” shopping experiences. Mastercard’s Shop Anywhere platform is designed to speed the shopping experience by “eliminating existing points of friction through robust inventory and participating shopper analytics.” Consumers benefit from no waiting, no checkout lines and secure payments, said the financial services company. The platform gives shoppers access to stores outside normal operating hours if selected by the retailer, in addition to exclusive merchandise. “As retailers and consumers navigate through one of the most disruptive periods in modern history, it’s clear that traditional business operations will need to evolve quickly,” said Stephane Wyper, Mastercard senior vice president-retail innovation. Shop Anywhere can be deployed in shopping malls, airports, grocery stores and apparel outlets, said Mastercard, with live pilots beginning in October. It's also delivering an AI-powered drive-through platform in partnership with SoundHound and Rekor Systems that uses vehicle recognition and voice ordering.
Target’s Q2 selling, general and administrative expenses were “significantly impacted” by higher employee pay and benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, said a 10-Q filed Friday at the SEC. SG&A expenses for the quarter ended Aug. 1 rose 14% to $4.5 billion. Also contributing to higher expenses were spikes in merchandise volume in stores and the supply chain, safety and cleaning supplies and more rigorous cleaning protocols. Target scaled back its 2020 remodel program of small-format stores from 36 to 20; it completed 130 remodels for the year. During the six months ended Aug. 1, Target issued $2.5 billion of 5-year and 10-year notes to increase cash on hand, it said. The company entered into a $900 million 364-day credit facility, increasing undrawn committed credit facilities to $3.4 billion. It temporarily suspended share repurchases, but the dividend policy remains unchanged, it said. In March, Target temporarily suspended physical inventory counts in stores due to the virus, resuming in June using a statistical sampling method; it has continued to record estimated losses due to shrink and markdowns based on historical rates, it said.
More than 60% of those owning connected heart monitors, pulse oximeters, connected glucometers and blood pressure cuffs show interest in sharing medical data, blogged Parks Associates analyst Kristen Hanich Thursday. Telehealth and care providers that integrate data can boost the value of their remote offering, she said. Analytics “should be able to facilitate valuable connections and inferences from data,” said John Showalter, Jvion chief product officer, saying data can account for gaps that appear: “Now, because of COVID-19, there are more gaps in data than ever.” Consumer attitudes toward connected health and privacy “have shifted with the pandemic, and more are now willing to share health information as they return to work and other normal activities," said Kristen Valdes, b.well Connected Health CEO. As attitudes continue to evolve, digital health companies need to find a balance between data privacy and data sharing “for the public good,” she said. Parks is holding its virtual Connected Health Summit Tuesday-Thursday.
Mexico’s General Directorate of Standards granted UL authority through a special “designation” to do safety and energy efficiency testing globally for electronics products and equipment imported into that country, said the company Friday. Included are safety tests for audio, video and information technology products and uninterruptible power systems, plus energy efficiency tests for major appliances, it said. With the ability now to test at UL or UL-approved labs outside Mexico, UL “can help reduce time and cost to market for product access to the Mexican marketplace,” it said. Navigating the regulatory landscape of global markets is a “complex and challenging task,” said UL, and COVID-19 “has added another layer of complexity.” The designation means companies can test their products closer to their factories “and mitigate delays due to the pandemic," it said.
Respondents to a mid-August Cowen continue to expect prolonged disruption due to COVID-19, averaging eight months, but consumer spending intention remains strong. Some 80% expect to spend the same or more in the upcoming month versus 66% in mid-April, the survey found. Areas where they expect to increase spending include groceries (58%), personal care products (27%), cable/internet/phone (19%), entertainment services (18%) and electronics (11%).
COVID-19 sent Movado fiscal Q2 sales tumbling 44% from store closures and the reduction of discretionary consumer spending, said the watchmaker Thursday. Sales in Q2 ended July 31 were better than “our internal expectations,” said CEO Efraim Grinberg on an investor call. Movado cut quarterly spending by $30 million, partly through a 24% reduction of its “corporate head count,” he said. “We have reopened all of our stores and are achieving high levels of productivity, despite reduced operating hours.” Movado is getting “strong results” from its e-commerce “initiatives,” said Grinberg. Movado.com sales were up 128% for the quarter, “and we continue to see those trends accelerate,” he said.