Efforts to secure World Trade Organization agreement on e-commerce that’s “inclusive, high-standard, and commercially meaningful,” has backing of “global industry,” said 27 tech groups Monday. “Digital trade is critical to the prosperity of all economies,” and to the ability of companies of all sizes “to grow, innovate, and create jobs,” they said. ACT|The App Association, BSA|The Software Alliance, CTA, Internet Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others made 13 recommendations for what a WTO agreement should contain, including a prohibition on internet tariffs and “customs formalities on electronic transmissions,” plus mechanisms to “facilitate the flow of data across borders.” The groups want a WTO agreement that counters “digital protectionism while protecting and promoting consumer trust, fosters inclusivity in digital trade, and generates real commercial value for the global economy,” they said.

Google redesigned its shopping service, so customers can buy from “thousands” of stores directly on the Google Shopping website, it blogged Thursday. Available on mobile devices and PCs, it helps consumers find information from thousands of stores and discover and compare millions of products, said Surojit Chatterjee, vice president-product management, shopping. A new, personalized homepage offers product suggestions and a section with items for reorder: when ready to order, consumers can choose to buy online, at a store or directly from retailers on Google, he said. The company promises a quick and safe checkout process for consumers with payment information stored in their Google accounts. Orders are backed by a guarantee for “easy returns and refunds,” he said.

An article reporting it prioritized searches in a way that profited Amazon “is wrong,” the company tweeted Monday. “We have not changed the criteria we use to rank search results to include profitability,” Amazon said: “We feature products customers want, regardless of whether they are our own brands or products offered by our selling partners.” The Wall Street Journal had reported Amazon “adjusted its product-search system to more prominently feature listings that are more profitable for the company.” The company was said to have “optimized the secret algorithm that ranks listings so that instead of showing customers mainly the most-relevant and best-selling listings when they search -- as it had for more than a decade -- the site also gives a boost to items that are more profitable for the company."

Onkyo USA is now an authorized distributor and online retail partner for Sonos, it emailed Wednesday. This month, customers will be able to buy the Sonos One, Playbar, Connect, Sub and Sonos by Sonance architectural wireless speakers through Onkyo.com and its direct dealer base, the company said. Additional distribution will be added over time through the Pioneer, Elite and Integra properties, it said. It wasn’t clear if future Onkyo products would integrate SonosNet wireless multiroom audio functionality. A company spokesperson emailed us that nothing formal has been announced regarding product compatibility between the two companies since a software update released in May 2018 brought Sonos access to Onkyo family receivers matched with a Sonos Connect bridge. The Integra brand, meanwhile, announced Works With Sonos compatibility in its latest trio of networked AV receivers that will be on display this week at CEDIA Expo.

Democrats urged Amazon to remove thousands of unsafe products from online sale and issue warnings to consumers about those products in response to a report that more than 4,000 items marketed by the e-retailer are unsafe, banned by the federal government or featured deceptive labeling (see report, Aug. 26). Senate Commerce Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut, and two other senators -- Ed Markey, Massachusetts, and Robert Menendez, New Jersey -- urged Amazon to “take swift action to provide accurate warnings that protect consumers against these dangerous and deadly products and to stop their wrongful sale.” Congressional Kids' Safety Caucus Co-chair Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., asked CEO Jeff Bezos to detail how the company will prevent future sales of recalled or unsafe products and better label which products are being handled by third-party companies. The senators want Bezos to do “a sweeping internal investigation of [Amazon's] enforcement and consumer safety policies.” Last year, “our teams and technologies proactively blocked more than three billion suspect listings for various forms of abuse, including non-compliance, before they were published to our store,” Amazon said in a statement: Once “a product is available in our store, we continuously scan our product listings and updates to find products that might present a concern.”

Alibaba’s news that it’s welcoming U.S. sellers to its business-to-business marketplace “shows the Chinese retail giant’s desire to diversify its product offering,” said eMarketer analyst Jillian Ryan Tuesday. About 90 percent of goods sold on the Alibaba marketplace are from China-based factories manufacturing goods to order for buyers across the globe, said Ryan: “Buyers on the platform are from developed nations like the US, Canada, India, Australia, Brazil and the UK, and these buyers want to be able to source goods from the US," said the analyst. The Alibaba website said Tuesday the company is offering “new ways for US businesses to thrive,” via its improved customer experience. It invited businesses to participate in nationwide workshops, special offers and services and receive up to $500 off seller packages. The initiative gives companies access to “millions of buyers,” and allows them to showcase their storefront on Alibaba.com and “start getting traffic” from the site’s “massive global search engine.” Alibaba will provide digital marketing tools and help business optimize campaigns with “in-depth data and analysis,” it said. Ryan noted Alibaba has a few select pilot sellers for the project and “anchor sellers” in Office Depot and Robinson Fresh, but said to be successful against Amazon, Alibaba needs to recruit a meaningful number of small- to medium-size businesses.

Amazon plans to open two new Ohio fulfillment centers in Akron and Rossford, it said Monday. The facilities will create more than 2,500 full-time jobs “and opportunities to work alongside Amazon robotics,” it said. The fulfillment center footprints are over 700,000 square feet and will be used to pick, pack and ship small items such as books, electronics and toys to customers.

Consumers prioritize tech spending differently by age group, NPD reported Friday, saying shoppers 18-34 are willing to pay top dollar for notebook PCs and headphones but lower prices for LCD TVs. Average sales prices by that demographic were 17 percent higher than those for shoppers ages 35-53 and 13 percent higher than those 55 and older, it said. But 18-34-year-olds are choosing LCD TVs at a slightly lower price point than customers 35 and older, it said, with an ASP lower than 35-54-year-olds and 6 percent lower than the 55 and older segment. “Younger consumers continue to see extraordinary value in PCs and remain committed to buying the best PC they can afford,” said analyst Stephen Baker, while in TVs, overall ASP declines have allowed all consumers to buy larger sets with more enhanced features than in the past. All consumers are shopping online for value and traditional retailers have been able to apply successful in-store models to their online business “to compete effectively in product and price with online retailers,” he said. All three age groups consistently buy headphones, notebooks, LCD TVs, and tablets with a higher ASP through traditional retailer websites than through pure-play online retailer sites, said Baker, noting the ASP of headphones bought by each age group through traditional retailer websites was more than double that of those bought through pure-play online retailers. For the 12 months ending March 31, traditional retailer websites comprised 44 percent of online U.S. CE dollar sales for those items, he said. Overall online tech spending grew 10 percent year on year in the 12-month period ending March 31, said the research firm.

Amazon plans to “upskill” 100,000 U.S. employees -- a third of its ranks -- for “in-demand jobs” by 2025, after a workforce review and hiring analysis, said the tech giant Thursday. It's spending $700 million to give employees in corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retail stores, and its transportation network access to training programs designed to move them into more highly skilled roles “within or outside of Amazon,” it said. Programs cover a technical academy for software careers, a path from fulfillment center jobs to technical roles, on-site training for machine learning, a pre-paid tuition program to train fulfillment center associates in “high-demand occupations of their choice,” a Labor Department-certified apprenticeship that offers paid classroom training and on-the-job learning with Amazon, and courses in Amazon Web Services training and certification, it said. The company's fastest growing highly skilled jobs over the last five years are data mapping specialist (832 percent growth), data scientist (505 percent), solutions architect (454 percent), security engineer (229 percent) and business analyst (160 percent), it said. Highly skilled roles in fulfillment have increased over 400 percent in positions including logistics coordinator, process improvement manager and transportation specialist, Amazon said.

Amazon’s Woot! deals site will celebrate its 15th birthday Friday by bringing “deep discounts” to customers for a week in electronics, computers, tools and sporting goods, it said Tuesday. The discount site, known for its $10 “bags of crap (where you never know what you’ll get)” will offer 15,000 of the bags Friday, along with a 15-hour Woot-Off with new deals going live every 15 minutes and a live Twitch stream with customized lockers to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Deals and discounts will extend to Amazon devices, Sony headphones, 3D printers and more, it said. Customers who sign up for a new Woot! account Friday will get 15 percent off their first purchase through the end of day, it said. The e-commerce site is offering mobile-exclusive discounts Saturday and exclusives for Amazon Prime members Sunday through Tuesday. Prime members get free shipping by logging in with their Amazon account and going to woot.com/prime, it said.