Amazon’s private-label brands are challenging its traditional suppliers, said a 1010data report Thursday based on consumer spending data collected September 2015-August 2016. Amazon brands have been “extremely successful” in taking market share from established brands in key product categories, and by leveraging its online shelf space to introduce new private-label Amazon products, the company is "changing the dynamic for category leaders" and putting itself in "direct competition with these suppliers,” the report said. The retailer sells its own products in more than a dozen categories, including computer accessories, batteries and speakers. 1010data found Amazon “heavily competing” with category leaders and in some cases “becoming the online category leader,” it said. The data company estimated online battery sales were $113 million in the past year and that 94 percent of all batteries sold online are through Amazon sites. The AmazonBasics battery line accounts for roughly a third of battery sales online, up 93 percent, said 1010data. The online speaker market generated an estimated $1 billion in sales over the year, and Amazon rang up 89 percent of total online speaker sales, said the analytics firm. Amazon Echo products have 45 percent market share in dollars among the top 10 speaker brands. “No matter the market, the challenge for brands in an increasing number of categories is that Amazon is the top online channel,” said Jed Alpert, 1010data senior vice president-marketing, and the reasons vary by category. In batteries, Amazon has a “price-competitive product in a largely commoditized market with little brand loyalty,” said Alpert. In speakers, “they’ve developed truly innovative products that are redefining the market,” he said. Brands can no longer view Amazon “as solely a channel and need to acknowledge Amazon as a competitor,” said Alpert. Reports from 1010data use consumer spending data sources representing millions of consumers to provide an assessment of online and offline retail sales.

Not all went according to plan on LeEco’s debut day Wednesday for its LeMall.com e-commerce site, marking the U.S. debut of TVs and smartphones introduced Oct. 19 in San Francisco (see 1610190058). LeEco promised to trumpet the debut with the announcement of a “truly disruptive” content partnership that will “break all boundaries here in this country,” but the announcement hadn't materialized as of late afternoon Wednesday. "We'll provide details as soon as we can” on the content partnership, “but unfortunately, the lawyers got involved, so we're just waiting for final OK before we announce,” LeEco spokesman Greg Belloni emailed us Wednesday. Sources told us an announcement still was possible before the day was done on the West Coast. Other first-day surprises: (1) LeMall listed the 85-inch uMax85 Dolby Vision TV as sold out seconds after the site went live at 1 p.m. EDT. It says availability is expected for Nov. 21. LeEco had said first-day quantities of the uMax85 would be limited, but Belloni didn’t say how many were available or sold Wednesday. “We based our forecast for the uMax85 ecotv on 2015 85-inch 4K UHD television demand, and underestimated the interest in this screen size," Belloni said. "We are planning to have more units available later this month at the same LeRewards price" of $3,999, he said. IHS Markit estimates there were about 6,600 units of 85-inch 4K TVs shipped in the U.S. last year, including 3,700 in Q4 alone, nearly all from Samsung, Paul Gagnon, director of TV sets research, emailed us Wednesday. By late afternoon, all products in LeEco's introductory U.S. lineup were shown at LaMall as having been sold out, including two models of smartphones and three models of TVs, in addition to the uMax85.(2) LeEco's TV lineup will have DTS-HD digital surround technology and the Le S3 smartphone will have DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS said in a Wednesday announcement. But DTS representatives didn’t comment on why the DTS feature sets weren't disclosed at LeEco’s Oct. 19 launch event or why LeMall had no mention of DTS on those products Wednesday at the online store.

Five telemarketing companies and three individuals were accused by the FTC of a "worthless money-making" scheme using a purported link to Amazon and a "phony" grants program that bilked debt-laden consumers, seniors and veterans, said the commission in a Friday news release. The commission voted 3-0 to approve the complaint and the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, at the FTC's request, issued a temporary restraining order against the defendants, stopping their operation. The defendants, charged with violating the FTC Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule, are Blue Saguaro Marketing, MarketingWays.com, Max Results Marketing, Oro Canyon Marketing, Paramount Business Services. Individuals named are Stephanie Bateluna, Stacey Vela and Carl Morris Jr. The FTC alleged the telemarketers falsely told consumers they represented Amazon.com and would develop a website for hundreds and thousands of dollars and link it to Amazon. The defendants claimed consumers would "earn thousands of dollars every month in commissions for sales via the website" and also falsely offered to advertise such websites, the commission said. The defendants also claimed to represent the government, offering to help consumers get government and corporate grants within 90 days for paying down debt or medical costs if consumers gave thousands of dollars up front, said the FTC. But it said consumers received no money from the schemes and defendants ignored complaints and provided no refunds. Phone numbers called for a couple of the companies, which were based in Arizona or Nevada, were either busy or no longer in operation. A woman who answered an Arizona number linked to Stephanie Bateluna said no one by that name lived there. Numbers for other companies and individuals couldn't be found.

The number of U.S. Amazon Prime subscribers jumped 23 percent year on year in September to 47 million households, said a Cowen and Co. report. Some 43 percent of respondents to a Cowen survey indicated they lived in a Prime household, which the analyst firm estimated to be, on average, 46 million-49 million subscribers in Q3 2106 vs. 37 million-38 million for last Q3. Prime purchasers accounted for 55 percent of total Amazon buyers in September, in line with the previous six months and up from 49 percent in September 2015, Cowen said. Four out of five Prime subscribers purchased goods on Amazon during the month compared with 47 percent of non-Prime shoppers, it said.

Amazon padded its Prime Photos service in the U.S., allowing up to five people to be part of a Family Vault to receive free, unlimited photo storage and 5 GB storage for videos and other files, it said in a Tuesday announcement. Family Vault members can add photos and videos manually or set their account to automatically add all their photos and videos to the account. Amazon’s search engine allows users to specify theme words such as “sunset” or “wedding” and “relevant photos will show up,” said Amazon. Users also can browse photos by individual or filter photos by location or date, said Amazon. Photo printing is 9 cents apiece, with free delivery for Prime members, it said. Each vault member gets free, unlimited photo storage and an additional 5 GB for videos and other files, an Amazon spokeswoman told us. Family members who would like more video or document storage outside of the allotted 5 GB can upgrade on an individual basis to unlimited storage for $60 a year, she said. Family Vault has to be initiated by a Prime member, who receives Prime Photos as part of Prime membership. Members invited to a Family Vault don’t need to be Prime members, but a valid Amazon account is required to use the unlimited photo storage, she said.

Amazon pushed holiday season ordering by Alexa in a Thursday news release announcing its 2016 holiday toy list. The e-tailer said 70 percent of Amazon.com shoppers last year made purchases using a mobile device, and shopping via mobile app more than doubled over 2014. For 2016, Amazon added a “holiday toy list experience” to the mobile shopping app. It also promoted “hands-free” shopping by Alexa this holiday season via Echo, Tap and Fire TV devices, giving the example of a customer telling a device to order Play-Doh. The Alexa engine will search for the lowest priced option that ships with Amazon Prime “and apply available discounts,” Amazon said. In another announcement, Amazon said it slotted 120,000 positions for the holiday season. Positions across the U.S. will be added in fulfillment and sorting centers and in customer service sites, it said. Last year, Amazon transitioned more than 14,000 seasonal positions to full-time roles after the holidays and it expects to boost that number this season. Seasonal jobs are being offered in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

With Amazon Echo rival Google Home slotted for exclusive launch through Best Buy, Target and Walmart, Amazon.com is using the "Google Home" search term in its own interest. A search at Amazon for the $129 Google Home Thursday brought up the TP-Link Wi-Fi router launched with Google last year and sold through Amazon, and the Echo speaker in black and white versions. Amazon introduced Echo in white last week, before the Tuesday Google Home announcement. The white Echo is available with one-day shipping to Prime members, said Amazon Thursday, and Google Home, available in white at launch, is in pre-order status with a Nov. 4 shipping date. Amazon is also selling the book Google Home: An Easy Guide to the Features in the Kindle store.

Amazon fattened its menu for Prime customers, adding Prime Reading with unlimited reading from a rotating selection of books, magazines and comics, it said in a Wednesday news release. At launch, the benefit, included in the $99 annual Prime membership, features more than 1,000 books, 42 magazine titles and a large selection of Kindle Singles short-form content, said Amazon.

FedEx is “deep into planning” for what it expects will be “another record peak holiday shipping season” for e-commerce packages, CEO Frederick Smith said on a Tuesday earnings call. “The rapid growth of e-commerce has driven significant shifts in demand over the last several years,” Smith said. “Last year, we experienced 15 percent growth in peak season volume and delivered more than 325 million packages.” Beyond the sheer volume growth, holiday promotions and buying patterns “have increasingly shifted, which has resulted in heavy demand for package delivery on Mondays during the peak,” he said. “The intensity for demand on Monday has accelerated in recent years, as more and more retail locations have started serving as fulfillment centers for e-commerce orders. We expect each of the four Mondays during the upcoming peak period to be among the busiest in our company's history.” FedEx also sees increased demand for shipping larger and heavier packages, he said. “As e-commerce grows, there is demand for online ordering and delivery of everything from large-screen TVs to mattresses and trampolines,” most of which are handled through FedEx Ground, he said. This prompted FedEx to re-engineer its supply-chain strategies for peak holiday demand, including dedicating entire temporary facilities for the sorting of oversized packages, he said. It “goes without saying” that larger packages “create some operational challenges for us,” said FedEx Ground CEO Henry Maier in Q&A. "They take up more space in line haul and delivery vehicles in addition to being more difficult to handle.” FedEx will dedicate temporary facilities to oversized packages for peak holiday demand, “essentially separate buildings designed to handle just these type packages” that don’t fit on standard sorting equipment, he said. “We’ve strategically located these facilities in parts of the country where our experience and history has shown that shippers reside and ship these type packages.”

Klipsch stands by its decision keeping Amazon and eBay as internet partners even as it pursues a case in federal court (see 1609130055) to thwart HumanAudio, a Studio City, California, entity, from selling Klipsch products on Amazon and eBay without authorization, the company said in a statement. “Klipsch’s lawsuit against Humanaudio arises from Humanaudio’s alleged unauthorized resale of materially altered grey market Klipsch products,” Klipsch spokeswoman Kayla Wininger emailed us Thursday in a statement she attributed to Klipsch’s legal team. “The lawsuit does not implicate Ebay or Amazon in any way. Klipsch maintains a strong relationship with those entities as exemplified by our plan to continue to permit authorized resale of Klipsch products on their sites. Klipsch takes great pride in its brand and is taking action to protect consumers by preventing the sale of materially altered products to consumers by grey market resellers.”