Respondents in Cowen's November shopping survey were “somewhat negative” about holiday spending, it emailed investors Thursday. Despite the “soft macro backdrop” from COVID-19, e-commerce spending is expected to “rise significantly,” as 59% of respondents said they would bump up their online holiday shopping; 11% planned to spend less online. Survey data aligned with 44% year-on-year e-commerce growth over the Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday shopfest, as reported by the National Retail Federation (see 2012010042). Cowen estimates U.S. Amazon Prime households rose to 73 million in November: Two-thirds of those expect their online holiday shopping to rise year on year, said analyst John Blackledge, noting that Amazon kicked off holiday shopping with its delayed Prime Day event in early October. Amazon is the most popular site, said the survey, with 84% of respondents planning to shop the leading e-commerce site over the holidays, followed by 50% at retailer sites and 21% each for brand sites and eBay. Amazon’s third-party gross merchandise value grew nearly 60% year on year after Prime Day; it topped 60% over the “Cyber 5” shopping period. Some 44% of survey respondents said they planned to start shopping earlier this year, 42% the same as last year, and 14% later. The elongated season is a positive for e-commerce, said Blackledge, noting that consumers who begin buying earlier could end up spending more overall. Sixteen percent expected to spend more, 29% less, and half about the same as last year. Delivery anxiety is a logical driver behind early buying, dating back to longer delivery times early in the pandemic, said Blackledge. About 56% of respondents said they aren’t worried about delivery times, 36% were moderately worried, and 7% “very worried.” Similar percentages played out among Prime members, with 8% very worried.
The latest U.S. plus streaming video service is Discovery’s, slated for a Jan. 4 debut. Pricing for discovery+ is $6.99 for the ad-free version, $4.99 with ads. Discovery is partnering with Verizon, which will “accelerate adoption” by giving six or 12 months free on select broadband and wireless plans. Verizon was a partner when Disney+ launched last year. Content will include original series across Discovery brands, with shows from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, OWN, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Discovery+ will be the streaming home of the Olympic Games in Europe, except in Russia, and Eurosport's premium sport offering.
Walmart is ditching the $35 free shipping minimum for shoppers in the Walmart+ membership program it launched in September (see 2009010032) as a competitor to Amazon Prime. Beginning Thursday, Walmart is “expanding the benefit list” of the membership -- $12.95 a month or $98 per year vs. Prime’s $12.99, $119 for free one- and two-day shipping. Walmart’s membership doesn’t include video and audio streaming services, unlike Amazon. Walmart said Wednesday the perk is “just in time for the holidays.” Orders placed on Walmart.com and fulfilled by third-party shippers no longer have a purchase minimum for Walmart+ members, a spokesperson told us, confirming elimination of the $35 minimum is a new benefit for Walmart+ members that will continue beyond the holiday season. She clarified that grocery deliveries from Walmart stores remain subject to a $35 minimum. Amazon has a similar stipulation with purchases through Amazon Fresh. Other benefits to Walmart+ are fuel discounts and the Scan and Go feature, which allows members to shop and check out with their phone. Walmart also added locations where members can get fuel discounts.
Ad-supported linear channels are a route to incremental revenue and new subscribers for streaming services, and expect more premium content providers to give them a shot, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Tuesday. Sling TV, VUit and Showtime are experimenting with such streaming linear channels, he said.
Nearly half of U.S. broadband households own a smart speaker or smart display, said Parks Associates Wednesday. The user experience across smart speakers varies widely, said analyst Jennifer Kent, beyond early uses focused on information requests and music streaming. As voice control devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home move into emergency detection and response, companies will need to ensure quality of service to instill consumer confidence, Kent said. Parks plans a smart speaker webinar Thursday at noon EST.
The Apple-Google collaboration to develop COVID-19 contact tracing through interoperable smartphone apps (see 2004100037) won Innovation of the Year honors in the Popular Science 2020 “Best of What’s New” awards, said the magazine Tuesday. “Even in a year like 2020, innovation has helped us glimpse a future that's safer, smarter, and more enjoyable than we might have thought possible,” said Editor-in-Chief Corinne Iozzio. The awards span 10 categories, with Sony's DualSense wireless controller for the PlayStation 5 winning for best entertainment innovation and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 gaming graphics processing unit named best gadget.
Independent businesses, mostly small- and medium-sized, surpassed $4.8 billion in worldwide sales on Amazon from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, up more than 60% from last year, emailed the e-commerce giant Tuesday. More than 71,000 SMBs worldwide have exceeded $100,000 in sales on Amazon so far the holiday season, it said. American SMBs this holiday have sold an average of 9,500 products per minute, it said.
Intelsat's $400 million buy of Gogo's commercial aviation connectivity business (see 2009010001 and this issue's personals section) is complete, Gogo said Tuesday. Gogo said its focus now will be on business aviation connectivity. It said proceeds from the deal will go toward debt and growth opportunities, including its 5G offering to launch in 2021.
Altice completed the sale of 49.99% of its Lightpath fiber business "for an implied enterprise value of $3.2 billion" to a Morgan Stanley investment fund, it said Tuesday. The deal was announced in July (see 2007290007).
Uber closed on its all-stock transaction to buy on-demand delivery platform Postmates, said the ride-hailing company Tuesday. “The two companies have begun the process of integrating U.S. operations,” it said. “As we bring together Uber Eats and Postmates, we're kicking off a regional listening exercise (first virtually and later with in-person sessions when safe to do so) across North America” to better understand merchants’ needs, blogged Stephane Ficaja, head-Uber Eats, U.S. and Canada. “We’ll be partnering with restaurant associations and chambers of commerce to make sure the right folks are in the room, and that our answers are accountable to you.” The goal is to give “restaurants -- and increasingly other types of merchants -- a bigger seat at the table to provide feedback on products in development, policy decisions, and more,” said Ficaja.