Recent News

Amazon layoffs hit drone division

Just as Amazon Prime Air drone delivery was beginning to gather momentum, the service reportedly was hit with another key setback.

Confidential sources claiming to be familiar with the matter told CNBC that Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) drone delivery unit lost a “significant number” of employees as part of the company’s plans to cut a total of 18,000 jobs. 

The reported layoffs come less than one month after Amazon launched its first commercial drone delivery service in Lockeford, California, and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amazon-layoffs-hit-drone-division

Salesforce sellers, meet Walmart fulfillment and delivery services

Big-box U.S. retailers are being forced to get creative to find new revenue streams while battling inflation and subsiding e-commerce growth. Many firms have sounded the alarm for 2023, fearing that those factors could trigger a recession and hamper their online product sales. 

But who said online sales need to be limited to products? Just days after Amazon announced a major expansion to Buy with Prime, a service that allows merchants to offer Prime fulfillment and delivery benefits on their own...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/salesforce-sellers-meet-walmart-fulfillment-and-delivery-services

Elroy Air tops $2B in purchase demand for Chaparral drone with LCI deal

Much attention has been directed toward Walmart, Amazon Prime Air and Alphabet subsidiary Wing’s forays into drone delivery — perhaps rightfully so given some of the things those companies have built in the past. But looking beyond drone delivery’s trio of titanic names, other firms are subtly carving out their own sizable presence in the space.

Take, for example, South San Francisco-based Elroy Air, which on Wednesday announced that it now has more than $2 billion worth of orders for Chaparral,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/elroy-air-tops-2b-in-purchase-demand-for-chaparral-drone-with-lci-deal

Amazon adding BigCommerce to Buy with Prime, scrapping invite-only model

Launched in April, Amazon’s Buy with Prime service — which grants merchants the ability to offer customers perks like free and two-day shipping through Amazon’s fulfillment network — had the looks of a game changer for e-commerce.

Now it appears the new offering is ready to change the game.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) on Tuesday announced that by Jan. 31, Buy with Prime will no longer be invite only. That means more e-commerce merchants, including those that do not sell on the company’s website, will...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amazon-adding-bigcommerce-to-buy-with-prime-scrapping-invite-only-model

Breaking down Walmart’s 2022 in drone delivery

A promise kept can be a rare thing in the world of business, and it’s important to take the word of CEOs and other executives with a grain of salt. 

But in the case of Walmart and its drone delivery service, company leaders have followed through on just about every prediction they’ve made.

The world’s largest retailer on Thursday released an assortment of statistics about its drone delivery network in 2022, revealing that it completed over 6,000 deliveries of items from ice cream to rotisserie...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/breaking-down-walmarts-2022-in-drone-delivery

Lightning eMotors launches online Fleet Planner solution

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Both federal and state lawmakers are now pushing electric vehicle adoption for not just commuters...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/lightning-emotors-launches-online-fleet-planner-solution

Report: Amazon’s planned job cuts swell to 17,000

In November, a report alleged that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) would lay off around 10,000 employees in a round of peak-season job cuts. Now, the figure is expected to be significantly higher.

In an article published Wednesday, people said to be familiar with the cuts told The Wall Street Journal that the number of employees affected by the layoffs will ultimately be closer to 17,000. Some of the sources also suggested that the layoffs are mainly corporate office positions.

If the report is accurate,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/report-amazons-planned-job-cuts-swell-to-17000

DoorDash launches Package Pickup for returns

In 2021, U.S. consumers spent $4.58 trillion — yes, trillion — on retail. But at the same time, retailers took back more than $761 billion worth of merchandise, or an average of 16.6% of all American sales.

The return rate tends to tick even higher following the winter holiday season. Customers returned about $158 billion worth of goods purchased between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, 2021 — an average of nearly 18% of all sales during that period.

It’s that time of year again. And in anticipation of the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/doordash-launches-package-pickup-for-returns

Online grocery firms merge to form Stor.ai, a Relationshop company

You’ve heard of commerce. You’re probably familiar with e-commerce. But allow Galen Walters, CEO of the newly formed Stor.ai, a Relationshop company, to introduce you to i-commerce.

“The ‘i’ represents the tenets of our enterprise solution: intelligent data, individual engagement and integrated shopping,” Walters explained. “We believe that for regional retailers to compete with WIKA (Walmart, Instacart, Kroger, Amazon), they need a technology solutions partner and unified technology platform...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/online-grocery-firms-merge-to-form-storai-a-relationshop-company

Cepton unveils slimmed-down lidar solution

As the autonomous vehicle industry begins to gather steam, manufacturers of lidar — short for light detection and ranging — are trying to do more with less.

Cepton (NASDAQ: CPTN), one of the few publicly traded lidar companies in the U.S., on Tuesday unveiled the Vista-X120 Plus, billed as “the world’s slimmest software definable, top-end automotive lidar for real-time adaptive 3D perception.”

In other words, the system can be controlled or configured remotely via software, is well-suited for...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cepton-unveils-slimmed-down-lidar-solution

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