“Amazon on Tuesday rolled out new benefits for its Amazon Business Prime members, including access to a new credit card offered jointly with American Express. The AmazonBusiness American Express Card, for US customers, has no annual fee, and it offers businesses 5 percent back or 90-day interest-free payment terms on eligible purchases. The card could help Amazon reach more SMBs via Amazon Business, its B2B platform. Earlier in the year, Amazon launched a low-cost account option, enabling businesses to sign up for Amazon Business for $179 per year for up to three users.”

“A recent article from The Information detailing Amazon’s current retail profits calls into question an assertion occasionally made about Amazon’s retail operations. It is sometimes argued that Amazon (as well as other large tech firms) operates some parts of their business at a loss, particularly during growth phases. The article outlines that Amazon’s U.S. retail operations do not, in fact, operate at a loss and are growing.”

“Amazon Pay has acquired personal assistant platform Tapzo, its first such deal in India, in a bid to build on and widen the scope of its payment offering.”

“Amazon is trying to lure business buyers onto its fast-growing marketplace, offering them extended periods to pay for things like heavy equipment and office supplies. Sellers fear the change is coming at their expense.”

“Despite the massive glitches that prevented online shoppers from being able to browse and buy from Amazon’s Prime Day sale yesterday, the retailer is this morning claiming its Prime Day sales in the U.S. are “bigger than ever,” and grew faster than last year’s Prime Day within the first ten hours of the annual sales event. In addition, customers bought “millions” of Amazon  devices, including Amazon’s top sellers Fire TV Stick, Echo Dot, Fire 7 tablet, as well as the Instant Pot 6 Qt, and the Lifestraw Personal Water Filter for Hiking, Amazon said.”

“It started as an online bookstore, but today Amazon is a behemoth in all areas of e-commerce, fuelled by a strong Marketplace network of third-party sellers, an ever-expanding range of goods from groceries to fashion, and a very popular loyalty program in the form of Prime. Now, it is fast approaching a tipping point where more people will be spending money with Amazon, than with all other retailers — combined. Amazon’s next-closest competitor, eBay, a very, very distant second at 6.6 percent, and Apple in third at 3.9 percent. Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer when counting physical stores, has yet to really hit the right note in e-commerce and comes in behind Apple with 3.7 percent of online sales in the US.”

“Amazon Go is headed for Chicago and San Francisco. The retailer, which opened its first cashierless store concept to the public in Seattle in January, is seeking store managers in both cities, according to recent job postings on Amazon’s website. In response to an inquiry, a spokesperson confirmed that the company was planning to open stores in each city, but didn’t specify when.”

“Today, Amazon introduced the Small Business Impact Report highlighting new details about the millions of small and medium-sized businesses that have chosen to grow their business on Amazon. Like the larger U.S. economy, small and medium-businesses are the backbone of Amazon’s stores, providing customers with millions of unique products – from handmade artisanal products to electronics they invented with friends. These businesses in turn support not only their employees and families, but also their local communities, from creating jobs to supporting local schools, charities, and other organizations.”

“The Seattle-based retailer has previously said that it had more than two million total third-party sellers world-wide, but hadn’t given a breakdown in the U.S. In its release on Thursday, it also listed the number of smaller merchants by state, saying California had the most with more than 175,000, followed by New York with more than 81,000, and Florida with more than 75,000.”

“The move shows Amazon is willing to sacrifice the profitability of its payments system to spread its use. Swipe fees are a $90 billion-a-year business for lenders such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc., networks including Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., and payment processors like First Data Corp. and Stripe Inc., which pocket a fraction of every sale when shoppers swipe cards or click “buy now.””

“Amazon today announced that Amazon Key, the service that already enables in-home delivery and keyless guest access, now gives customers an option to receive deliveries inside their vehicle. With Amazon Key In-Car, Prime members with compatible vehicles now have the convenience of having packages delivered inside their cars when parked in a publicly accessible area, typically at their home or workplace.”

“Amazon announced today a new service that gives its couriers access to a person’s vehicle for the purpose of leaving package deliveries inside. But rather than use smart locks and a cloud-connected camera to gain entry, Amazon wants to use the connected technologies embedded in many modern vehicles today. The company is launching this new service in partnership with two major automakers — General Motors and Volvo — and will be rolling out in 37 cities in the US starting today.”

“Bezos also disclosed for the first time that Prime now exceeds 100 million members worldwide. In 2017 alone, Amazon added more Prime members than any prior year, and shipped over five billion items through the paid membership service worldwide, he said.”

“London Theatre Direct has become the first ticket retailer in UK to accept Amazon Pay which can now be used for all purchases on their website. This new payment method offers consumers increased flexibility, security and ease when purchasing tickets to some of London’s biggest shows. Amazon Pay makes it easy for millions of Amazon customers to login and pay on third party websites using the payment and shipping information stored in their Amazon accounts.”

“Among the options being evaluated are ways in which consumers could tell Alexa to send money to a friend. The idea is still in the early stages, and the voice-activated device would likely need more information about customers’ bank accounts than it has now to execute such money transfers, people said.”

“The internet behemoth is in early discussions with banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Capital One Financial Corp. to create a product similar to checking accounts, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity. Amazon aims to tailor the accounts to appeal especially to youngsters and those who own no plastic in their wallets, the people said.”