Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple Face Difficult Questions from House Judiciary Committee
The CEOs of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple all fronted the House Judiciary Committee in the US today as part of a five-hour hearing which intended to establish whether the tech giants have been operating in an anti-competitive manner.

The subsequent rulings based on the hearings could, eventually, result in new regulations restricting, or even reducing, the market dominance of each.

As has become normal in such hearings, some questions related to how the tech companies operate in other respects, and several questions appeared to miss the point. But there were also some tough queries for the CEOs to answer.

All of the questions, backed with fairly clear evidence, support the core case that these larger corporations, due to their size, and now able to quash competition, while questions were also raised around how the platforms use their massive scale to promote their own products, essentially establishing a field of play, and then competing in the same, though under significantly different rules.

As noted by House Judiciary Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee Chair David Cicilline (D-RI) in his closing remarks:

“This hearing has made one fact clear to me: these companies as they exist today have monopoly power. Some need to be broken up, all need to be properly regulated and held accountable. We need to ensure the antitrust laws first written more than a century ago work in the digital age.”

That, really, is what's at the core of this investigation, whether the existing laws are as applicable as they could be in the current, digital age. The question now is what comes next? There does seem to be enough evidence to prompt further examination, but a resultant change in regulations could still take some time, if the House is able to agree on the right approach moving forward.

As such, it's difficult to take too much away from the session, which did raise some critical questions that the CEOs, as noted, could not adequately answer. socialmediatoday.com

Bezos Clueless & Unprepared About Vetting
What didn’t Jeff Bezos know and when didn’t he know it?
Amazon’s CEO offered less than satisfactory answers to questions about his company’s vetting of third-party sellers and its alleged use of sales data to compete directly with the marketplace vendors and brands it claims are so important to its business.

Rep. Lucy McBath (D – GA) questioned Mr. Bezos about the information that Amazon requires third-party sellers to provide in its efforts to prevent the sale of stolen goods on the site. When asked how his company verified that information supplied by third parties was accurate, he said, “I don’t know the answer to your question.”

Mr. Bezos would not be the first CEO of a company not to know “how the sausage is made,” so to speak, but his lack of a ready-prepared answer is startling since it was common knowledge that the sale of counterfeit and stolen goods on the platform would be on the list of questions he would be asked.

For the record, Amazon introduced a program earlier this year that involves in-person verification of third-party marketplace sellers. When the pandemic hit, Amazon shifted to a video call verification system. retailwire.com

Bezos 'Stumbled' & 'Kind Of' Committed to Working with Law Enforcement When Grilled
Bezos Defends Amazon's Counterfeit Fight & Stolen Goods
Bezos also defended the company's history of fighting counterfeit sales and even stolen goods. But the track record, which has landed Amazon in hot water with brands and the federal government, demonstrates a lack of willingness to get serious about the problem, according to RILA's Ahrens. Bezos stumbled under questioning about what details sellers must provide in order to trade on the Marketplace.

"Jeff Bezos was completely familiar with details when he views it as important," he said. "This is a solvable problem. It is a choice. Amazon is a company with some of the best data scientists on the planet, but it's not even a technology issue. They ought to have a vetting process on the front end, but he doesn't know how they verify those sellers — how they check that they are who they say they are. This is a multi-billion dollar problem that our members are seeking to address."  retaildive.com
 

COVID Update

US: Over 4.6M Cases - 154K Dead - 2.2M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 17.3M Cases - 672K Dead - 10.8M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 154+   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 67
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Thanks to COVID
US economy posts its worst drop on record
The US economy contracted at a 32.9% annual rate from April through June, its worst drop on record, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday.

Business ground to a halt during the pandemic lockdown in the spring of this year, and America plunged into its first recession in 11 years, putting an end to the longest economic expansion in US history and wiping out five years of economic gains in just a few months. cnn.com

Harvard Coronavirus Experts Say 13 States Need to Lock Down Now
A report released this week by the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force warns that 21 states are now in the “red zone” and need to take aggressive steps to slow the spread of COVID-19.

That sounds serious. But according to new, comprehensive national guidelines from a network of research, policy and public-health experts convened by Harvard University’s Global Health Institute and Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, the latest federal report probably isn’t serious enough.

“The public needs clear and consistent information about COVID risk levels in different jurisdictions for personal decision-making, and policy-makers need clear and consistent visibility that permits differentiating policy across jurisdictions,” said Danielle Allen, director of Harvard’s Safra Center. “We also collectively need to keep focused on what should be our main target: a path to near zero case incidence.” yahoo.com

California again breaks record for most coronavirus deaths in a single day
California has again broken a new record for the most coronavirus-related deaths in a single day, with 174 deaths reported on Tuesday. The daily average of coronavirus-related deaths over the previous seven days has never been higher, now at 119. Since the first documented COVID-19 death in February, there have been 8,716 Californians who have died.

There are some signs that California’s most recent surge — while still growing — has started to slow down. latimes.com

COVID's Huge Impact on Returns
Get Ready for ‘Surge in Returns,’ Green Returns and More
Amid increased online shopping and the ongoing pandemic, returns experts anticipate a rise in returns and green solutions.

With e-commerce surging generally, and the pandemic making curbside pickup, store-level fulfillment and other processes increasingly beneficial, the report argues “precise inventory management is much harder, yet more important than ever before.”

“This crisis has inadvertently made the returns process far more green than it was at the start of the year.”

Even “online return veterans” are shifting gears. “Before the crisis, many retailers gave customers the option to download and print their own labels and return information at home. However, once the pandemic started we saw a huge rise in the number of customers choosing to fill this information in via online forms or through mobile apps, and quickly realized that this was likely due to thousands of shoppers not having access to the office printer anymore,”

With the ongoing move from analogue to digital processes across the supply chain, the argument for paperless returns managed in an online “returns portal” instead of providing a label in a box is just one step taken by retailers such as Asos, Boohoo Group-owned Karen Millen and MissPap to streamline their operations and reduce waste — to a cost savings of 640,000 pounds on return labels alone, or 8,000 trees saved a year, in the case of the former.

The reasons behind consumer behavioral changes in returns are rooted in a need for convenience and safety as confirmed coronavirus cases top four million in the U.S. alone. Traditionally, the steps for returning a package via mail exceed the ease in dropping something off at a store or, in the case of donations, stuffing a garbage bag full of unwanted items, tying it off and depositing it on the steps of the nearest drop-off location. wwd.com

Shoppers Are Scared Most of Malls
Consumers' Retail Fears Aren't Fading

New research from First Insight finds that fears of shopping aren't going away.

A huge 80% of women feel unsafe trying out beauty products, 68% feel unsafe trying on apparel in dressing rooms and 61% feel unsafe trying on shoes. This represents an uptick compared to the company's first study in April.

From a generational standpoint, baby boomers feel the least safe returning to stores with 73% saying they don't feel safe trying on clothes in dressing rooms, up 2% since April.

Shopping malls, warehouse clubs and big box retailers may have more of an uphill battle with 32% feeling unsafe visiting shopping malls, 20% with warehouse clubs and 18% with big box retail.

The only retailers where people appear to be getting more comfortable since April are essential retailers and local small businesses. Only 11% feel unsafe at grocery stores, versus 13% in April, and the figure for drug stores hovers around 15%. For small businesses, the figure dropped from 21% to 17% in the past three months.

As for how much a face mask police eases fears, 84% said it makes them feel most safe while temperature checks at the door are important to 71% of consumers. retaileader.com

Get your house in order
Customer Service Requests Increase 48% Since Late February
One study found that customer support requests for sectors including retail and e-commerce have seen the highest increase since late February 2020 — up an average of 48%. 

Retailers have struggled with poor user experiences that make it difficult for customers to navigate service inquiries and fewer agents equipped to manage the increase in demand. 

These are issues that need to be solved and solved quickly. Across the board, the pandemic has opened retailers' eyes to the importance of sophisticated and stellar customer service — the failure to do so being the difference between customer retention and attrition. 

Today, customers have high expectations for personalized, proactive and always-on customer service. So, retailers must have the tools in place to meet these needs. 

Automate the mundane — eliminate manual customer service tasks - Meet customers where they want — with a multi-channel, self-service approach - Get your house in order — eliminate cross-team siloes

Today, the customer experience is one of the most critical touchpoints a retailer has with its customers. After all, as retail continues to evolve, great customer service means more loyal customers — and that's not something you can pass up!  retaildive.com

Reducing Risk at the Office
The Office Redesign Has Only Just Begun
Plexiglass dividers and floor decals might not be permanent, but the pandemic will bring lasting change to offices. Experts from the architecture and real-estate industries share how they are getting back to work and what offices will look like in the future. Photo: Cesare Salerno for The Wall Street Journal. wsj.com

Retailers Back Senate Republicans’ Proposed Liability Relief HEALS Act

Pilot Requires Face Masks at all 680+ Locations
 

Retailers in Administration (Bankruptcy) & Closing Stores in the UK
Just as impacted as the U.S. if not maybe slightly worst

UK: The Crisis in Retailing: Closures and Job Losses
The effect of the coronavirus lockdown came on top of retail's existing problems. It has been a hammer blow against the sector. Government advice to stay at home, avoid shops, pubs and restaurants was followed a few days later by the lockdown and closure of most stores. We have revised our figures to show the impact on jobs in retail and the number of stores being closed (see below). Our Economic Forecast for the Sector is that lost sales in 2020 will amount to -£17,281bn and retail's Annual Sales Total will fall by -4.6% this year (see Economic Forecast https://www.retailresearch.org/retail-forecast.html)

Hence in 2020 our revised figures are that 20,622 stores will close (against 16,073 in 2019) and job losses will rise to 235,704 people (against 143,128 last year) [forecast prepared on 31 March 2020].

Several important retailers have already gone bust and we expect many more to do so, making this the worst year since 2008/9. Many companies in a better financial position will not go bust, but have to rationalise their store portfolios. Moreover, the massive peak in online sales, whilst physical shops have been shuttered, presents greater problems for British high streets because many shoppers will not return.

Who’s Gone Bust in Retail in UK Retailing in 2019-2020?

More bricks-and-mortar retailers have gone into administration this year (by June 2020), putting more stores at risk and more employees under threat of losing their jobs than in the whole of 2019, which was described some some observers as 'the worst year for 25 years' for the industry.'

So far (to July 2020) of the stores' at risk', 53% or 1,424 have been closed and 43.7% of 'at risk' staff have been made redundant. The equivalent figures last year were 36.9% and 20.6% respectively. retailresearch.org

J.C. Penney looks to sell itself in bankruptcy
J.C. Penney is moving quickly to sell itself in a bankruptcy auction by the fall in a plan that would keep the retailer operating under new ownership, attorneys for the retailer said in a hearing Wednesday.

Private equity firm Sycamore Partners, department store retailer Hudson's Bay Co., and landlords Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties have proposed bids for Penney, according to anonymously sourced reports in the New York Post and Women's Wear Daily.

Joshua Sussberg, who is representing Penney in its Chapter 11 case, mentioned the Post's story in the hearing, confirming three separate bidders for Penney, without naming them.

But Sussberg also said aspects of the Post's story were incorrect, including the possibility of Penney being subsumed by a competing department store brand in one of the bids. (The Post reported that Sycamore planned to merge Penney with Belk and move it under the latter's banner and CEO.) Sussberg also said there was "not one discussion" taking place around liquidating Penney.  retaildive.com

C-Stores - Safety - Curbside Pickup - Home Delivery
Convenience stores continue to add safety protocols, new pickup options
Nine in 10 stores (89 percent) have installed plexiglass barriers at checkout, and 87 percent provide hand sanitizer inside the store. Convenience stores sell an estimated 80 percent of the fuel purchased in the country, and 24 percent of stores are offering hand sanitizer at the fuel island, according to a national survey of U.S. convenience store owners conducted by NACS.

Overall, 98 percent of respondents say their stores have remained open: 64 percent of stores have kept the same hours, and 34 percent have stayed open but with reduced hours.

Many retailers also say they are driving forward new convenience offers that respond to customer demands, such as new payment options that have accelerated within the industry: 40 percent say they have introduced or increased contactless payment options inside stores, and 62 percent say fewer customers are paying by cash, reflecting a broader retail trend. In terms of product pickup, 33 percent of stores have introduced or expanded curbside pickup, 29 percent have increased a drive-thru element to their operations and 21 percent increased delivery. foodsafetystrategies.com

Converting Millions of Sq.-Ft. of Retail Space
Shippers eye struggling retail properties for conversion to last-mile, fulfillment centers
Retail to industrial real estate conversions are on the rise, according to a CBRE report released Thursday.

The top five markets for retail facility conversions are Milwaukee, Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Omaha, Nebraska, according to the report.

Generally, properties without existing docking bays or compatible ceiling heights are often demolished in favor of new-build warehouse facilities, the report said. retaildive.com

You've Been Zoomed
Walmart Eliminating Hundreds of Corp. Jobs
Some of those affected were told in person, while others learned their fate over a Zoom call. Those who lose their jobs will be paid until the end of January according to one of the people. Mostly in real estate, store planning and logistics.

Retailers of all shapes and sizes have been trimming back-office workforces during the pandemic. L Brands Inc., the owner of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, said this week it will eliminate 850 office jobs, or about 15% of its corporate staff. Last month, Macy’s Inc. said it was eliminating 3,900 corporate and management jobs. Tailored Brands and Levi Strauss & Co. are cutting corporate positions, too. bloomberg.com

Introducing the New FEMA.gov
I encourage you to check out the redesigned FEMA.Gov website and see what is new. Note the new coronavirus page that is highlighted at the top.  fema.gov


Quarterly Results
Blue Apron Q2 sales up 10%