Today in retail, Walmart, CVS and others are taking advantage of Amazon’s market correction. Plus, Unilever is restructuring its global business, and Amazon is bringing its Just Walk Out technology closer to home, with plans to expand it to other suburban locations.
As Market Stumbles, Walmart, CVS, Defensive Brands and Retailers Seize Opportunity
Amazon has lost 20% of its market value since topping $1.5 trillion in November and the S&P 500 briefly dipped 10%, but many of the big-cap players in the Consumer Staples Index are seeing their values climb. Among these defensive advancers are Walmart and CVS as well as major global consumer-packaged goods (CPG) and food manufacturers including Procter and Gamble, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Mondelez and Colgate Palmolive, as well as some major grocery store chains.
Unilever Announces Sweeping Restructuring of Global Businesses
Unilever is undergoing an organizational restructuring that includes 1,500 layoffs and the creation of five business groups — Beauty and Wellbeing; Personal Care; Home Care; Nutrition; and Ice Cream — to replace the “matrix” structure it has used for much of its history. The five new business groups will be backed by Unilever Business Operations, which will supply the technology, systems and processes to each group that will “drive operational excellence across the business,” the company said.
Amazon to Expand ‘Just Walk Out’ to the Suburbs as Grocery Shoppers Demand Frictionless Convenience
Amazon is opening an Amazon Go location with its “Just Walk Out” cashierless checkout technology in Mill Creek, Wash., a suburb about a half hour’s drive outside Amazon’s home city, Seattle, “in the coming months,” and other suburban locations in the future. Just Walk Out shoppers scan a code on their app when they enter the store, pick items from shelves as usual and then walk out. Items are automatically charged to their accounts, registered with computer vision and sensor technology.
For Brands, Retailers and Consumers, It’s All About the ‘Buy it Now’ Button
The world’s leading brands are using deep digital analytics and real-time data to gain more insight into what’s happening inside the retail stores and websites that carry their products. With the help of “commerce enablement tools” that reflect if a product is in stock, priced correctly and displayed accurately, the journey of the digital consumer can be won or lost the moment the “Buy it Now” button appears.
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