Amazon ordered more Mercedes delivery vans for entrepreneurs who signed up to start businesses moving the retailers’ packages. Currently, with 10,000 applicants, we can guesstimate that the typical entreprenuerial delivery operator will operate an average of two vans. Assuming one of the drivers at each startup is an owner at first, the program will create […]
Tag: Amazon
Amazon has captured half of U.S. e-commerce revenue, according to eMarketer. Not coincidentally, Jeff Bezos became the richest living human the same week. So what’s left to do with online sales? Almost everything. Jeff Bezos knows this, which is why he pushes Amazon into so many new markets. There is, however, a limit to virtual trust. Bhaskar […]
During the first quarter of 2018, local on-demand food delivery achieved mainstream status. In response to Amazon.com’s expansion of delivery on the back of its Whole Foods acquisition, WalMart announced that it would increase its delivery services to reach 40 percent of American homes in 2018. But it is Instacart, which today added 55 Fresh […]
Where is your place in the on-demand economy? Many workers and small businesses, including retailers, see the encroachment of Amazon, WalMart, and myriad other services as destructive. Yet media-enabled global brands are consistently challenged when engaging home- and office-based customers. The future of your business, whether a physical location or as an independent contractor, depends […]
Although Uber and Waymo settled there intellectual property case last week, the status of workers as independent contractors took a new twist in a California court. Worker payment, training, retention, and earnings drove much of this week’s on-demand news. During 2018, worker retention will be a major issue for on-demand companies. Wirecard, a German payment […]
Lots of short notable goodness for your on-demand economy appetite today. News and thoughts follow. ADP gets serious about on-demand. ADP, the Paterson, N.J. payment processing and payroll provider, acquired WorkMarket, a freelance management platform. The startup’s Work OS supports on-demand and full-time employee relationships that is integrated with Salesforce, among others. This marks the […]
Instacart is dramatically expanding the services it can offer retailer customers with its $65 million acquisition of Unata, a Toronto-based developer of retail software. Bloomberg and TechCrunch cover the details of the deal. Why does it matter? On-demand companies traditionally focus on the last-mile, putting people to work delivering and providing services to the home. […]
It was a very good holiday season for Amazon, with growing sales and the massive adoption of Alexa-enabled devices. However, keep in mind that after all this success and 20 years of investment to get to 44 percent of online commerce, Amazon still accounts for only 4 percent of U.S. retail sales in 2017. This […]
A van containing a 3D printer arrives at your front curb, the plumber knocks and, granted entrance, checks your sink downspout, which is leaking. Problem identified, she calls up the broken part on her computer and prints it in the van, installs the new downspout, and finishes the job. No inventory to carry around, just […]