(Source: Inside Retail Philippines | August 24, 2017) Amazon’s Wholefoods takeover has received regulatory approval, clearing the way for the biggest retail deal of the year to proceed. The Federal Trade Commission, charged with ensuring business acquisitions do not impact customer choice, has given the green light to the US$13.7 billion deal,  shortly after Whole Foods shareholders voted in favor ...

(Source: Techwire Asia | August 3, 2017) Melbourne is soon to be home to Australia’s very first Amazon warehouse, the next stage in the e-commerce giant’s strategy to penetrate the Asia Pacific region launched soon after its Prime Now service began operations in Singapore. Amazon will open its warehouse three months after the Amazon Marketplace went online. Marketplace sells advertising ...

(Source: Inside Retail Asia | August 1, 2017) As Amazon Korea gears up, analysts are tipping it will take the same path as Wal-Mart in South Korea: failure and withdrawal. It is expected it will not have a big impact on the retail industry, reports Business Korea. Amazon Korea has hired dozens of full-time employees, including marketing, sales, and e-commerce ...

(Manila Bulletin/AFP | July 19, 2017) US retail giant Target’s chief executive Brian Cornell played down Amazon’s massive deal to acquire grocery chain Whole Foods, arguing that it “validates” his company’s business model. “It wasn’t a surprise that that deal took place,” Cornell told a forum at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado. “It really validates what we’ve ...

(Source: Fung Global Retail & Tech) On June 16, Amazon announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion in cash, which includes the assumption of roughly $1 billion in Whole Foods’ net debt. The two companies’ statement included few details. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said that the deal represents an opportunity for ...

(Source ABS-CBN/AFP | 29 March 2017) Tech giant Amazon expanded its global reach with the announcement of a deal to buy Dubai-based Souq.com, the Middle East’s largest online retailer. The agreement brings Amazon into a fast-growing market as it continues to invest in its core retail network despite expanding into a wide range of services. Founded in 2005 as an ...

(Source: Inside Retail Philippines | 21 February 2017) Amazon UK plans to recruit 5000 staff to expand its operations, taking its total headcount to 24,000. “We are hiring for all types of roles, from flight-test engineers, software engineers and corporate managers in our development centres and head office to operations managers, engineers, service technicians and order fulfilment roles,”said Amazon UK ...

(Source: Retail in Asia | Jan. 1, 2016) As the swell of holiday shopping subsides, online retail appears to have gained momentum this year. But traditional retailers and e-tailers alike face challenges to dominate in 2016, including weather, prices and profitability, experts told CNBC. On the online front, Amazon’s Prime membership service had a “record-setting” holiday, a press release said ...

(Source: Inside Retail Asia, by Jon Bird | July 29, 2015) Something weird happened on an otherwise ordinary Wednesday in July in New York City. A switch flicked. A baton was passed. A change happened. On July 15, 2015, a bricks and mortar retail icon closed its doors, while at the same time an e-commerce powerhouse had one of its ...