Online retailers need to invest in creative and innovative experiences “to capture revenue and offset lost sales from in-person shopping,” said Michele Dupre, Verizon Business vice president-sales, vertical markets, retail and hospitality. Verizon is working with retail partners on 5G-based technology using holograms, augmented and virtual reality, foot traffic analysis, computer vision and digital signage. Online retailers’ business is “booming,” said Verizon, citing an 82% spurt in data traffic the first week of November vs. a year ago and a 28% increase in mobile usage on payment sites. People are "moving to and around" malls 20% less than early November 2019 but 59% more than when COVID-19 restrictions peaked in April, it said.

S&P Global Ratings downgraded Disney to BBB+ from A- because its theme park and studio operations “continue to be severely affected" by COVID-19. Consumers “will likely remain reluctant to immediately return to public venues” even after a vaccine is widely available, S&P said Wednesday: The company is aggressively rolling out its global direct-to-consumer streaming platforms and investing in new content, “which will depress operating and cash flow measures for the next few years.” Disney didn’t comment.

With COVID-19 accelerating a retail shift to online and digital, Walmart had a 79% spike in e-commerce net sales growth in Q3, said CEO Doug McMillon in a Q3 Tuesday call. “We’re convinced that most of the behavior change will persist beyond the pandemic.” McMillon cited the retailer’s omnichannel retail strategy allowing consumers to shop the way they’re most comfortable: in store, curbside pickup or online delivery. Walmart doubled employees working the in-store pickup business to 140,000 to accommodate customer preferences, said Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs. Company revenue rose 5.2% vs. Q3 2019 to $134.7 billion. U.S. comparable sales advanced 6.4%. Coronavirus costs totaled $600 million. Q4 “will feel different from past years as customers shop differently and shopping events are spread out," said Biggs. McMillon believes customers want to find a sense of normalcy in this “unique” holiday season, even if they can’t be with relatives in the usual way. Following reports that the retailer ended a contract for shelf-scanning robots in some stores because humans could handle the job just as fast, McMillon said automation will be a “big part of what we do." The company continues to conduct pilots for automation to find ways to improve efficiency, he said. Automation will play a role “in helping the store experience get better as it reduces the amount of work associates have to do at the store level just moving freight around,” he said.

New America’s Open Technology Institute said the FCC should use its authority to increase E-rate funding and grant school districts flexibility to reprogram funds to extend connectivity to students at home. It cited communities that innovated in response to the pandemic. “While the ‘homework gap’ was a serious problem long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the necessity of remote learning in 2020 has turned the homework gap into a chasm,” Tuesday's report said.

S&P doubts a “substantial return” to live concerts before mid-2021, said the ratings service Tuesday in downgrading Live Nation Entertainment to B from a B+. “The negative outlook reflects Live Nation's exposure to postponed and canceled events during the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty surrounding the ensuing economic recovery and the timing of the resumption of events in 2021.” There’s “substantial risk” social distancing mandates persist “for an extended period” or the company can't "successfully manage its cost structure such that liquidity is substantially diminished,” it said. Live Nation hopes to resume live shows “at scale” next summer, CEO Michael Rapino told investors two weeks ago (see 2011060011). The company didn’t comment Tuesday.

Universities launching COVID-19 tracking technology should make it voluntary for students and share information about data collection, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said Monday. It's wrong to require students and staff to commit to “using unspecified tracking apps that record their every movement, and failing to inform them about what personal data is being collected, how it’s being used, and with whom it’s being shared,” said EFF. Schools should commit to the University App Mandate Pledge, a “set of seven transparency- and privacy-enhancing policies,” it said.

Amazon expanded in-garage delivery to households in 4,000 U.S. cities and launched limited in-garage delivery service through Whole Foods in five markets, it said Thursday. Amazon's Key In-Garage Delivery service went live last year with Chamberlain Group, which makes smart garage door openers. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, Houston, Boston, Atlanta and Phoenix are among new cities with access to the contactless delivery service. Details are here.

With COVID-19's “harsh” worldwide impact, Himax had a 28% Q3 revenue increase sequentially, said Chief Investor Relations and PR Officer Eric Li on a Thursday call. “The unceasing stay-at-home economy created new demand but pushed foundry capacity constraints to a more severe level.” Revenue growth in display drivers for TVs, tablets, smartphones and the automotive sector contributed to the “better-than-guided sales,” he said. Smartphone display drivers were “the best performing product category,” rising 154% sequentially and 101% year over year, said Li. The “significant” quarterly sequential growth was a continuation from Q2, “when the product category already grew 69.0% from the previous quarter,” he said. The industrywide wafer foundry shortage stunted additional growth, he said: “We were, and still are, unable to meet all the demand for these products.” Revenue from tablet display driver ICs soared 336% from Q3 2019, setting a record for the third straight quarter, said Li. “We expect our tablet segment sales to continue to grow as overall market demand for tablets remains robust for more home working and online education needs.” Himax secured with foundry partners “a capacity which is already larger than our total shipment for this year,” said CEO Jordan Wu. “We are developing additional capacities for various product areas with an aim to further our available foundry pool for the next few years."

Cloud communication is becoming a “core tenet of business continuity” with a “substantial part” of the global workforce working from home, said RingCentral CEO Vlad Shmunis on a Q3 call Monday. Strong RingCentral adoption continued, “as our customers are going through their digital transformation journeys,” he said. Revenue rose 30% year over year to $304 million, including a 33% subscription revenue increase to $280 million. The company raised its 2020 subscription revenue growth guidance to 31% from 28%. The company added Mignon Clyburn to its board (see personals section, this issue).

Most of the 41% of U.S. broadband households planning to upgrade security systems in the next six months cited COVID-19 as a leading factor, reported Parks Associates Monday. The most popular add-on devices for professionally and do-it-yourself security homes are video cameras, smart lighting and video doorbells.