Gen Zers spend almost 10 more hours weekly on PCs during COVID-19 than before, over half using them more than their phones, HP said Tuesday. "They have turned to PCs to connect with friends and family, stay entertained, and learn in digital classrooms." The generation was born around the mid-to-late 1990s through early last decade.

Fulfillment remains a sticking point for retailers due to COVID-19 demand spikes, reported Digital Commerce 360 Research Tuesday. Online sales in Q2 jumped 44% year on year, while FedEx and UPS package volume grew more than 50%, it said. Some retailers are still struggling with fulfillment, while others added curbside pickup, shipping from stores and alternatives. Sixty percent of consumers say they would buy from a retailer that ships faster if the price is the same, and 71% of the top 1,000 retailers offer some type of free shipping. About 100 of top 500 retailers added curbside pickup between January and August. Sixty-three percent of consumers look for unconditional free shipping.

The Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee’s Sept. 23 hearing on COVID-19-related cyber and IP threats (see 2009010062) is postponed, the Judiciary Committee announced.

The pandemic is slowing 5G standards development and will delay Release 17 to as late as the end of 2021, Brian Daly, AT&T assistant vice president-standards and industry alliances, told the FCC Technology Advisory Council Tuesday. The focus of the meeting was on updates from the four working groups, including Daly’s 5G/IoT/open radio access network WG. 3rd Generation Partnership Project meetings have moved online, which may continue through 2020, Daly said. Continuous virtual meetings “are reducing productivity and increasing overall fatigue,” he said. “Who actually has the voting rights in these elections?” he asked: “That could influence everything from who leads the groups to who is going to set the stage for what gets into the various releases.” Release 16 was supposed to be done in March but was just approved, he said. U.S. companies are participating more, since travel isn't required, and so are Chinese officials, which is “a bit worrisome,” he said. “We still may see further down scoping as the pressures of COVID-19 impact the electronic meetings,” he said. The U.S. is pushing to include 6 GHz in the standards, amid “firm objections” from the Chinese, Daly said. “It was really a roller coaster ride at the last week's plenary meetings,” he said: “Even though it's a regional requirement, it was clearly a political blocking by the Chinese to try to push those requirements out of Release 17.” Planning is starting on Release 18, with no clear timeline, he said. TAC next meets Dec. 1. “We’re now into the sprint part of the year,” said TAC Chairman Dennis Roberson: “We’ve really got to hustle.”

Amazon hasn't announced dates for Prime Day (see 2009210057), emailed a spokesperson Tuesday in response to our questions about reports it begins Oct. 13. “Stay tuned for more details." Customers can say, "Alexa, keep me posted on Prime Day," to be notified when there's more, she said. Prime Day was delayed from its usual July slot due to COVID-19 fulfillment issues. The sales event stretched to 48 hours in 2019.

CTA surveys on COVID-19 consumer behavioral changes found 24% of U.S. homes added at least one paid streaming subscription service the past three months, Lesley Rohrbaugh, director-market research, told CTA’s virtual Technology and Standards Forum Monday. Two-thirds reported watching more content since the pandemic began, she said. Homes subscribing to paid video streaming services rose 19 points since 2018, while cable and satellite were down 15 points, she said. “One of the major areas of advanced consumer use is seen within the digital health space.” Use of telehealth services “has more than tripled” since the start of the pandemic, she said. “Looking to the future when the pandemic hopefully begins to subside,” nearly a quarter of U.S. homes canvassed “say they’ll continue using these services,” she said. The “surge in demand” for work-from-home and remote-learning connectivity products “completely disrupted seasonality,” said Steve Koenig, vice president-market research. “Seasonality is out the window,” he said. “Old habits” will join with “some new tricks” to shape tech post-pandemic, said Koenig. “Contactless payment systems” and delivery services at retail will be “very, very visible,” he said. “These are the new fixtures at retail, and retailers should be viewing these as long-term investments and strategies, not as short-term coping mechanisms. Consumers are going to demand these things.”

U.S. retailers cut orders for merchandise by 9% at the pandemic's height, said PingPong Payments Monday, while consumer spending rose 6% year on year in Q2. Demand outstrips supply, and shortages will get worse when the holiday retail season starts next month, said the payments facilitator. With Amazon Prime Day set for October (see 2009210057), merchants “have been left scrambling for goods” for Q4, said Kenny Tsang, PingPong managing director, saying retailers planned too conservatively at the height of spring lockdown when placing holiday orders. Those who wanted goods faced disrupted supply chains, Tsang noted. The sector should be focused on a global e-ecommerce strategy, he said. Cross-border online sales worldwide increased 21% since January, as consumers seek cheaper prices and a broader selection.

Amazon Prime Day, which has come to span well more than 24 hours, is “coming,” said an Amazon placeholder Monday. The company didn’t give dates for the two-day event that’s informally seen this year as launching the 2020 holiday season. The company didn’t hold Prime Day in July in the typical slot as it looked to catch up from pandemic orders that drove overall Q2 e-commerce orders to record levels. On Amazon’s Q2 investor call, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said (see 2007310023) Amazon delayed Prime Day due to fulfillment constraints created by strong COVID-19-related demand that began in March and “remained elevated” throughout Q2. Adobe reported, meanwhile, that overall U.S. e-commerce receipts exceeded $2 billion daily in May and June (see 2009140031), numbers typically achieved only during the holiday season. Three days topped $3 billion. John Copeland, Adobe vice president-marketing and customer insights, predicted last week that the holiday season "will likely get here even earlier this year.” He said 2020 “has been a difficult year, and consumers are looking forward to the comfort of the holiday season.”

Tenet earned $4.7 million in its third weekend in North American theaters, bringing domestic receipts to $36.1 million, Colliers' Steven Frankel wrote investors Monday. The film’s international total is $124 million. Imax netted $3.5 million from international, $505,000 domestically over the weekend, as movie houses continue to feel the effects of COVID-19, said the analyst. Imax has earned $4.6 million in the domestic market for 12.7% share and $23.4 million outside of North America for 11% of the box office. No major new releases are expected until Oct. 23; theaters in California and New York City await reopening.

Delay in vertical location accuracy testing shouldn’t mean the FCC drops a pending deadline, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council said. “Members continue to address firsthand the devastating impact of" COVID-19, "so CTIA’s difficulties in completing the Stage Zb testbed is not surprising,” said Monday's filing in docket 07-114. “Indefinite delay ... cannot form the basis of an extension of the long awaited April 2021 deadline for the provision to public safety of three meter accuracy vertical location data in the largest 25 cities.” CTIA didn't comment.