Amazon launched an internal investigation into allegations in a Thursday Wall Street Journal article saying employees have used data about independent sellers on the company’s platform to develop competing products. Amazon doesn’t believe the claims are accurate, a spokesperson emailed, but takes the allegations “very seriously.” Products cited in the Journal article included a garage trunk organizer and office chair seat cushion. Like other retailers, “we look at sales and store data to provide our customers with the best possible experience,” she said, but “we strictly prohibit our employees from using non-public, seller-specific data to determine which private label products to launch.” A former employee was quoted as saying that “we knew we shouldn’t,” when describing a pattern of using third-party companies’ product data to introduce competing Amazon products, citing Amazon policy: “But at the same time, we are making Amazon branded products, and we want them to sell.” Private-label products are a “common retail practice, and are good for customers,” said the Amazon spokesperson. They give customers more “more choices, better products and lower prices." Many retailers, “including large retailers with extensive private brand offerings and retailers with marketplaces, know the sales volume for products in their stores,” she said. Customers’ shopping behavior on Amazon “is just one of many inputs to Amazon’s private label strategy.” The e-tailer also uses other factors used in retail, such as fashion and shopping trends in the media and on social media, suggestions from manufacturers and “gaps in our product assortment relative to our competitors.” Amazon launched more than 225 tools and services last year to help third-party sellers succeed in its stores, it said in February. More than 15,000 businesses surpassed $1 million in sales in 2019; 25,000 exceeded $500,000, it said.

Amazon said it will host 8,000 interns this summer. In addition to an online curriculum, the internship will include mentoring, moderated group discussions, ways to connect with other interns, weekly “fireside chats” with senior leaders and networking, it blogged Friday. The company outlined actions it has taken to ensure employee safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. At its New York fulfillment center, it instituted enhanced cleaning and social distancing, including “disinfectant fog.” It distributed “millions" of masks to employees and delivery service partners, it said, reserving N-95 masks it receives for healthcare workers. Amazon has had slower delivery times as it changed its logistics, transportation, supply chain, purchasing and third-party seller processes to prioritize stocking and delivering of high-priority items, it said. It temporarily extended the return window. Most items ordered from Amazon or its sellers March 1-April 30 can be sent back by May 31.

Millions of small businesses are faced with overwhelming and unfair tax compliance burdens because of the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision (see 1807240040), said House Small Business Subcommittee Chairman Andy Kim, D-N.J. Ranking Republican Kevin Hern, Oklahoma, cited impacts on small-business owners in his state, during Tuesday’s hearing. Halstead Bead Finance Director Brad Scott said his Arizona company has spent $183,000 and more than 3,800 hours to collect less than $80,000 in sales tax. FindTape.com is registered in 30 states, which costs $600 monthly, testified President Kevin Mahoney. The bigger issue is the time it takes to reconcile the filings, typically about one or two days a month, he said. About half the states have followed South Dakota’s threshold of “more than $100,000 in sales or at least 200 separate transactions to the in-state market, while the other half adopted different thresholds,” said Grant Thornton Principal Jamie Yesnowitz, for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. South Dakota helped spark the court case. A lack of uniformity impairs business growth, said Yesnowitz. It has taken a year to comply and register and $75,000, said K-Log Vice President Linda Lester. Witnesses sought a uniform national standard.

Target’s e-commerce business is forecast to grow 24% this year to $8.34 billion, bringing its share of the total U.S. e-commerce market to 1.2%, from 1.1% last year, said eMarketer Monday. Analyst Cindy Liu said store renovations and expanding same-day fulfillment options -- in-store pickup, drive-up and delivery with Shipt -- “are paying off.” Target’s growth in share, now at eighth in the U.S., is coming at the expense of competitors Costco, Macy’s and Qurate Retail Group, she said. Behind No. 1 Amazon, with 38.7% percent share, are Walmart at 5.3%, eBay at 4.7% and Apple at 3.7%; Best Buy has 1.3% share.

Holiday sales grew 3.7 percent to just over $1 trillion, passing the trillion-dollar mark for the first time, eMarketer emailed Friday. E-commerce sales increased 13.2 percent to $137.5 billion. The data company broke out the Cyber 5 span -- Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday -- for the first time, reporting e-commerce sales grew 19.2 percent to $27.5 billion, for a fifth of e-commerce sales for the season. Thanksgiving Day sales were $4.05 billion; Black Friday, $7.17 billion; Small Business Saturday, $3.44 billion; Cyber Sunday, $3.66 billion; and Cyber Monday, $9.14 billion. It projects $32.4 billion in e-commerce sales for 2020's Cyber 5.

Consumer electronics was one of the leading categories in holiday digital commerce sales, trailing apparel, Comscore reported Thursday. Total online CE spending was $18.5 billion vs. $27.5 billion for apparel and $13.5 billion for the grocery-pet-baby and computers-peripherals segments. Overall holiday digital commerce receipts totaled $133.7 billion, up 16 percent vs. 19 percent growth in the year-ago period. Desktop spending rose 13 percent, mobile spending grew 23 percent, and mobile as a share of total digital spending set a new high at nearly 32 percent, said analyst Ian Essling. Despite brands aggressively pushing sales weeks before the "Cyber 5" holidays (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) to get ahead of the shorter holiday season, the two-week period leading up to Thanksgiving was one of the slowest growth stretches of the shopping season, said Essling. Four percent desktop growth over the span was well below the 10 percent growth over the full season for desktop. Consumers have become “conditioned" to see the Cyber 5 as the best deals days, said the analyst, suggesting consumers held out for the perceived best deals. Beginning Nov. 1, 87 percent of days leading up to Christmas were “billion-dollar” spending days, he said. In-store pickup gained traction in 2019, with half of consumers surveyed preseason saying they were somewhat likely to use the service. The top reason was to avoid shipping fees (47 percent), while 33 percent cited convenience and 29 percent said in-store pickup assured the item was available. Nearly one in five consumers (19 percent) cited package theft as a reason to shop online and pick up in store. Few consumers said they shopped by voice using a smart speaker.

Amazon’s Q4 earnings results, to be announced Thursday, are expected to reflect “happy holidays” but a cautious Q1 outlook, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Tuesday. Pachter forecasts Amazon’s Q4 revenue at $85.7 billion, at the high end of its guidance range. Amazon appears positioned to deliver a strong quarter in sales, with its "best-ever Black Friday, Cyber Monday becoming the biggest shopping day in company history, and its customers shopping at ‘record levels’ over the holiday season,” he said. The analyst’s Q1 estimates include revenue of $71.7 billion, with year-over-year profitability improving as Amazon "laps the increases in shipping spending seen in 2019.”

Apple, a zealous promoter this holiday season, emailed customers Monday promising free two-hour delivery in “most metro areas" on purchases of in-stock Apple Watch, iPad, iPhone, or Mac devices by 4 p.m. local time Tuesday. It also pushed the buy online, pick up in store option, saying in-stock items would be available within an hour at an Apple store for items purchased online. AirPods are up for free two-hour delivery when purchased with an eligible product or for a $9 fee when purchased alone, said the fine print. Stores accept orders up to two hours before closing, it said. Delivery on Christmas is available in select areas of New York City, Las Vegas and Hawaii, Apple said.

Buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) is a key driver of U.S. e-commerce growth, said eMarketer Thursday, reporting sales via the click-and-collect fulfillment option will jump 55 percent this year to $36.54 billion. BOPIS shoppers will rise 7.3 percent year on year to 128.9 million; in 2020, some 69 percent of digital buyers will use the service, reaching half of the U.S. population 14 and older. BOPIS is especially important for big box retailers including Walmart and Target that “retooled their brick-and-mortar operations around seamless pickup,” said analyst Andrew Lipsman. Many major grocery chains ramped up click-and-collect operations this year, he said.

Designated electronics are now eligible for at least one free return at Amazon, said the e-commerce giant Wednesday. Free returns are also available for household items, apparel, pet supplies, kitchen appliances and other products “no matter the reason for the return,” Amazon said. Previously, only clothing, shoes and bedding were eligible for at least one free return. The e-tailer credited its network, retail partnerships and back-end technology for enabling the new policy. Free returns means customers don’t have to worry “if the keyboard they ordered doesn’t feel quite right,” said Libby Johnson McKee, director-Amazon worldwide returns. Customers begin a return on the orders page on Amazon, then drop off the item at a location within five miles of their delivery address, said the company, saying most refunds will be credited to customers’ accounts within two hours of initiating the return. Items available for free return are indicated on the product detail page. Return locations include Amazon physical stores and hub locations, Whole Foods stores, Kohl’s and UPS stores, it said.