Flowers in an Hour
If you didn’t notice earlier this week, online retailer Amazon.com got into the one-hour flower delivery business just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Beginning the weekend prior to Valentine’s Day, Amazon.com’s Prime Now service began offering one-hour ($7.99) and free two-hour delivery of fresh flowers in select cities. The service started on Feb. 11, and continued through Feb. 14.
The flowers were to be delivered by KaBloom, an online floral delivery service. In some cities, local stores like Sprouts Farmers Market, Plum Market and Eataly also made flower deliveries. Besides flowers, chocolate, wine, cards and other gifts were also being offered. Even Valentine meals were available for delivery from certain restaurants.
Amazon Prime Now is currently available in about 30 cities across the country. Prime Now was also offering new customers a fee 30-day trial to sign up for the service for those last-minute shoppers.
While the online retailer has not released any sales figures yet, it will be very interesting to find out how many consumers used the service and how many dollars were actually spent to take advantage of this convenience.
It will also be interesting to see whether or not Amazon plans to expand this program for other holidays like Mother’s Day — or even make it a year-round service.
Stay tuned!
Home Depot Makes Most Innovative Companies List
Fast Company magazine has named the Home Depot to its 50 most innovative companies of 2017 list. This is the 10th year that Fast Company has been recognizing companies that “tap both heartstrings and purse strings and use the engine of commerce to make a difference in the world.” The Home Depot was recognized for its growth strategy by improving its web presence and e-commerce capabilities and investing in its in-store pick infrastructure as well as its delivery services. The March issue of Fast Company will feature The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.
Whole Foods to Close Nine Stores, Open Two New Small Format Stores
Last week, Whole Foods announced it would be closing nine stores and cutting its full-year sales and profit forecasts. The grocery chain continues to face sluggish sales and increased competition from other retailers. The grocer also announced that it has signed leases for two of its new smaller-scales stores, 365 by Whole Foods Market, in Brooklyn, New York, and Oakland, California. The first three 365 by Whole Foods Market stores opened in 2016 in California, Washington and Oregon.
Wal-Mart Buys Online Outdoor Retailer
Wal-Mart has acquired Moosejaw, an online outdoor retailer that will now join the Walmart U.S. e-commerce organization, for approximately $51 million. Moosejaw is a leading online active outdoor retailer with a large web presence as well as 10 physical stores. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Madison Heights, Michigan. Moosejaw CEO Eoin Comerford, his executive team and Moosejaw’s 350-plus employees will continue to be based in Michigan, and will join Wal-Mart’s U.S. e-commerce retail organization.
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