Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses recent partnerships between retailers and tech companies.
• Amazon reported second-quarter profit of $2.53 billion for the three months ended June 30. An analyst commented that “the bigger story coming out of earnings is the significant margin expansion being driven by the acceleration in the cloud and advertising businesses.”
• British retailer M&S and technology education provider Decoded have partnered to launch M&S Data Academy, an initiative aimed at familiarizing employees with technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• Alibaba’s Ele.me meal delivery app has partnered with Starbucks to provide on-demand coffee delivery in China.