Weekly Insights Jan 6, 2017

Executive Summary

• At the start of every new year, millions of consumers resolve to join a gym and get healthy. This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses the US healthy-living industry and the scale of consumer spending on various categories within the sector.
• Amazon said it shipped 50% more items for third-party vendors this holiday season than it did last holiday season and that it doubled the number of items shipped in 2016 overall. The company’s statement offers new data points for investors who are hoping Amazon will post a profit for the fourth quarter when it announces results in coming weeks.
• The UK’s fourth-biggest grocer, Morrisons, has slashed the prices of about 800 items in its latest move to compete more aggressively on price. To help customers calculate the cost of items in their basket easily, Morrisons has also simplified the prices of more than 5,000 items so that they are in “round pounds.”
• China’s third-biggest search engine, Sogou, expects to hold a US IPO to sell about 10% of its shares at a valuation of around $5 billion. The move represents a challenge to Chinese search leader Baidu in the mobile market.