Weekly Insights May 12, 2017

Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses Amazon’s entry into Australia, previewing an upcoming Deep Dive
• Adding to the e-commerce battle among retailers to woo customers with special deals, Amazon is now making it even easier, and $10 cheaper, for shoppers to qualify for free shipping.
• Target plans to test a next-day home-delivery service. Its Target Restock pilot service rolls out this summer in the Minneapolis area and will offer delivery of “thousands of household essentials” for an unspecified flat fee.
• Alipay, owned by Jack Ma’s Ant Financial, reached a deal that will let its users shop at 4 million US merchants served by payments processor First Data. The rollout will begin with businesses that use First Data’s Clover products.