Shopping

As online grocery shopping soars, Albertsons experiments with automated pickup kiosks

A Jewel-Osco store in Chicago is the first grocery in the nation to pilot an automated pickup kiosk, one of numerous investments grocers are making to prepare for a future of more online shopping. The kiosk, located in the store parking lot, is meant to offer a convenient and contact-free option for online shoppers to collect their groceries. Shoppers are asked to select a two-hour pickup window, and when they arrive they scan a code and their items are delivered robotically, according to the company. Employees shop the store to fill customers’ orders and put them into the kiosk for pickup. Th...

Amazon bought 11 jets for its freighter fleet for the first time

Taking advantage of the pandemic-driven downturn that has led airlines to retire passenger jets early, Amazon announced Tuesday that it bought 11 used Boeing 767s from Delta and WestJet of Canada during 2020 for conversion to air freighters. The new additions to the fleet are the first planes owned by Amazon. Amazon Air's current fleet of 767s are all leased from two air cargo companies, Atlas Air and Air Cargo Transport Services Group (ATSG). Amazon will continue to rely on third-party carriers to provide crews to fly and maintain the aircraft. A person with knowledge of Amazon Air's fleet sa...

Fukubukuro Favourites For 2021

Cyber Monday sales expected to break record

Cyber Monday is expected to become the largest online shopping day in history as more consumers decide to digitally fill their holiday stockings this year instead of venturing out to brick-and-mortar stores.Adobe Analytics predicts Monday could bring in between $10.8 billion and $12.7 billion in online sales, or between 15% and 35% more than last year.“Cyber Monday is on track to break all previous records for online sales,” Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights, said in a Monday morning statement.Retailers started offering online deals in October, trying to spread out consumers...

Retired Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh dies at 46 after Connecticut house fire

Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos, died from injuries sustained during a fire that ripped through a loved one’s home in Connecticut, the company confirmed.The iconic tech entrepreneur died Friday night. He was 46.“The world has lost a tremendous visionary and an incredible human being,” Zappos CEO Kedar Deshpande wrote on the company’s website. “We recognize that not only have we lost our inspiring former leader, but many of you have also lost a mentor and a friend.“Tony’s kindness and generosity touched the lives of everyone around him, as his mantra was of “Delivering...

Online marketplace fuels fringe movements

ATLANTA — Social networks are banning them and government agencies and watchdog groups have called them domestic terrorists. But extremist groups still have a vibrant internet life thanks to online retailers.Looking for a book evangelizing the baseless and far-out QAnon conspiracy theory? Amazon has a variety of titles. How about a T-shirt with the Three Percenters militia logo? Custom shirt company TeeSpring has many styles and colors. EBay and Etsy can provide shirts, hats and stickers bearing the slogan “ACAB,” short for “All Cops Are Bastards,” popular with far-left anarchist groups. The l...

Johnson Town

Johnson Town in Iruma, Saitama, is a picture-perfect recreation of a small American town straight out of the 1950s. Neatly trimmed lawns separate period-style wooden houses, vintage cars are parked at the most scenic spots, and restaurants sell homemade burgers.Although Johnson Town feels American, all the residents and shopkeepers are Japanese. It’s an American dreamland made by Japanese for Japanese, which is further part of the town’s charm.Things to see and doJohnson Town is an easy day trip from Tokyo, offering scenery that feels like walking through the sets of Leave it to Beaver while o...