Chances are you’ve heard a lot of talk recently about a predicted upcoming recession.
There have also been a lot of headlines recently about companies laying off employees, like Disney, but most of the big news have featured Big Tech companies — for example, Amazon significantly downsizing ComiXology.
However, despite these reports, the recent job numbers have been very good, with record setting low unemployment.
Still, whether it’s due to necessary post-pandemic recalibration or scare tactics causing a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, companies are implementing a lot of changes. Amazon has had quite a few of them recently, and let’s cover some more besides the layoffs at ComiXology et al.
AmazonSmile is Ending
Lots of retailers ask you to add a little more to your checkout total to donate to a charity. But at Amazon, you could donate just by doing your normal shopping. By shopping at through the AmazonSmile URL, .5% of eligible purchases were donated to a charity of your choice. However, as of February 20th, the program is ending. According to the press release, with so many charities signed up, Amazon’s “ability to have an impact was often spread too thin”. The average donation was $230 per charity per donation.
Amazon will be giving each organization a final bonus based on three months of 2022’s numbers. The company promises instead to focus on larger efforts connected to them and the conglomerate’s local communities, like housing and computer science programs.
Several anime and manga-related organizations are options at AmazonSmile, like the Carolina Manga Library. I had my local animal shelter as my charity of choice, and as of the last notice, that shelter received almost $5,000 in total over the years to help cover food, toys, and more for homeless pets. While most philanthropical organizations probably didn’t rely heavily on AmazonSmile, in a time when donations are down but requests for assistance are up, any extra funds — especially with little effort and no cost to the consumer — were certainly welcome.
Prime Members Must Order More for Free Grocery Delivery
With the purchase of Whole Foods and Amazon building AmazonFresh stores, Amazon aimed to muscle in on Walmart’s territory and keep shopping services like Instacart at bay. Prime members currently spend $35 ($50 in New York City) on online grocery orders from one of its stores and get free delivery within two hours.
However, starting February 28th, that free delivery threshold is rising to $150. Otherwise, the fee starts at $9.95 and lessens as you spend more. Some areas will also have an option for a six-hour delivery window for a lower price.
Amazon attributes this hike with the need to keep pricing low and service quality high, but this is a huge increase. As one Twitter user pointed out, getting free delivery may be nigh impossible without spending a huge portion of their monthly food assistance money all at once to avoid the $3.95+ per order surcharge.
Even for people not on assistance, since $150 certainly won’t be feasible for when households run out of the basics like milk and eggs, many will now have to add grocery shopping to their chores now. What may have been some simple clicks to allow for more time to relax after work to play video games will now require heading out to the store.
AmazonFresh Stores on Pause
Speaking of grocery, openings of AmazonFresh stores appear to be stalled. The company hasn’t opened any new stores since September 2022, and there are several locations that have been significantly developed — and in some cases, completed construction — but yet have no target opening date. And with all the layoffs, Amazon may not be looking to heavily add to its payroll right now.
Perhaps Amazon is hoping for simultaneous openings later in the year. In the Detroit area, for instance, there are about 10 stores planned that are all expected to be ready at the same time.
So Amazon could be aiming for grand openings across the nation, not just in one state.
However, on a February 2023 conference call, Amazon’s CEO said they would be tinkering with AmazonFresh. He said no new stores would open until “we have that equation with differentiation and economic value that we like”, with hopes that 2023 would bring the answer.
Meanwhile, Whole Foods’ CEO is looking to increase its pace in 2023, from 11 currently to 30 stores a year.
So there are a lot of questions regarding Amazon’s grocery strategy. But if it is going to cost $150 per order for free delivery from one, I can see a lot of people jumping ship to Walmart+ for a $35 minimum. And in that case, I wonder how many people will be making the trip to shop there over other stores in their area.
Kindle Rewards
You may have noticed “earn points” when you have gone to buy a manga or other book at Amazon recently. The beta version of Kindle Rewards launched in October 2022. Some people (like myself) were automatically opted in, and other customers were given an invite to join.
With Kindle Rewards, you earn 2 points per dollar for every print book and 5 points per dollar for eBooks. 300 points earns a $3 credit, although there are occasional bonus opportunities.
Points expire in 6 months, and credits expire in 30 days. Some exclusions like textbooks and comics apply.
So basically, digital readers will need to spend about $60 to earn a $3 credit while physical media fans will need to spend $150.
I haven’t bought a lot of books on Amazon recently, as most of my manga purchases have been at Right Stuf. But hey, free rewards program is free rewards program. If I earn some credit, fine, and if I don’t, that’s fine too; I haven’t lost anything. Thresholds may be a little high for the minimum $3, but for manga fans, costs for series adds up quickly. That’s about three box sets or eight-ish digital volumes, give or take. If you haven’t been invited to join, keep checking your inbox and books on Amazon to see if it appears. Now if only we could earn points on almost all purchases like Amazon Japan…Yeah, right.
Other Headlines
- Amazon launched a monthly plan for prescriptions.
- The National Labor Relations Board had filed suit against Amazon’s CEO, and recently, a judge ruled Amazon violated laws when it tried to get a vote to unionize to fail, and the union should be recognized. However, several charges against the company were dismissed.
- Customer satisfaction at Amazon has been falling, and perhaps one reason is the cluttered search results. Initial results are often paid ads, and often items being nearly identical except for the name due to “Amazon’s aggressive recruitment of sellers based in China”.
- Amazon will likely announce its blockchain/NFT goals around April. An example would be customers playing crypto games to earn free NFTs.
Final Thoughts
Amazon is still the king of online retail. That’s not going to change for a long while even though other competitors like Walmart and Target are always trying to siphon sales from Amazon. I’d love to see other stores challenge Amazon more (if for no other reason than more competition usually leads to better pricing), but like for manga, for instance, Walmart’s and Target’s online offerings are very inconsistent.
So while shoppers may earn some points for buying books at Amazon or perhaps be able to get their medicines for $5 a month, charities are also now going to miss out on easy money and customers will either need to do huge online grocery shopping trips or head to a store. Good changes, bad changes, there’s little that can be done but roll with Amazon’s decisions.