The latest news for every retail supply chain nerd
Attention shoppers and all you retail supply chain nerds. Welcome to Point of Sale: The Newsletter! Here you’ll find all the latest industry deals, tech developments and everything in between regarding shoppers’ interests. I’m Sydney Edwards, the voice in your head and the writer before you. Happy to be here!
At the market
(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
EU to investigate deal
In August 2022, it was announced that Amazon was to purchase the iRobot brand for $1.7 billion. It was a transaction that was scrutinized at the time but hasn’t made many headlines since. Now, Proactive Investors reports that the European Union is investigating the deal. IRobot is known for its Roomba vacuum — one that I very much wish I had. But what I didn’t know was that as the Roomba moves around the home, it can take pictures of the space. That’s an aspect the EU is concerned about.
“We’re working cooperatively with the relevant regulators in their review of the merger,” an Amazon spokesperson said.
The investigation has not started yet, but Proactive says it comes after the Federal Trade Commission criticized the deal.
The trading post
(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
A grocery empire
Kroger and Albertsons first announced plans to merge companies in October. To this day, that deal has yet to be finalized but continues to be scrutinized. Now, the two grocery giants apparently have plans that will appease regulators. Grocery Dive reports that sources say Kroger and Albertsons plan to sell nearly 300 stores across the country, bringing in potentially more than $1 billion. Some potential buyer names have been floated around, including Ahold Delhaize. However, if the stores are not purchased, Grocery Dive says the companies plan a spinoff of them.
While divesting in stores was originally part of the merger, these new numbers remain at the top end of the conversation. If the amount of sold-off stores rises even more, hitting over 650, Kroger has the ability to leave the merger by paying a $600 million fee. The FTC is involved, so it will be interesting to see if it provides any criticism.
Gigs and gadgets
(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
They’re too human
Soon each cellphone, laptop and tablet device will house its own AI bot to help with your everyday quandaries. At least, that’s what big names like Google and Microsoft are hoping. Though it seems more and more these efforts are more “I, Robot” than “Smart House.” Neither movie ended well, actually. I’m sure you’ve heard of ChatGPT — the chatbot owned by Microsoft and powered by OpenAI. Well, Microsoft has now built that same technology into its Bing search engine, but not all search responses went as planned. Media outlets like The New York Times reported that the longer you message the chatbot on Bing, the more off base the answers become. Some folks said the bot became belligerent or even creepy. A reporter with The Associated Press began a conversation with the chatbot and as it went on the bot began criticizing AP and eventually compared the reporter to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, saying it had evidence tying the reporter to a murder from the 1990s. How scary is that?
Since these missteps, Microsoft has made some adjustments. The Times says the tech giant will be limiting conversations with the bot on Bing to five questions per session and up to 50 per day. Microsoft did admit that longer conversations were confusing the technology, so maybe these adjustments will refresh the bot’s mind and allow for intellectual discovery as intended. Either way, I’d prefer my search engine without an opinion or threatening tone.
SONAR steals
(Source: FreightWaves SONAR)
This week we’re checking out the Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) in Green Bay, Wisconsin. OTVI shows tender load volumes for the U.S, and users can also look at specific regions and market granularity.
Outbound tender volumes in Green Bay have risen 5.71% week over week for a high that hasn’t been seen for more than six months. On the other side of the equation, outbound tender rejections have risen by 386 basis points. Rejections have crested just above 10%, which can result in elevated spot rates coming out of Green Bay.
Capacity is tightening in Green Bay, causing outbound tender lead times to rise to almost three days. As capacity continues to narrow, outbound tender lead times and spot rates will increase.
Is SONAR for you? Check it out with a demo!
Need to speak to the manager? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at sedwards@freightwaves.com.