MANILA - Majority of Filipinos plan to keep on using digital payments and e-commerce even after the coronavirus pandemic is contained, a Visa study released Thursday showed.
At least 70 percent of Filipino respondents said they intend to stick with digital payments instead of cash when the crisis is over, a Visa study conducted in 40 countries worldwide showed.
Asia Pacific preference to digital payments is at 78 percent, compared to the global average of 68 percent, it said.
"In this new normal, we’re seeing a shift – Filipinos are becoming more digital, and the COVID-19 situation has forced consumers to adopt this change in behavior," Visa Country Manager for the Philippines & Guam Dan Wolbert said.
A total of 73 percent of consumers said they were likely to "increase" or "sustain" their current online shopping behavior compared to 72 percent global average, Visa said.
Thirty-seven percent of Filipino respondents said online shopping is a positive experience, compared to 35 percent global response, the study showed.
One in 6 active Visa cardholders also made an e-commerce purchase for the first time this year, shopping for essential goods, medicines and paying bills, the financial firm said.
Online shopping and cashless payments surged in the Philippines after the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed in March. Delivery of essential goods were allowed, while cashless payments were encouraged to reduce human to human contact.
Metro Manila remains under general community quarantine until July 31, where services, businesses and restaurants are operating at a limited capacity.
news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA - Lifting of price freeze on basic necessities may lead to price increases on essential goods, a consumer welfare group warned Friday, as the government begins to relax lockdown rules in various parts of the country.
Laban Konsyumer said that if the price freeze on basic goods ends on Friday, retailers and manufacturers will take advantage and increase prices immediately.
“Ang signal niyan sa mga negosyante, 'Oh, umpisahan na natin 'yung ating mga proposal for price increases,” said Laban Konsyumer president Vic Dimagiba.
(That's a signal for merchants to say, "Oh, let's start our proposals for price increases.")
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), and Department of Health (DOH) on May 8 issued joint memorandum circular (JMC) No. 2020-01 entitled "Price Freeze under a State of Calamity throughout the Philippines due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019."
Under that JMC, prices of basic necessities under the jurisdiction of the DTI, DA, and DOH were fixed at their prevailing levels, effective until Friday. These included food, water, agricultural products, medicine, and medical supplies.
Dimagiba said the agencies can recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte to extend the price freeze.
“Kung ang intention at spirit ng Bayanihan to Heal as One Act ang ating susundin, hindi mo basta-basta pwedeng i-lift. Even then, kung talagang gustong tumulong ng pamahalaan, itong mga regulators [should] ensure na ang presyo ay stable. Wala nang magsasamantala na, magtataasan ng presyo,” he said, citing the measure, which strictly prohibits overpricing and hoarding of goods during the pandemic.
(If we are following the intention and spirit of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, we can't just lift the price freeze. Even then, if the government really wants to help, these regulators should ensure prices are stable. No one should take advantage, increase prices.)
But Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo explained that they have to follow the Price Act, which states that any price control in the country should be effective not for more than 60 days. She said this is why different agencies are also issuing suggested retail prices (SRPs).
“Between the Executive Order of the President and a law passed by the Congress, promulgated by Congress, susundin natin siyempre 'yung Price Act,” she explained.
(Between the Executive Order of the President and a law passed by the Congress, promulgated by Congress, we should follow the Price Act.)
“Mayroong mga measures naman provided in the Price Act like the mandatory price ceiling. Upon the lifting of the 60-day-period, pwedeng mag-recommend ang implementing agencies ng price ceiling to the President, and then when the President approves it, yun ang i-implement natin na presyo but we have the suggested retail price which is strictly enforced,” she added.
(There are measures in the Price Act, like the mandatory price ceiling. Upon the lifting of the 60-day-period, implementing agencies can recommend price ceilings to the President, and then when the President approves it, they will be implemented by us, but we have the suggested retail price which is strictly enforced.)
She said that the DTI has been coordinating with law enforcement groups such as the police, military and the National Bureau of Investigation as early as January, during the Taal Volcano eruption to strictly enforce implementation of the SRPs.
“Remember in the Price Act, ang fini-freeze natin ay prevailing price. Magkakaiba 'yun per region, per province. Very challenging ang implementation namin ng price freeze per province. meron pang iba per municipalities, unlike the suggested retail price that we have that covers all regions and provinces in the country.”
(Remember in the Price Act, what we are freezing our prevailing prices. They are different per region, per province. Our implementation of price freeze is very challenging as they differ per province and even per municipalities, unlike the suggested retail price that we have that covers all regions and provinces in the country.)
She assured the DTI will not approve pending requests from manufacturers of processed milk, detergent soap, processed canned goods, and condiments to increase prices anytime soon, while the country is still fighting COVID-19.
DTI chief Ramon Lopez earlier said that while the Philippines stays under state of calamity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, price freeze will stay in place.
"We will just renew the price freeze. Kasi nasa batas, 60 days lang ang price freeze (Under law, price freeze is only for 60 days). Pagka-state of calamity, price freeze talaga (During state of calamity, price freeze is really implemented)," he said.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar meanwhile they will look into expanding the SRPs of agricultural and fishery products to include more items that were previously not covered. He also appealed to retailers and producers not to take advantage of the situation.
“Kung wala kaming basehan sa prize freeze, pag-aaralan namin kung pwede na yung suggested retail price mechanism. Let me again request everyone not to take advantage during calamities or pandemic like COVID-19. Tulong-tulong po tayo sa ating mga mamamayan, mga magsasaka, mangingisda at tsaka consuming public," he said.
(If we don't yet have any basis on prize freeze, we will study if the suggested retail price mechanism is okay. Let me again everyone not to take advantage during calamities or pandemic like COVID-19. Let us help our citizens, farmers, fishermen and consuming public.)
news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK - From Jersey City on the East Coast to Los Angeles on the West Coast, American shoppers picked grocery store shelves clean on products ranging from disinfectants to rice, causing retailers to race to restock their stores as the worsening coronavirus crisis stoked fears of shortages.
As shoppers swarmed stores, President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon declared a national emergency aimed at slowing the spread of the novel virus, which has killed at least 47 people in the United States.
Daily routines have been upended as businesses including Amazon.com urge employees to work from home, schools and universities close, and sporting events and church services are paused across the country. In response to the run on certain items, major retailers have imposed some purchase limits.
The chief executive of Walmart Inc, Doug McMillon, at a news conference with Trump on Friday, said the retailer was having trouble keeping up with demand for products like hand sanitizer Purell, cleaning supplies and paper goods.
"Hand sanitizer is going to be very difficult to have 100% in stock for some time," McMillon said. "We're still replenishing it... but as soon as it hits the stores it's going. The same thing is true for the other categories I mentioned."
In Hanover, New Jersey, about 40 customers had lined up to get into a Wegmans grocery store before it opened on Friday morning. A few hours later, shelves were stripped bare of sanitizing wipes, bulk rice and dried beans. The store posted signs announcing limits on the purchase of hand sanitizer and bottled water.
"An abundance of caution - semper paratus, like the Coast Guard motto that means 'always ready,'" shopper Marlene Russell, 69, told a reporter after packing groceries into her car.
At a Fairway Market on Manhattan's Upper West Side, shelves normally full of pasta, Oreo cookies, pasta sauce, crackers and toilet paper were depleted on Thursday evening. On the West Coast, grocery stores including Ralphs, Pavilions and Trader Joe's had sold out of products ranging from eggs to Lysol cleaning wipes.
RETAILERS REACT
Johnson & Johnson is accelerating production of over-the-counter pain killer Tylenol to ease any spot inventory crunches.
J&J, which also makes Listerine mouthwash, said it was shipping stocks of products in a controlled manner. It was increasing production of other consumer products to ensure retailers were well supplied, it said, adding it did not expect any shortages.
Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and supermarket chain Kroger Co instituted purchase limits to stabilize inventory.
Kroger, the largest US grocery store operator, limited the number of cold, flu and sanitary products per visit, while Walgreens said it was limiting disinfectant wipes and cleaners, face masks, hand sanitizers, thermometers and gloves to 4 per customer.
John Terry, 33, went to a Whole Foods in Manhattan to pick up chicken and other items his wife was unable to get at grocery stores near their Jersey City home, in New Jersey across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
"It was insanity," he said about his local stores. "She went to Costco and there was a line down the block. At another one, the shelves were picked clean."
Phil Lempert, editor of SupermarketGuru, said labor shortages due to everything from school closures to illness could cause business disruptions that last several months.
"It's a lot more than stockpiling toilet paper or Purell. This is going to have implications on our food supply and supply chain for months to come," Lempert said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK, United States – Consumerist mecca New York targets its throwaway culture this weekend with a ban on single-use plastic bags that has been years in the making and is still rare in America.
New Yorkers like to see themselves at the forefront of efforts to save the environment but are used to receiving groceries in free plastic bags, often doubled up to ensure sturdiness.
On Sunday, that will change when New York becomes only the third US state to outlaw the non-biodegradable sacks blamed for choking rivers, littering neighborhoods and suffocating wildlife.
Environmental activists welcome the new law but caution that exemptions will weaken its effect, while some small businesses worry the ban might negatively impact their profits.
At the Westside Market in Manhattan, 66-year-old Janice Vrana, who says she has been shopping with a reusable cloth bag for a decade, is delighted "pervasive" plastic sacks are being banished.
"You could drive over them 500 times with a Mack Truck and they probably wouldn't break down. Whatever little I can do, I do," she told AFP.
Janine Franciosa, a 38-year-old who works in advertising, said it is great people are becoming more aware of how their "everyday purchases are affecting the environment."
But not everyone is happy.
Westside Market manager Ian Joskowitz, 52, told AFP some customers were "upset" because they use free plastic bags as garbage bags.
FINES
New York uses some 23 billion plastic bags every year, according to the state government.
About 85 percent are thrown away, ending up in landfills and on streets and beaches, it says.
After several failed attempts, lawmakers finally approved the ban in April 2019.
It bars all retailers who pay state taxes -- such as department stores, supermarkets, neighborhood corner stores and gas stations -- from providing plastic bags to customers.
Violators can expect fines of up to $500, although officials have said they would give stores time to adapt to the new rules.
The ban will "protect our natural resources for future generations," said Governor Andrew Cuomo when he announced the legislation last year.
The law allows New York city and counties to levy a five-cent tax on paper bags, with part of the resulting revenue going to an environmental protection fund.
Kate Kurera, deputy director of Environmental Advocates of New York, says the ban will cause "a tremendous reduction" in plastic waste pollution.
She laments, however, that food takeouts, beloved by the city's 8.6 million inhabitants, are exempt.
Other exemptions include bags for prescription drugs, plastic wrapping for newspapers delivered to subscribers, and bags used solely for non-prepackaged food such as meat and fish.
Kurera wishes the government would make the paper bag fee mandatory to force customers to bring their own carriers, noting that producing paper bags is intensive in terms of oil, fossil fuels and trees used.
'Live with it!'
"Ideally neither bag is preferable," she told AFP. "Behavior is slower to change when people know they can get a free paper bag."
Greg Biryla, New York state director at the National Federation of Independent Business, says alternatives can cost up to seven times more than plastic bags.
"They are proportionally more burdensome on small businesses who aren't ordering in as big a quantity as their big business counterparts," he told AFP.
California and Oregon have statewide bans of plastic bags while Hawaii has a de facto ban.
Four other states have bans starting soon while Texas has prevented its cities from outlawing plastic bags.
New York is viewed as one of the most innovative cities in the world, but on the issue of plastic it has some catching up to do internationally.
Ubiquitous across the Big Apple are single-use plastic utensils such as cutlery, straws and stirrers, which European Union countries have voted to outlaw by next year.
New York's older residents note that plastic bags only became available in US grocery stores in 1979, signaling how quickly habits can change.
"When I was growing up we brought our own bags," shopper Denise Shaleaon told AFP, adding of the ban: "The New Yorker will have to live with it!"
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - A majority of economists expect a US recession in the next two years, but have pushed back the onset amid Federal Reserve actions, according to a survey released Monday.
The survey came out after President Donald Trump pushed back against talk of a looming recession as a raft of US data reports last week showed a mixed picture on the economy.
"I'm prepared for everything. I don't think we're having a recession. We're doing tremendously well. Our consumers are rich," Trump told reporters Sunday.
"I gave a tremendous tax cut, and they're loaded up with money. They're buying. I saw the Wal-Mart numbers, they were through the roof," he said.
"And most economists actually say that we're not going to have a recession. But the rest of the world is not doing well like we're doing."
His chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow also downplayed talk of a recession.
"I sure don't see a recession," he told NBC's Meet the Press.
"Consumers are working at higher wages. They are spending at a rapid pace. They're actually saving also while they're spending... So I think actually the second half, the economy's going to be very good in 2019," he said.
"We're doing pretty darn well in my judgment. Let's not be afraid of optimism."
The National Association for Business Economists (NABE) found far fewer experts now think the next recession will start this year compared to a survey in February.
NABE conducted its policy poll as Trump put the Fed under constant attack, demanding more stimulus, but before the central bank cut the benchmark lending rate on July 31.
However, the Fed was already sending strong signals that it intended to pull back on the rate increases made in 2018 due to concerns starting to dog the economic outlook, including the trade war with China.
TRADE WAR SKEPTICISM
"Survey respondents indicate that the expansion will be extended by the shift in monetary policy," said NABE president Constance Hunter, who is chief economist at KPMG.
Only two percent of the 226 respondents now see a recession this year, compared to 10 percent in February's survey, NABE said.
However, "the panel is split regarding whether the downturn will hit in 2020 or 2021," Hunter said in a summary of the survey, which showed 38 percent expect a contraction of growth next year, while 34 percent don't see it until the following year.
More economists shifted their recession prediction to 2021, narrowing the gap from the prior report, which had many more expecting the change next year.
The results show 46 percent expect at least one more rate cut this year from the Fed, while about a third see policy holding where it is now, with 2.25 percent as the top end of the policy range.
Economists are skeptical about a resolution to Trump's trade wars, although 64 percent said a "superficial agreement is possible," NABE said.
But that was before Trump announced another round of tariffs of 10 percent on the remaining $300 billion in goods not yet hit by US punitive duties. The new measures will take effect in two stages, on September 1 and December 15.
As Trump continues his vocal campaign criticizing the Fed, the NABE survey found economists are concerned about the impact: 55 percent said his remarks do not influence Fed decisions but do "compromise the public's trust in the central bank."
And over a quarter of respondents said the criticism will "cause the Fed to be more dovish than otherwise, thus threatening its independence."
The survey also asked about fiscal policy, and a majority of economists said Trump's tax cuts "had an overall negative impact on housing activity over the past 18 months," due to changes in deductions allowed for mortgage interest.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Hundreds of US businesses from local bridal shops to multi-billion dollar retailers have submitted comments to the US Trade Representative's Office opposing President Donald Trump's plan to slap tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese imports.
The higher tariffs would affect everything from apparel and footwear to fireworks and cellphones, and was likely to raise prices for US consumers, the companies warned in submissions ahead of the start of seven days of public hearings on Monday.
Diane Cheatham, owner of Diane’s Formal Affair, an Alabama-based women's boutique, said new tariffs would completely shut down her American suppliers, who will be unable to come up with the funding to cover the additional 25 percent they would need to pay to import their products.
"I am writing this letter pleading with you to keep our industry out of the next round of tariffs," Cheatham said. "I stand shoulder to shoulder with thousands of business owners in this plea. Help us make AMERICA GREAT AGAIN."
Cheatham's comments were echoed by many more US business owners who said the new levies would hurt consumers and cause job losses.
Spirit of 76, a fireworks company that imports 100 percent of its product from China, said the tariffs would cause significant harm to its business where profit margins are already razor thin.
It said it would have to raise prices and the resulting loss in sales would impact hiring and expansion plans.
Large public companies, many of whom's shares sank in May on concern over the impact of tariffs on growth, also warned in broad terms of the trouble an outright trade war would cause.
"We strongly oppose the imposition of additional tariffs," Ralph Lauren Corp said in a letter addressed to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The luxury retailer asked for apparel and footwear to be removed from the tariff list, arguing that a rise in duties will lower sales and lead to US workers losing their jobs.
Roku Inc, Tommy Hilfiger owner PVH corp and Best Buy are among a number of companies who have asked to testify at the hearings.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump likes to take credit for the US economy, with historic low unemployment and few signs of rising prices, but his promises that surging growth would pay for massive tax cuts are falling flat.
After an initial bounce in 2018 and in the first three months of 2019, the economy is expected to slow this year. And the US budget deficit is steadily widening, the yawning gap edging closer to $1 trillion after trending downward from its peak in 2009 during the worst of the global financial crisis.
Trump promised to supercharge growth to three percent or higher, and claimed the tax cuts would pay for themselves by spurring investment and employment, which in turn would generate higher tax revenue.
In fact, July will mark the longest economic expansion in US history, with continual growth since mid-2009. With a healthy economy, it is the ideal time for governments to shore up their finances and reduce debt, saving up for the next rainy day.
But forecasts call for slower growth into next year -- with some economists even fearing a recession -- and last month the federal deficit hit a new record for May of $208 billion, a 42 percent increase from a year earlier.
Just eight months into the fiscal year which ends in September, the deficit is nearly as big as all of 2018, swelling to $739 billion, $206 billion higher than the same period of last year.
Even the billions in tariffs taken in during Trump's multi-country trade wars have not helped, since most of the funds taken in have gone back out to aid farmers hurt by retaliation from China and others.
At the same time government debt is expanding, and now is larger than the country's annual economic output at more than $22 trillion.
Normally this should leave Trump open to attacks from political opponents, but the Democratic party is on the horns of a dilemma: the progressive wing of the party, including many of the two dozen presidential candidates, favor massive spending programs.
With interest rates still very low, the adherents to "modern monetary theory" believe the government can continue to borrow to finance programs without negative consequences.
Critics dismiss the theory, known as MMT, saying it is akin to supply-side economics espoused by Republicans in the 1980s, which argued that tax cuts would pay for themselves through higher economic output.
THE CLINTON BOON
The last time the United States posted a budget surplus was during the economic boom under Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1999 and 2000, when Congress was controlled by Republicans.
Then the Iraq war started under former President George W. Bush in 2003, followed by the response to the housing crash and financial crisis of 2008, pushed government finances back into the red.
Even with a steady, albeit slow, economic recovery for the past 10 years, the US economy is coping with an aging population, which has pressured government finances due to the higher rising health and retirement costs.
Spending on Medicare alone -- the health insurance for retirees -- soared by $100 billion so far this year.
And while government revenues grew a modest two percent from October to May, total outlays jumped nine percent.
Trump's tax cuts, which mostly benefited big corporations and the very rich, reducing revenues by 11 percent while military spending increased 13 percent, also added to the bill.
Since the beginning of the fiscal year, punitive tariffs on imports from China and other countries have brought in an additional $21 billion to the US coffers.
But the Trump administration last year earmarked $12 billion in aid to farmers hurt by Chinese retaliation, and another $16 billion this year.
And while Trump continues to claim that the duties are paid by China, they in fact act as a tax on American businesses and consumers, which reduce profits and have started to drive up some prices.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES -- Johnson & Johnson Inc's statement was unequivocal.
"The FDA has tested Johnson's talc since the '70s. Every single time it did not contain asbestos," the company said in a Dec. 19 tweet. It followed by several days the publication of a Reuters investigation that found the healthcare conglomerate knew for decades that the carcinogen lurked in its Baby Powder and other cosmetic talc products.
The tweet, posted under the handle @JNJNews, didn't mention that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found traces of asbestos in the company's Shower to Shower talc in 1973, as revealed in agency documents reviewed by Reuters. And it is only one of dozens of tweets conveying a similar message about talc safety since the Reuters article appeared Dec. 14.
The Reuters article prompted a stock selloff that erased about $40 billion from J&J's market value in one day and created a public relations crisis as the blue-chip healthcare conglomerate faced widespread questions about the possible health effects of one of its most iconic products.
To reassure investors and consumers, J&J has tweeted, posted on Facebook, run a series of full-page newspaper ads across the United States, published a lengthy rebuttal to the Reuters investigation on its website and announced a $5 billion stock buyback. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky has appeared in a company video and on CNBC's "Mad Money" to reinforce the company's position.
That position has been unwavering. J&J insists that its Baby Powder is safe and has been asbestos-free at least since regular testing began in the 1970s. The message doubles down on the stance the company has taken to defend against lawsuits in which about 11,700 plaintiffs allege that the J&J talc they used in past decades caused their cancer. The company is pursuing this strategy despite the evidence that talc in its raw and finished powders sometimes tested positive for the carcinogen from the 1970s into the early 2000s — test results that the company didn’t disclose to regulators or consumers.
In response to a Reuters request for comment, the company said it was committed to defending the talc litigation, "and that same, long-term view is reflected in our ongoing communications that consistently point to the strong scientific evidence that our talc is and always has been safe."
As for the 1973 Shower to Shower test, J&J noted that the result didn't "reflect FDA's final determination about this sample" in a 1976 table summarizing the agency's early 1970s cosmetic talc testing. However, in that 1976 table, which Reuters examined, the FDA did not indicate any result, positive or negative, for the type of asbestos found in the Shower to Shower sample in 1973.
Given the mass of litigation it faces, J&J has little choice but to zealously dispute findings that its products sometimes contained traces of asbestos, said Eric Dezenhall, a crisis-management consultant in Washington, DC. "If your position in court is that the claims being made are false…you can't just shrug your shoulders," he said.
Soon after the Reuters article appeared, J&J executives consulted crisis-management experts, according to people familiar with the matter. Among the company's reasons for deciding to maintain its stance on absolute talc purity, these people said, was a conviction that a company known for putting health and safety first had the facts on its side, a litigation track record that included victories and mistrials, and the expectation that adverse verdicts will be overturned on appeal.
THROUGH LAWYERS
Many of J&J's subsequent messages have mirrored the company's written responses to questions and findings Reuters presented to the company during its investigation: They deny that the company kept information from regulators and point to the many studies finding that talc is safe and doesn't cause cancer.
Those earlier responses were composed by J&J's outside litigators, led by Peter Bicks at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, and conveyed to Reuters by lawyers at a crisis-management firm co-founded by Lanny Davis, a lawyer who represented US President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former attorney who has pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges.
Gorsky, in his appearance on "Mad Money," invoked J&J's now legendary response to the Tylenol crisis as evidence that the company can be trusted to address any safety problems linked to its products. In 1982, J&J moved decisively to pull all Tylenol from store shelves after 7 people died from taking cyanide-laced pills.
"I can't believe the company that took that dramatic of an action would allow a product that they felt in any way could be harmful to stay on the market," Gorsky told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer. "We unequivocally believe that our talc, our Baby Powder, does not contain asbestos."
Citing the Tylenol recall provides "some reputational buffer," said Stephen A. Greyser, the Harvard Business School professor who wrote the first study of the company's handling of that crisis. "But it is not a total protection" because it won't shield the company from a loss of trust if consumers or investors conclude the company hasn't been fully forthcoming in this case, he said. J&J needs to guard against "reputational contagion," the risk that a loss of confidence in Baby Powder could bleed over into how consumers, shareholders and others view the company more broadly, Greyser added.
The key difference between the two crises is that poisoned Tylenol presented a threat to consumers at the time, while the documented asbestos contamination of J&J talc that Reuters investigated spanned from 1971 to the early 2000s. J&J says that if it believed that Baby Powder today presented safety risks, it wouldn't hesitate to remove it from store shelves, given that the product accounts for less than 0.5 percent of annual revenue.
The company joined its talc supplier, Imerys Talc America, a unit of Paris-based Imerys SA, in requesting that a trial scheduled for January in St. Louis be delayed for, among other things, what they called "negative national and local news coverage" resulting from the Reuters investigation that would inevitably taint prospective jurors.
The judge denied the motion. The same judge recently upheld a $4.69 billion jury award in a separate ovarian cancer case, which J&J says it expects to be overturned on appeal. The judge said J&J's promotion of a product that the evidence showed was contaminated with a known carcinogen was "particularly reprehensible."
In an emailed statement, Imerys Talc America said it "is committed to the quality and safety of its products," and that rigorous research "overwhelmingly confirms that talc is safe, and no agency has asserted that talc causes cancer."
UNDERMINED BY EVIDENCE
Some of J&J's messages in its recent campaign omit key details regarding findings on talc and, in certain instances, are undermined by other evidence, according to a Reuters review of the company's statements.
The Dec. 19 tweet claiming that the FDA’s own tests never found asbestos in J&J talc, for example, ignores an agency scientist's 1973 finding that a Shower to Shower sample contained asbestos fibers, according to a copy of an FDA report titled "Asbestos and Other Contaminants in Talc" and a deposition of a former J&J head toxicologist. The FDA did not respond to questions for this article, citing a partial government shutdown.
On CNBC, Gorsky said: "We also not only used the best testing methodologies that were available, but we continued to improve them through the years."
J&J's testing methods do exceed the industry standard. But even so, as a geologist and frequent J&J expert witness acknowledged in court this year, only a tiny fraction of the company's talc sold over the past 40 years has been tested using what is widely recognized as the best method to detect asbestos fibers, known as transmission electron microscopy.
Plaintiffs' lawyers are already homing in on inconsistencies between J&J's statements and other evidence regarding its talc, and they are planning to depose Gorsky in coming weeks.
"There is no flexibility in what they're saying," said Leigh O'Dell, one of the lead lawyers representing plaintiffs in thousands of lawsuits against J&J consolidated in a New Jersey federal court. "Taking these statements on behalf of the company and pointing out to juries and judges the misrepresentations contained in those statements — I think you're going to see that in every case going forward, whether it's an ovarian cancer case or a mesothelioma case."
One of J&J's recent tweets criticized plaintiffs' lawyers: "Far from a new theory or insight, plaintiffs' lawyers have resurrected a disproven argument about asbestos in our talc that dates to the 1970s."
The Reuters investigation found that tests by J&J's own contract labs and others periodically found small amounts of asbestos in talc from mines that supplied the mineral for Baby Powder as recently as the early 2000s.
Some J&J tweets and newspaper ads have adopted a question-and-answer format. "What about the allegation you withheld safety information?" the company said in a full-page ad in USA Today the day after Christmas.
"It is false,” the company said. “All safety concerns are taken seriously, and we share all relevant information with regulators."
Some Twitter users have responded to J&J's tweets with praise and support. Others have referenced their relatives' longtime use of J&J talc products and subsequent deaths from ovarian cancer. "We're very sorry to hear this," J&J responded to several Twitter users, expressing a desire to speak with them and offering a phone number to call.
In response to another recent tweet in which J&J said its talc doesn't contain asbestos, one Twitter user asked: "Did it USED to?"
"No," J&J responded. "For decades, J&J's baby powder has repeatedly been tested for asbestos and found not to contain asbestos."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK -- Investors would normally be thankful for a strong US economy, yet this holiday season they worry retailers may have to spend heavily to win, leaving shareholders with a lump of coal.
Steep discounts are as familiar a sight during the holidays as rich desserts, but this year so is a fierce grab for a slice of the e-commerce market as Amazon.com Inc and Target Corp offer free shipping for small purchases.
US shoppers formed long lines at checkout counters on "Black Friday" to take advantage of discounts on clothing and electronics, offering evidence that a healthy economy and rising wages are translating into stronger consumer spending at the start of retailers' make-or-break holiday season.
Yet underwhelming earnings reports earlier this week from Target to department store Kohl's Corp and home-improvement specialist Lowe's Cos Inc reminded investors that US tariffs on imported goods, fickle consumer tastes and competition could eat away at profits this year.
Target shares fell 10 percent on Tuesday as the company said profit margins declined due to growing investments in boosting its online business, wage increases, price cuts and the higher cost of preparing and shipping orders. Target shares fell 2.7 percent on Friday.
"The retailers and e-commerce players are duking it out," Shawn Kravetz, Esplanade Capital LLC's chief investment officer, said at the Reuters Global Investment 2019 Outlook Summit in New York last week.
"Amazon is buying that (consumer retail) business. Other players are buying that business. So it's a war."
Kravetz, whose first job after earning an MBA in 1995 was at CML Group Inc, a company that sold NordicTrack exercise machines through catalogs and television advertisements, said "the old joke was that we gave away stuff for free to sell people shipping."
The game has changed for retail players now, he said.
"They have almost no gross margin and they're giving away shipping. It's a tough gig. But if you're Amazon - and you're playing the long game - if you can only get another trillion dollars' worth of revenue and then raise prices one percent the numbers can work."
More retailers face pressure to cut into their margins or sacrifice growth, creating a catch-22 for investors even as consumers spent strongly during the sales following Thursday's US Thanksgiving Day holiday. GlobalData Retail said that the average person shopping early on Black Friday spent $407.20, up 2.1 percent over last year.
Even so, money managers have been getting more selective.
Eaton Vance Corp portfolio manager Kathleen Gaffney, whose Multisector Income Fund holds bonds issued by JC Penney Co Inc and Nordstrom Inc, said she has scaled back the JC Penney holding.
"They've pretty much secured every asset that they have so it is going to be challenging. Nordstrom, on the other hand, is well suited for the current market," Gaffney said at the Reuters summit, adding that the company's managers have been effective and target a solid, upscale niche.
Nordstrom shares have added nearly 12 percent this year, including dividends, sharply paring gains closer to 50 percent earlier this year after reporting disappointing third-quarter same-store sales. JC Penney shares crashed nearly 60 percent over the same period as the company continued to struggle to appeal to changing tastes of younger shoppers less likely to frequent traditional department stores.
Katie Shaw, sector leader for the global consumer team at Fidelity Investments, said she is positive about retail stocks because US consumers are getting a raise, seeing inflation-adjusted wages gain at all income levels for the first time since the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. But Shaw has a lower holding in mall-based department stores and big-box retailers than the benchmark against which she is measured.
"The role of retail to a customer's life has changed," she said. "There are a number of companies who have yet to invest in driving emotional connection with consumers."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA -- Black Friday is 4 days away and thanks to online shopping, it’s no longer just consumers in the US that can enjoy deep discounts and irresistible deals on a wide range of merchandise.
Here in Asia, we even launched our own version of Black Friday and held it earlier with Singles Day last November 11. Online shopping sites Lazada, Shopee and Zalora all reported record-breaking sales thanks to Filipino consumers who find it nearly impossible to say no to buying items on sale.
This early, a quick scan on the internet shows shoppers will find it hard to resist what’s on offer. If you point your browser to BestBlackFriday.com, you can view the items that will go on sale from nearly all retailers beginning with giants Walmart, Target and Best Buy. I did and 2 hours quickly passed by as I drowned in all the bargains beautifully illustrated in the world wide web, 90 percent of which I don’t really need nor wanted until I started surfing.
And guess what? Some are even rolling in Black Friday early with online deals going live as early as 10 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21.
Before you park yourself in front of your computer, or tablet or phone, along with your credit card, why not stop and think if you should instead be a digital stranger for the next week?
KNOW THY ENEMY
Black Friday comes after Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday of November, and kicks off the Christmas shopping season in the US Urban legend says the term was coined by retailers, as that’s the time of year when they begin to turn a profit, going from being "in the red" to being "in the black." In accounting terms, red means business loss while black means making money.
In the past, most of the shopping happens in stores, so marketing companies launched and coined the term Cyber Monday, for the Monday after Thanksgiving. Simply put, it’s the online equivalent to Black Friday and was a way for smaller retail websites to compete with larger chains. It’s become so successful that some skip Black Friday and hold out for Cyber Monday anticipating even better deals (plus the convenience of shopping in their pajamas).
BUY NOTHING DAY
Amusingly, between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there is a quirky holiday called Buy Nothing Day. It’s not really a holiday, in case you think U.S. consumers are so pampered they are awarded a break between 2 major shopping events. Buy Nothing Day is a statement against the consumerism that takes over the whole country, and the rest of the world too thanks to digital shopping sites.
According to data from Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks 80 percent of online spending at 100 of the largest retail websites in the US, American shoppers spent a record $5 billion in 24 hours during Black Friday 2017! That’s a double-digit increase or 16.9 percent more compared with Black Friday 2016.
So the Buy Nothing statement actually makes for one smart advice when it comes to spending money during a sale. Just because something comes cheap does not mean you have to buy it. But if we can’t stop you from indulging, here are some tips to keep in mind to help you rein in your spending at any sale, not just on Singles Day, Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
1. NEVER SHOP HUNGRY. Not all shopping happens online, and if you are ready to brave the crowds, at least feed yourself first. Studies proved that hungry shoppers tend to buy more, and we are not just talking about food. According to Forbes.com, research from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management showed that an empty stomach amps up your desire to acquire things.
Because hunger makes you want to eat, you are thinking of seeking, acquiring and consuming food and these thoughts spill over even to non-food items. As a result, a hungry shopper will buy items they don’t even like or need, such as binder clips according to the documented study.
2. IF THE SHOES DON’T FIT, IT WON’T EVER FIT. Yes, it’s half the price but if it does not come in your size, let it go even at 70 percent off. Feet do not shrink and you owe it to your toes to get shoes that fit right and will let you walk comfortably.
As for that designer dress you want to add to your closet – and wow, now at half price – but it’s 2 sizes smaller, we offer the same advice: walk away. Even if you are confident you will lose 20 pounds next month, until you do, don’t bet with your hard-earned money.
3. KEEP YOUR COOL OR LOSE YOUR SHIRT. It’s just a sale, and you are not saving the world one purchase at a time so keep a level head. If you see items that your family or friends would like, you can decide to buy it as a gift but only if it’s within your gift budget. Do not volunteer to shop for others as that will add to your stress level (and lead to more shopping and spending).
One more reason to keep it cool? Crowds and long lines at the cashier are recipes for disaster. In the US, consumers are known to fight over merchandise, so tempers flare and they have escalated to violent attacks landing people in jail!
4. BETTER YET, RESIST AND LIVE TO SHOP ANOTHER DAY. While I like a good deal as much as the next person, I admit I avoid sales as a rule. Again, surveys show that people who shop during sales are more likely to overspend, as they will be exposed to items that are not on their list to buy, or lulled into thinking they need something just because it is cheap.
Even if you have a list, people shop sales with what they see and what items are on discount so expect to bust your budget. With inflation at its highest in nine years, your wallet should be feeling the pinch so missing the sale this year is probably a sound idea all around.
5... OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES
But if you don’t have the willpower and did go to the sale, you can still save your budget. Say you went overboard and realized it the next day after the sale, or even the same day, try returning the items you know you won’t really need or use. If the price tags are all intact, and you have the official receipt, prepare to make your case with the store.
According to the Department of Trade and Industry, here in the Philippines, consumers can return items as long as there is a defect in the quality of goods or imperfection in the service, but not if you only changed your mind. However, some stores are willing to accommodate same day or next day return or refund, so no harm in trying. And if they turn you down, consider offering the items to people you know that may be interested. Explore anything that will make your budget return to black.
The holiday season tends to spur people into shopping frenzies as they go about buying gifts for family and friends. But sometimes, you can skip the shopping and look for gifts that will not hurt your budget and celebrate the meaning of the season. Why not make a donation to a charity and do it in the name of everyone in your Iist? That’s not only a win-win; it’s a win-win-win, for your wallet, for the people in your gift list and the people who will have a happier holiday thanks to you.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON -- US retail sales rebounded sharply in October as purchases of motor vehicles and building materials surged, but data for the prior 2 months was revised lower and the underlying trend suggested that consumer spending was probably slowing down.
Still, the report on Thursday from the Commerce Department showed broad gains in sales ahead of the holiday shopping season, which bodes well for consumer spending and the overall economy as the fourth quarter gets under way.
"This morning's release confirms our expectations of a strong holiday season," said Tim Quinlan, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. "But, as the calendar flips to 2019, we expect a further moderation in spending, as the boost from tax cuts will start to fade for consumers."
Retail sales increased 0.8 percent last month. Retail sales in September slipped 0.1 percent instead of rising 0.1 percent and sales in August were also weaker than previously thought.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales increasing 0.5 percent in October. Sales rose 4.6 percent from a year ago.
Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales increased 0.3 percent last month. These so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product.
Data for September was revised lower to show core retail sales rising 0.3 percent instead of gaining 0.5 percent as previously reported. Core retail sales fell 0.2 percent in August rather than being unchanged.
While that suggests some loss of momentum in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity, consumption is being supported by the Trump administration's $1.5 trillion tax cut package. Declining oil prices are seen aiding retail sales in the months ahead.
A robust labor market, marked by a 3.7 percent unemployment rate, is also underpinning spending. The lowest jobless rate in nearly 49 years is boosting wages, with annual wage growth recording its biggest increase in 9-1/2 years in October.
Jobs market strength was underscored by a separate report from the Labor Department on Thursday showing a marginal increase in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week.
Strong domestic demand and a tightening labor market support views that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates in December for the fourth time this year. The US central bank last Thursday kept rates unchanged, but said data "indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a strong rate."
"The backdrop of strong growth and subdued inflation should keep the Fed on track for continued gradual rate hikes through the first half of 2019," said Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup in New York.
The dollar was trading higher against a basket of currencies after Thursday's data, while US Treasury yields fell. Stocks on Wall Street were mixed.
BROAD GAINS
The retail sales pace, if sustained, could keep the economy on a solid growth path even as business investment is slowing, the trade deficit is expected to deteriorate further and the housing market continues to weaken.
The economy's strength was highlighted by higher-than-expected quarterly sales from Walmart on Thursday. The world's largest retailer raised its full-year outlook.
Though the Commerce Department said it could not isolate the impact of Hurricanes Florence and Michael on October's retail sales, the storms probably buoyed purchases of automobiles and building materials last month amid recovery efforts.
Auto sales jumped 1.1 percent last month after falling 0.1 percent in September. Sales at building material stores surged 1.0 percent in October.
There were also increases in sales at clothing stores, online retailers and service stations last month. Americans also spent more on hobbies and at bookstores, while cutting back on furniture purchases.
But spending at restaurants and bars slipped 0.2 percent, likely hurt by Michael, which soaked the Florida Panhandle in mid-October. Sales at restaurants and bars dropped 1.5 percent in September.
Other data on Thursday offered a mixed picture of the manufacturing sector in early November. The New York Fed said its Empire State general business conditions index rose to a reading of 23.3 this month from 21.1 in October.
A slight moderation in the new orders index was offset by strong increases in labor market measures.
Separately, a survey from the Philadelphia Fed showed a slowing in factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region this month, with its current general activity index tumbling to a reading of 12.9 from 22.2 in October amid a sharp slowdown in new orders.
Firms, however, remained upbeat about business conditions over the next 6 months. There was also a strong improvement in capital expenditure plans.
"The real risk to the outlook for manufacturers remains global trade risks," said Adam Ozimek, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "If this can be avoided, demand should remain strong for manufacturers."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK - After years of low, low prices, fed by near-zero interest rates in a convalescing economy, Americans are waking up to costlier consumer living.
Everyday household staples like diapers, toothpaste, shampoo and dishwashing liquid -- not to mention soft drinks, cookies, chocolate, cat litter and autos -- have all started getting more expensive, a trend expected to continue early next year.
Announced by companies during the most recent earnings season, these price hikes have typically ranged from two percent to 10 percent. They also stand in stark contrast to the usually unending sales and promotions from major retailers like Walmart and Amazon.
The higher prices aim to pad revenues for companies like Apple, which has just raised sticker prices for its new MacBook Air laptops and iPads by 20 percent and 25 percent.
But for a growing number of businesses, they also represent a response to mounting transportation costs. A stronger US dollar is similarly cutting into foreign earnings -- while a tight labor supply is at last pushing up wages.
US auto giant General Motors upped the average price of its SUVs, crossovers and pickups by $800, something the company ties to rising costs for steel and aluminum -- commodities on which President Donald Trump slapped steep new import duties this year.
American manufacturers are now paying eight percent more for aluminum than they did a year ago and 38 percent more for steel as local producers increase their prices.
GREATER DEMAND THAN EVER
The 10 percent duties Trump imposed in September on $200 billion in Chinese goods are also a drag for importers.
Like GM, most businesses have tried to pass these costs on to consumers. Benno Dorer, chief executive at Clorox, told investors recently that "doing nothing at this point is not an option."
Half of the company's products will cost more next year.
For the moment, Americans are willing to pay more, with consumer confidence near record highs, businesses believe.
GDP is indeed expanding above trend and wages climbed nicely in October.
"You can only price where you have demand for your product and we have greater demand than ever," Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told investors on an earnings call.
Faced with a $2 billion jump in fuel prices over a year, the airline raised ticket prices and expects further increases for most flights.
Retailers and restaurants are also changing low-price policies to protect their margins because of rising trucking and labor costs. Goods transportation costs jumped seven percent in September, mainly due to a lack of truck drivers.
Fast food restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill will charge four percent more for its burritos to help absorb a 27.2 percent jump in labor costs, according to Chief Financial Officer John Hartung.
Fearing a consumer backlash, some businesses are considering alternatives, like rerouting their supply chains to circumvent tariffs.
Shoe brand Steven Madden wants to shift up to half of its production toward other countries like Cambodia and is renegotiating other contracts.
"We are working with our suppliers in China to provide us with better pricing," chief executive Edward Rosenfeld told investors.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Startup AutoX on Monday announced the Silicon Valley debut of a service that will turn self-driving cars into mobile grocery shops summoned with a touch of a smartphone application.
The service will kick off this month in parts of the California city of San Jose in a partnership with e-commerce company GrubMarket.com which sources food from producers as well as retail shops such as Amazon-owned Whole Foods.
"We're very excited to launch the first autonomous grocery delivery and mobile store service in the heart of Silicon Valley with self-driving vehicles on the road,” said AutoX founder and chief executive Jianxiong Xiao.
"We believe self-driving car technologies will fundamentally change people’s daily lives for the better."
The AutoX application can be used to place grocery orders to be delivered in cars designed to keep produce chilled, according to the startup.
Customers uncertain of what they want in advance will also be able to have cars pull up and open windows so they can browse selections, AutoX said. A human back-up driver will be on board as required by local regulations.
AutoX vehicles rely on high-resolution camera gear instead of more costly sensors and laser arrays for navigation.
The grocery delivery and mobile store pilot program will roll out in San Jose, then expand to Google's home city Mountain View and Palo Alto, where Stanford University is located.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK - Higher costs for oil, industrial metals and other materials have emerged as a headwind during US earnings season, amplifying inflation worries at the same time the labor market is tightening.
Companies from across the US economy cited the drag from supply costs in conference calls, in some cases reporting lower first-quarter profits or cutting their outlook.
Arconic, a spin-off from Alcoa that focuses on aviation and auto clients, slashed its outlook due to a "steep increase" in aluminum prices, said chief financial officer Ken Giacobbe.
Prices of the metal have risen further after US announcements of tariffs on imported aluminum and sanctions on Russian aluminum company Rusal.
American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker rued that oil prices had risen "very quickly" and the company cut its forecast range for full-year profits.
Executives at Kraft Heinz also reported cost pressures for freight, packaging and oil, although the elevated prices have not affected forecasts, while Mondelez International, another food giant, also confirmed its profit outlook despite higher cocoa costs.
'RISK IS BUILDING'
Worries about inflation have been a preoccupation of policymakers and money managers all year because of the fear a sudden jump in prices would prompt the Federal Reserve to accelerate interest rate increases, potentially shocking the global economy.
The Federal Reserve this week acknowledged that inflation had moved closer to its target of 2 percent. The statement, while not expressing alarm at pricing trends, kept the central bank on track to keep lifting interest rates this year.
Jim Corridore, an analyst at CFRA Research who covers industrial companies, said inflation was "not something we're overly concerned about."
Companies managed to turn in solid profits due to higher overall sales and the lift from US tax cuts.
"At this point it's not any more concerning than we expected it to be but it's certainly something you have to keep an eye on," Corridore added.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said "the risk of a pickup in inflation pressures is building," in part because of rising labor costs.
On Friday, the US Labor Department reported that wages increased only modestly in April even as unemployment hit a 17-year low of 3.9 percent. Still economists believe wage inflation could soon pick up, perhaps by a lot.
"Ultimately, these companies that are calling out rising input costs have a choice: They can either eat those costs at the expense of their profit margins or they can choose to pass those costs onto their customers," O'Hare said.
"If they pass them along, then their customers choose to pass them along to their customers and so on, and so you get more generalized price inflation."
Raw material price increases are trending well above expectations at the industrial conglomerate 3M, especially for oil-linked materials and transportation and logistics.
But the company expects those trends to be more than offset by strong demand across its markets, including in consumer goods and home care, allowing it to raise prices.
"For the year, we're still expecting our stronger price growth to more than offset the raw materials," said chief financial officer Nicholas Gangestad.
MORE INFLATION AHEAD?
But companies are also monitoring commodity prices to see if prices continue to rise. A report last month from the World Bank concluded that commodity prices were set to grow "more than expected" in 2018, pointing to increases across oil, metals and grains.
In a May 1 investor note, Goldman Sachs also highlighted commodities as being in a "bull tilt" in part because of low inventories after a long period of under-investment. But the report also noted that many investors were "skeptical" of the outlook, in part out of fear of buying at the top of the commodity cycle.
Parker of American Airlines said the company's response would partly depend on what happened in the oil market, saying the carrier would lift ticket prices if it concludes high fuel prices are here to stay.
"As the cost of production goes up, the cost of the product generally follows," Parker said. If fuel prices stay high, "I would expect you would see higher fares to consumers over time."
Ford has estimated that materials costs will be $1.5 billion over last year's, which had already seen a jump.
"It will be 2 years of pretty sharp increases," said Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks, adding that the estimate did not include tariffs on metals announced by the Trump administration in March.
Ford believes the risk of tariffs "has essentially already been priced in by the market," Shanks said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SEATTLE - Amazon.com Inc open to the public on Monday its checkout-free grocery store after more than a year of testing, moving forward on an experiment that could dramatically alter brick-and-mortar retail.
The Seattle store, known as Amazon Go, relies on cameras and sensors to track what shoppers remove from the shelves, and what they put back. Cash registers and checkout lines become superfluous - customers are billed after leaving the store using credit cards on file.
For grocers, the store's opening heralds another potential disruption at the hands of the world's largest online retailer, which bought high-end supermarket chain Whole Foods Market last year for $13.7 billion. Long lines can deter shoppers, so a company that figures out how to eradicate wait times will have an advantage.
Amazon did not discuss if or when it will add more Go locations, and reiterated it has no plans to add the technology to the larger and more complex Whole Foods stores.
The convenience-style store opened to Amazon employees on Dec. 5, 2016 in a test phase. At the time, Amazon said it expected members of the public could begin using the store in early 2017.
But there have been challenges, according to a person familiar with the matter. These included correctly identifying shoppers with similar body types, the person said. When children were brought into the store during the trial, they caused havoc by moving items to incorrect places, the person added.
Gianna Puerini, vice president of Amazon Go, said in an interview that the store worked very well throughout the test phase, thanks to four years of prior legwork.
"This technology didn't exist," Puerini said, walking through the Seattle store. "It was really advancing the state of the art of computer vision and machine learning."
"If you look at these products, you can see they're super similar," she said of two near-identical Starbucks drinks next to each other on a shelf. One had light cream and the other had regular, and Amazon's technology learned to tell them apart.
HOW IT WORKS
The 1800-square-foot (167-square-meter) store is located in an Amazon office building. To start shopping, customers must scan an Amazon Go smartphone app and pass through a gated turnstile.
Ready-to-eat lunch items greet shoppers when they enter. Deeper into the store, shoppers can find a small selection of grocery items, including meats and meal kits. An Amazon employee checks IDs in the store's wine and beer section.
Sleek black cameras monitoring from above and weight sensors in the shelves help Amazon determine exactly what people take.
If someone passes back through the gates with an item, his or her associated account is charged. If a shopper puts an item back on the shelf, Amazon removes it from his or her virtual cart.
Much of the store will feel familiar to shoppers, aside from the check-out process. Amazon, famous for dynamic pricing online, has printed price tags just as traditional brick-and-mortar stores do.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
