Amazon makes history in Canada [Crew Review]

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Hey Reader,

Amazon made history yesterday by becoming the first major cloud services provider to have an infrastructure region in Western Canada.

The move now helps developers, startups, and entrepreneurs have a better choice for running applications and serving end users from AWS data centers located in Canada. 

Clearly, Amazon is looking to further leverage its use of artificial intelligence to further accelerate innovation and made the perfect move by setting up operations in one of the fastest-growing tech markets in North America. 

Saved From Bankruptcy

Luxury fashion marketplace Farfetch has been saved by Seoul-based ecommerce firm Coupang who recently bought the company for $500 million.

Deemed a match made in heaven by some experts, the move gives Farfetch a chance to reinvent itself after making questionable acquisitions in the past from the moment the company turned public in 2019.

Farfetch can now tap into the South Korean audience which has been deemed the world's highest per-capita spending on personal luxury goods. Coupan gets their wish of entering the luxury fashion sector and having access to Farfetch's technology as they try to live up to its moniker as “the Amazon of South Korea.”

Amazon Top Terms

Explore the previous two weeks and discover the Amazon top 10 search terms that have experienced a surge in popularity from December 3rd to December 16th.

In the latest Amazon top 10, the "green tea mask stick" has claimed the #5 spot, experiencing a notable sales surge from 10 units per day to 79 units per day in the last two weeks. 

This surge in popularity can be attributed to its recognition as one of the top beauty products of 2023, according to Google searches. 

The Google Holiday 100, a compilation of the year's biggest search trends in the United States, highlighted the beauty section, featuring some of the most sought-after products. Specifically, Google searches for green tea cleansing masks witnessed a staggering  4,500% increase this year.

Buy Now, Pay Later

Walmart has partnered with Affirm to give its customers another option to buy now and pay later by introducing the concept in over 4,500 of their stores when customers do self-checkout. The retail giants continued their plan to make shopping more convenient for their customers while staying in stride with Amazon. 

Walmart’s first initiative with the buy now, pay later scheme with Affirm was allowing customers to purchase goods online and in stores from Walmart by pre-applying on their credit and then showing the generated barcode to a checkout associate.

Customers who spend at least $144 at Walmart (excluding groceries) can now divide payments between three to 24 months with a financing limit of $4,000.

The move has increased Affirm’s shares by at least 15% as the company’s stock continues to rise after nearly losing 90% of its company value in 2022. 

Etc.

Shaking up social media. Claim is a social media app where users can earn cash back and redeem rewards by shopping at their favorite brand. After receiving $4 million in funding, they’re making big plans for 2024 after they finished testing with over 10,000 users.

Go live. TikTok is advising users to go live on their platform for at least 2 hours a day to promote their products and drive sales.

Changes in Alibaba. Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu has been named the chief executive of Alibaba's domestic ecommerce arm, expanding his role even further after being named the company's cloud business CEO earlier in the month.