Nike sent out an internal memo last week calling on U.S. employees to return to work at world headquarters in Beaverton, OR at least three full days a week, with the option to work up to two days remotely. What benefits and challenges will a hybrid workweek likely present for Nike?

Amazon.com has made significant progress over the last year in last-mile fulfillment with its vans crisscrossing neighborhoods with greater frequency. Where are Amazon’s largest logistics advantages as it builds out its internal network?

Amazon and Walmart are both planning to expand delivery services that give them access to the homes of customers.  Will Americans’ experiences during the pandemic and a return to pre-pandemic normalcy create the conditions for programs like these to be successful?

Amazon Inc., including its online marketplace of third-party sellers, will overtake Walmart to be the largest retailer in the U.S. by 2025, according to a new report. Do you think total sales made through Amazon’s stores and online platforms will surpass those of Walmart by 2025?

A university study finds that the five-star online review system has become increasingly less useful because most products are now rated positively. Can five-star rating systems be reimagined to become more granular and beneficial to consumers?

Amazon has opened a hair salon in its latest bricks-and-mortar experiment, allowing the online giant to test new technologies, expand its B2B business with haircare professionals and potentially explore the haircutting opportunity. What do you think is behind the opening of Amazon Salon?

Amazon.com recently launched a new tool, “Manage Your Customer Engagement (MYCE),” that allows some third-party sellers for the first time to market directly to the platform’s customers. How much value does the tool offer brands selling on Amazon’s third-party marketplace?

Amazon plans to provide non-technical employees with the skills they need to move into software engineering roles. Do you think retailers, by and large, are making adequate investments in training and developing the skills of employees?

Family Dollar has become the first dollar store to launch an ad network to support placements across its mobile app and FamilyDollar.com. Do you see demand growing for specialized ad platforms, such as Family Dollar’s, or is there only room for a small number of key players in this market?

Services and solutions have quickly become retailers’ growth engine of choice. Major retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Target and Amazon.com have branched out into health services, ad marketing, financial services and more. Which aspects of retailer-as-service will have the greatest impact on retailer profitability and viability?

Amazon.com can walk and chew gum at the same time. That’s the message from Jeff Bezos, pledging to turn the most customer centric company on the planet into the best employer with the safest workplace environment. Do you expect Amazon to bring a similar level of focus to becoming the best place to work as it does to satisfying its millions of customers?

Amazon.com is planning to hold Prime Day in June, a month early for the traditional July event, multiple sources told Recode. Amazon management is also reportedly considering holding a second Prime Day in the fall.  Do you think it makes sense for Amazon to move Prime Day to June and follow that with a second event in the fall?

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, supports spending big on infrastructure, even if that means his company is required to pay more in taxes to get it done. Are you surprised by Jeff Bezos’ qualified endorsement of the outlines of the American Rescue Plan?

Amazon has been on a buying spree, further proof that Americans have changed their shopping habits in recent years and since the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. But what has Amazon been buying? The answer in a word — malls. Do you expect to see more second and third tier malls around the U.S. converted into distribution centers?

Amazon.com was considering opening a clearance concept selling unsold inventory of home goods and electronics at steep discounts prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic, reports Bloomberg.  What do you think was behind Amazon’s exploration of clearance stores and will they still make sense post-pandemic?

Google over the last year has been shifting to build an “Anti-Amazon of E-Commerce” for sellers, according to a New York Times profile. The obvious hurdle for Google, however, is Amazon’s stature as the go-to online search engine for shoppers. Is the bigger challenge for Google’s shopping platform attracting sellers or shoppers?

Machine learning cameras in trucks, workers peeing in bottles, union-voting warehouse workers and a visit from Bernie Sanders — this has not been one of Amazon.com’s better weeks. Is Amazon in danger of losing the public perception battle about working conditions for its warehouse employees and delivery drivers?

Purchasing from online marketplaces can be a gamble for customers. Now the state of California wants to put responsibility for the safety and quality of products sold through these platforms more squarely on the shoulders of operators. How do you see online marketplaces responding to legislation that would hold them liable for third-party sellers?

They say the first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problem, and according to Walmart, they’ve had a big one. “We fail our customers today,” reads the first bullet in a slide from their planning deck for an internal project codenamed Project Glass. Should more retailers follow Walmart’s brutal self-assessment strategy?

Amazon.com is the number one seller of clothing in the U.S., having surpassed Walmart in 2020 to earn that distinction. What do you see as the biggest factors supporting Amazon’s growth in apparel and footwear sales?

Amazon has sought to continue to meet its productivity goals while introducing an element of fun into getting the job done with a gamification system that translates common job tasks into rewards.  What do you see as the pros and cons of using gamification in workplaces such as warehouses and stores?

Amazon recently came under scrutiny by Republican members of the U.S. Senate when it decided to remove a book, When Harry Became Sally by Ryan Anderson, from its website and Audible and Kindle platforms.  How do you think Amazon should handle the fallout?

A new survey of over 1,000 U.S. brands finds online marketplaces to be their strongest growth opportunity, although some are looking for options beyond Amazon.com.  How much of an uphill battle do retailers face competing against Amazon with their own online marketplaces?

According to a survey from Piplsay, 89 percent of shoppers who have visited Amazon Go have had either an excellent (54 percent) or a good (35 percent) experience. Has the pandemic likely accelerated the rollout of automated checkout technology in the years ahead?

Amazon launched a new program, “Build It,” that in a crowdsourcing scheme enables consumers to vote on which Alexa-enabled products will be developed. Do you see more benefits than drawbacks to Build It for Amazon?

Amazon.com reached a deal last month to acquire Selz, an online platform provider that helps small and medium size businesses create and operate online sites.  In what ways do you think Amazon is likely to respond to Shopify?

A number of aggregators have arrived in recent years with a goal of acquiring third-party Amazon sellers and taking them to their next level of growth. Recently, many have secured funding themselves. What do you think of the trend of aggregators acquiring and scaling up promising third-party Amazon FBA sellers?

It’s been more than three and a half years since Amazon.com’s acquired Whole Foods. While many of the worst predicted fears have not come to pass, some of the expected improvements have also failed to materialize.  Which aspects of the Whole Foods’ shopping experience appear to have improved versus becoming worse under Amazon’s ownership?

Jeff Bezos has announced that he will be stepping down as chief executive of the company in the third quarter this year to become its executive chairman. Is Amazon’s inventiveness the single key feature that has set it apart from other retailers and consumer-facing brands over the past 20+ years?

Employees at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, AL will get ballots next week from the National Labor Relations board to vote on union representation. What effect would a successful vote to organize have on Amazon at the facility and in the other locations where it has hourly workers?

While often cited as a conversion necessity, the wide majority of retailers only offer free shipping occasionally for promotional campaigns, according to a study. Should retailers be looking at free shipping more as an online margin killer or as a shopping cart abandonment saver?

Considering the ongoing struggle between management and labor unions, the question is whether nonunion frontline workers have become more disposable during the pandemic and if they will turn to collective bargaining to seek safety in numbers. What is your forecast for labor relations between retailers and their frontline workforces in 2021 and beyond?

At a CES 2021 session featuring privacy experts from Amazon.com, Google and Twitter, panelists agreed that, while data transparency is critical, a “patchwork” of privacy rules across areas may increasingly undermine the benefits of the internet.  What’s the ideal outcome from the data privacy debate for retailers?

Staples for the third time is seeking to acquire rival Office Depot as the accelerated shift to online shopping and work-from-home culture recasts the opportunity in office supply retail. Does a Staples and Office Depot merger make more sense in a post-COVID environment?

A website with a provocative domain has seemingly overnight become a go-to directory to reach more than 4,000 independent stores across four Canadian cities. The success is more surprising considering it was created by a social media manager as a side project with no plans to make money. Would a website such as Not-Amazon.ca work in the U.S.?

A new survey finds that Amazon.com has become the preferred source of groceries for the largest number of Americans.  What grocers do you think have been the biggest winners since the pandemic hit the U.S.?

Hudson, which operates in airports, travel hubs and tourist destinations across North America, has announced the planned opening of a new store concept that allows customers to check out without having to stop at a cash register. How likely is the Hudson Nonstop store concept to connect in a positive way with airport travelers across North America?

Offering refunds without requiring the return is being adopted more broadly by retailers during the pandemic, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Does it make sense to offer refunds without requiring a return for certain items?

Amazon.com last week discontinued its single large box service known as Amazon Pantry. The service had been seen as a way to sell less expensive household items online that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to ship. Has Pantry’s business model, based on bundled online orders of household essentials, become outdated?

Never before have consumers had so many options for returning unwanted holiday gifts. Some may help retailers handle what’s expected to be a record haul of returns this year. Which return options that have been amplified or introduced this year will likely become more important in the years ahead?

Walmart on Monday announced a partnership with FedEx to offer customers complimentary at-home pickup of returns for merchandise bought online. Does picking up returns from households for free hold significant appeal for consumers and is it an economically feasible strategy for retailers?

Gift giving is a Christmas tradition that spans the globe, even as holiday rituals vary from country to country and region to region. The two spots we’ve selected for you to review today are focused on giving in different ways. What are your critiques of the Amazon and Smiths City commercials?

Over a year ago, Patricia Waldron asked in a RetailWire article if 2020 would be the year when retailers instituted supply chain improvements with an eye towards enhancing the customer experience. That’s still the story today, but with much greater urgency. Do you see stores become the primary focal point for retailers’ digital supply strategies going forward?

FedEx last week announced that it had agreed to acquire ShopRunner, the Prime-like subscription service that offers two-day delivery from more than 100 retailers. What do you think is behind FedEx’s deal to acquire ShopRunner, and will it attract more merchants competing with Amazon to the program?

Walmart announced that members of its Walmart+ subscription plan will no longer be required to make a $35 minimum purchase to qualify for free next-day and two-day shipping on online orders. Will the removal of a purchase minimum aid Walmart’s push to add members to its Walmart+ program?

MBLM’s newly-released “Brand Intimacy Study,” which ranks brands based on their emotional connections, found the retail industry moving from fourth to third out of 10 industries as the pandemic made retailers more “essential.” In what ways has COVID-19 opened up opportunities for retailers to nurture greater loyalty with consumers?

Amazon has introduced a number of holiday delivery options designed in part to ensure gifts stay “spoiler free” by helping keep them a surprise. Is spoiling the surprise a serious problem for online holiday shoppers?

Amazon.com announced the launch of Amazon Pharmacy, a new online pharmacy service and another free perk for the e-tailing giant’s Prime members. Does the launch of Amazon Pharmacy mark the beginning of the company becoming a major force in the U.S. pharmacy business?

Amazon.com has announced plans to ramp up Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery to over 4,000 cities. Do you expect that Amazon customers will be more willing to give the e-tailer access to their garages than their homes or car trunks?

Amazon.com, after retiring the Dash Button last year, has introduced a replacement, Dash Smart Shelf, that promises to shake up the office supplies space and bring auto-replenishment to households. Does the Dash Smart Shelf mark a leap forward from the Dash Button and for auto-replenishment?