Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

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Tuesday 17 July 2018
Amazon's Prime Day runs into early snags

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO search, had estimated that
AP Retail Writer it will generate $3.4 billion
NEW YORK (AP) — Ama- in sales worldwide, up from
zon's website ran into some an estimated $2.4 billion
early snags Monday on its last year. Prime Day also
much-hyped Prime Day, an lasts six hours longer than
embarrassment for the tech last year.
company on the shopping Meanwhile, other retailers
holiday it created. like Macy's, Nordstrom, Best
Shoppers clicking on many Buy, Walmart and Target
Prime Day links after the 3 have rolled out their own
p.m. ET launch in the U.S. promotions, said Charlie
got only images of dogs — O'Shea, lead retail analyst
some quite abashed-look- at Moody's.
ing — with the words, "Uh- "Brick-and-mortar retailers
oh. Something went wrong know that they have little
on our end." People took to choice but to continue of-
social media to complain fering their own deep dis-
that they couldn't order counts, which is evident in
items. the proliferation of 'Black
By about 4:30 p.m., many Friday in July' deals that
Prime Day links were work- are being launched earlier
ing, and Amazon said later In this Aug. 3, 2017, file photo, packages pass through a scanner at an Amazon fulfillment center each year, as well as vari-
Monday that it was working in Baltimore. ous 'price match' offers," he
to resolve the glitches. said in a note earlier Mon-
In an email to The Associat- to capitalize on the Prime would be getting more ex- find Prime deals to lower day.
ed Press, it said "many are Day spending. pensive, was hoping to lure the cost of back-to-school Amazon created Prime
shopping successfully" and Analyst Sucharita Mulpu- in shoppers by focusing on (purchases), you're almost Day in 2015 to mark its 20th
that in the first hour of Prime ru-Kodali at Forrester Re- new products and having certainly going back to anniversary, and its suc-
Day in the U.S., customers search called the glitch a Whole Foods be part of the your traditional venue of cess has inspired other e-
ordered more items than "huge deal." process. It was also hop- choice," he said. commerce companies to
in the same time frame last "This is supposed to be one ing parents would use the Goldberg noted that it's invent shopping holidays.
year. of their biggest days of deals event to jump start easy for Amazon to extend Online furniture seller Way-
Still, the hiccups could mute the year," she wrote in an back-to-school shopping. deals on its own devices fair introduced Way Day in
sales and send shoppers email. "I am shocked this Jason Goldberg, senior and brands, but trickier April, becoming its biggest
elsewhere during one of caught them off guard. But vice president of com- for it to extend deals for its revenue day ever.
Amazon's busiest sales pe- I guess the lesson is to not merce at Publicis.Sapient, third-party sellers because Prime Day also usually helps
riods that's also a key time have a big unveil during noted that the problems they signed up for different boost the number of Prime
for it to sign up new Prime the middle of the day when could turn off shoppers for promotional slots. memberships. Amazon
members. Shoppers have everyone comes to your a while, particularly those While Amazon doesn't dis- disclosed for the first time
lots of options, as many site all at once."Amazon, who planned to sign up for close sales figures for Prime this year that it had more
other chains have offered which recently announced Prime membership. Day, Deborah Weinswig, than 100 million paid Prime
sales and promotions to try that Prime membership "If you were planning to CEO of Coresight Re- members worldwide. q

New California law requires voter data breach reporting

By SOPHIA BOLLAG voting locations, eligibility President Donald Trump evidence California's elec-
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) or times a misdemeanor. suggested he believes Rus- tion systems were hacked.
— Journalists, researchers Assemblyman Marc Ber- sia didn't interfere in the However, Padilla stressed
and political campaigns man wrote the law and United States' 2016 elec- the importance of cyberse-
that receive voter data said it would improve elec- tions. Trump made the re- curity.
must tell California officials tion security and crack marks standing alongside "Cyber threats from Rus-
if it may have been sto- down on misinformation. Russian President Vladimir sia and others who seek
len under a new law Gov. "Cyberattacks and decep- Putin after the two leaders to harm our democracy
Jerry Brown announced he tive voter misinformation met in Helsinki. are very real," Padilla said
signed Monday. tactics present increas- U.S. intelligence agencies Friday. "They're not going
It requires people and ingly sophisticated threats have determined that Rus- away."
organizations that have to the integrity of our elec- sia meddled in the elec- In the state budget that
California voter registra- tions," the Palo Alto Demo- tion to benefit Trump. Last took effect July 1, Brown
tion data to report secu- crat told his Assembly col- week, a dozen Russian in- and the Legislature includ-
rity breaches affecting the leagues earlier this month telligence officers were in- ed money to create offices
storage of that information, This May 4, 2017 file photo before they voted to pass dicted in connection with focused on election cy-
which can include names, shows state Assemblyman it. hacking the Clinton presi- bersecurity and risk man-
Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, at
birth dates and addresses. the Capitol in Sacramento, It passed both chambers of dential campaign and the agement and $134 million
The law also directs the Calif. the Legislature with just one Democratic Party. for new voting equipment.
secretary of state to de- Associated Press "no" vote. Before certifying Califor- It's the most California
velop guidelines for how Brown, a Democrat, an- nia's 2018 primary results last has spent on new voting
such information should be ally, it makes intentionally nounced he signed the bill week, Secretary of State systems in more than a
securely stored. Addition- misinforming a voter about the same day Republican Alex Padilla said there is no decade.q