E-commerce
A food delivery worker and office workers wearing face masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus wait to cross a street in Beijing on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. The e-commerce workers and delivery people who kept China fed during the pandemic, making their billionaire bosses even richer, are so unhappy with their pay and treatment that one just set himself on fire in protest. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Deaths, self-immolation draw scrutiny on China tech giants

By Zen Soo Jan. 17, 2021 01:05 AM EST

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2020 file photo, an Amazon Prime logo appears on the side of a delivery van as it departs an Amazon Warehouse location in Dedham, Mass. Online shopping has been a lifeline for many as the virus pandemic shuttered stores and kept people at home. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the change in how people shop in a world growing more comfortable and savvier with technology. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
Retail's online future grows brighter after pandemic bump

By Damian J. Troise Jan. 07, 2021 10:10 AM EST

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2020 file photo, Jeffrey Katzenberg poses for a portrait to promote "Quibi" at the Music Lodge during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Less than a year ago, Quibi launched a splashy Super Bowl ad that posed the question “What’s a Quibi?” People may still be scratching their heads. The service struggled to reach viewers, as short videos abound on the internet and the coronavirus pandemic kept many people at home. It announced it was shutting down in October, just six months after its April launch. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP, File)
From Zoom to Quibi, the tech winners and losers of 2020

By Barbara Ortutay And Mae Anderson Dec. 28, 2020 09:58 AM EST

A KidiZoom Creator Cam by VTech is displayed at the Toy Fair, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in New York. The digital camera comes with a green screen and animated backgrounds allowing kids to go to outer space, get chased by T-Rex, or make things disappear. The camera comes with a tabletop tripod, which can also be used as a selfie stick. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Holiday trends to watch: Adult Play-Doh; stores that ship

By Joseph Pisani And Anne D’innocenzio Nov. 26, 2020 10:06 AM EST

A company sign of Seiyu is seen in Hiratsuka, near Tokyo Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. U.S. retailer Walmart is selling off 85% of its wholly owned Japanese supermarket subsidiary Seiyu, while retaining a 15% stake, in a deal valued at ¥172.5 billion ($1.6 billion), the companies said Monday. (Kyodo News via AP)
Walmart sells majority stake in Japanese Seiyu supermarket

By Yuri Kageyama Nov. 16, 2020 01:43 AM EST

FILE - In this June 25, 2020 file photo, people walk past curbside pickup sign at Macy's department store in Vernon Hills, Ill. In the days before COVID-19, shopping smart used to mean scoring deals at a department store’s weekend sale. But the pandemic has led to a shift in consumer habits. Now, many consumers are making their purchases online for home delivery or picking them up curbside. To save money while shopping during the pandemic, sign up for in-stock alerts, lean on your community, read reviews carefully and more. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
Millennial Money: A new set of shopping tips in the pandemic

By Courtney Jespersen Of Nerdwallet Oct. 20, 2020 05:56 AM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2019 file photo, Jack Ma, founder of the Alibaba Group, speaks at the company's 20th-anniversary celebration in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province. A survey shows Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, held onto his status as China's richest entrepreneur as the coronavirus shutdown propelled demand for online shopping and other services. (Chinatopix via AP, File)
Fortunes of China's internet tycoons soar amid pandemic

By Joe Mcdonald Oct. 20, 2020 02:33 AM EDT

The logo of a Miniso shop is seen at a shopping mall in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. Miniso, a Chinese discount retailer known for its fashionable but affordable household products, is expected to raise up to $562 million in a U.S. initial public offering in New York. The Guangzhou-based retailer is the latest Chinese company to list in the U.S., amid tensions that have taken U.S.-China relations to their worst level in decades. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Shares of Chinese retailer Miniso rise in Wall Street debut

By Zen Soo Oct. 15, 2020 08:22 AM EDT

FILE - In this Friday, July 27, 2018 file photo, the logo for Amazon is displayed on a screen at the Nasdaq MarketSite. E-commerce giant Amazon has announced Thursday Sept. 3, 2020, it is adding 7,000 more permanent jobs in the U.K. by the end of the year, in the latest sign that demand for online shopping and services is booming amid the pandemic. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
Amazon adds 7,000 more UK jobs as pandemic e-commerce booms

Sep. 03, 2020 06:31 AM EDT

A news-stand vendor, wearing a mask to protect against the coronavirus, sits near QR codes for Alipay and WeChat, two popular online payment system in Beijing, China on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Ant Group, the financial technology arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, filed for a dual-listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in what would likely be the world’s largest initial public stock offering since the coronavirus pandemic began. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Alibaba's Ant Group files for IPO in Hong Kong, Shanghai

By Zen Soo Aug. 25, 2020 05:59 AM EDT

The app for Alipay, the mobile payments service operated by Ant Group, is seen on a smartphone in Beijing on Monday, July 20, 2020. Ant Group, the online payments arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, announced plans Monday for an initial public stock offering that could become the world's biggest since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Alibaba-backed Ant Group to go public in Shanghai, Hong Kong

By Zen Soo Jul. 20, 2020 07:04 AM EDT

FILE - In this Friday, March 20, 2020 file photo, customers wearing protective face masks to protect against the coronavirus, wait in line outside a Whole Foods supermarket on 6th Avenue, in New York. A pandemic forcing everyone to stay home could be the perfect moment for online grocery services. In practice, they've been struggling to keep up with a surge in orders, highlighting their limited ability to respond to an unprecedented onslaught of demand. After panic buying left store shelves stripped of staples like pasta, canned goods and toilet paper, many shoppers quickly found online grocery delivery slots almost impossible to come by, too. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Online grocery services struggle to meet spike in demand

By Kelvin Chan Apr. 07, 2020 08:51 AM EDT