Raphael Stevens

Walmart’s former e-commerce chief Marc Lore said he’s ready to make big bets on digital retail as he teams up with baseball star Alex Rodriguez on a new venture capital firm.In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the serial entrepreneur said they will write bigger checks and take bigger stakes in early-stage companies. For instance, he said, they invested $10 million for a 40% ownership stake in NOW//with, a start-up that connects Instagram followers to brands.The new company, called Vision Capital People or VCP, will start with $50 million of Lore and Rodriguez’s own money. The pair are also in discussions to buy professional basketball team, the Minnesota Timberwolves.He said giving promising start-ups a larger sum of money earlier to hire talent and invest in the business “gives the company a much better chance of success, so it’s sort of self-fulfilling.””Owning 40 to 80% of a company means that you don’t really need as many hits,” he said. “One big hit at a 40% stake pays for everything else. And so I do like the idea of these concentrated bets rather than just sprinkling dollars around. We have the ability to actually influence and be a leader in the space that the company is in given the capital and the types of people we’re able to bring in.”He said they will pay attention to “mega trends in retail,” such as social commerce and conversational commerce as they pick companies.Lore is a serial entrepreneur. He joined Walmart when the big-box retailer acquired his online delivery start-up Jet.com in 2016 for $3.3 billion. The acquisition was largely seen as a way to poach the digitally savvy entrepreneur and his team as Walmart tried to turbocharge its online business to catch up to rival Amazon. He had previously sold another start-up that he founded, Quidsi, the parent of Diapers.com, to Amazon for about $550 million.Walmart officially wound down Jet.com a year ago. Lore left his Walmart role in January and will serve as a strategic advisor through September. At the time, he told CNBC in an interview that he planned to return to his start-up roots, investing in new companies and starting others.CNBC recently reported one of those ventures: an investment in Wonder, a business that’s part food truck and part ghost kitchen. The business is in stealth mode in an affluent New Jersey suburb, with a fleet of purple trucks that cook gourmet meals outside of customers’ homes and serve them on a table at the door.He and Rodriguez agreed to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves for a reported $1.5 billion in April, but the deal is not yet final. More

The Nissan Versa Note is introduced at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.Stan Honda | AFP | Getty ImagesJapanese car maker Nissan is planning to make half a million fewer vehicles in 2021 as the global chip shortage continues to wreak havoc on the automotive industry.Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday that the company is also grappling with a surge in raw material prices.”The impact we foresee as of speaking is about 500,000 units in terms of the production this year,” said Uchida, adding that the company will take steps to try to get production back on track.Today’s cars rely on computer chips for everything from the management of engines to driver assistance systems.Rivals including Ford, Volkswagen and Stellantis have also warned that their production lines could see further hits as a result of the semiconductor crisis.Britain’s Jaguar Land Rover said last month that it was stopping car production for a “limited period” at its Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants in England as a result of the chip shortage.It came just two months after the company announced it was going to cut 2,000 non-factory jobs.Elsewhere, Mercedes-maker Daimler said last month that it was cutting the hours of up to 18,500 workers and pausing production at two plants in Germany for at least a week.Analysts predict that the global chip shortage will last well into 2022, and possibly even into 2023. More

In this articleWMTAMZNTGTWalmart is acquiring Zeekit, a virtual fitting room start-up, which has technology that allows shoppers to upload a photo, digitally try on a clothing item and get a friend’s opinion.Source: WalmartWalmart said Thursday that it will acquire virtual fitting room start-up Zeekit, as it makes a push into fashion and caters to customers shopping for clothes online.Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The retailer declined an interview, citing the quiet period ahead of reporting its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.In a post on the company’s website, Walmart U.S.’s executive vice president of apparel and private brands Denise Incandela said customers will be able to use the feature to try on items from both Walmart’s private labels and the national brands it carries, such as Free People, Champion and Levi Strauss & Co.When the technology launches on Walmart’s website, customers will be able to upload photos of themselves or choose from different models that represent their height, shape and skin tone. The technology will show how the clothing would fit and resemble the experience they have at a store. They can also enlist a friend’s help in deciding on a purchase by sharing the virtual outfit and getting an opinion.By acquiring the start-up, Walmart is hoping to improve the customer experience and make online shopping more social, Incandela said.”Virtual try-on is a game-changer and solves what has historically been one of the most difficult things to replicate online — understanding fit and how an item will actually look on you,” she said in the website post. “Zeekit will help us deliver an inclusive, immersive and personalized experience for our diverse customer base.”Walmart is the world’s largest retailer, but it is better known for selling groceries, basic tees and household items rather than fashion-forward apparel. Over the years, however, it has sought to raise its profile by buying clothing companies with a following, including menswear retailer Bonobos, women’s brand ModCloth and plus-sized brand Eloquii. It has launched its own private labels, including Sofia Jeans, developed with actress Sofia Vergara, and Free Assembly, a men’s and women’s clothing brand designed by the former chief creative officer at Bonobos. And it struck a deal with fashion resale site, ThredUp, to sell gently used fashion apparel and accessories — a way to carry more higher-end brands on Walmart’s website, but at a wallet-friendly price.With the expansion, it has taken aim at competitors like Amazon, the top seller of apparel in the U.S.Amazon surpassed Walmart to take that title, and now accounts for about 11% to 12% of all apparel sold in the U.S. and 34% to 35% of all apparel sold online, according to an estimate by Wells Fargo in mid-March. Walmart is the country’s second largest apparel seller, with an estimated $33.43 billion in total apparel and footwear sales in 2020 compared with Amazon’s $41.15 billion, according to Wells Fargo.It is also taken a page from Target, which has become known for building exclusive brands for fashion and other merchandise. After selling most of its private label clothing online, Walmart is adding more displays to hundreds of stores, including mannequins.Walmart’s apparel lines include a mix of brands — some made up of mostly low-priced basics, such as as Time and Tru and George, and four that it considers more upscale: Sofia Jeans, Scoop, Free Assembly and Eloquii Elements.Walmart tapped fashion designer Brandon Maxwell — who has designed dresses for Michelle Obama and Lady Gaga — to oversee Scoop and Free Assembly.Some of Walmart’s efforts have flopped, however. It sold ModCloth just two years after its acquisition of the company. It launched an online “flagship store” with Lord & Taylor, a department store that has since gone bankrupt.Zeekit is a female-founded start-up that’s based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Its team and three founders CEO Yael Vizel, Chief Technology Officer Alon Kristal and Vice President of Research and Development Nir Appleboim will join Walmart as part of the deal.Incandela said the company will also bring expertise in real-time image technologies, computer vision and artificial intelligence, which it can use for other parts of Walmart’s fashion business. More

In this articleMCDMcDonald’s is raising the hourly wages for its U.S. company-owned restaurants as the fast-food chain looks to hire 10,000 workers for those locations.The broader restaurant industry is facing a labor crunch. Fewer people are returning to the workforce than expected, and eateries are trying to meet consumer demand as it comes roaring back. The hiring announcements that usually arrive in the spring and summer months have been accompanied this year by news of wage hikes, referral and retention bonuses and other enhanced benefits. Chipotle Mexican Grill, for example, said that its average wage per hour would be $15 by the end of June.Workers at McDonald’s company-owned locations will see pay raises of an average of 10% over the next several months. Entry-level employees will be making $11 to $17 per hour, and shift managers will make $15 to $20 an hour based on location.”Together with our franchisees, we face a challenging hiring environment, and staying ahead means we must constantly renew our commitment to offer one of the leading employment packages in the industry,” McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger said in a message to the U.S. system viewed by CNBC.Based on the current labor market, McDonald’s expects that the average wage for employees of its company-owned restaurants will be $15 per hour by 2024.However, these increases will not directly impact workers who are employed by restaurants owned by McDonald’s franchisees. The fast-food giant franchises 95% of its U.S. restaurant footprint. More

In this articleF2021 Ford F-150 Raptor interiorFordDETROIT – Ford Motor said Thursday it has launched the technology to make significant remote upgrades to its cars and trucks, and it plans to roll it out to 33 million vehicles by 2028.The new technology would create a massive global fleet that would collect data on millions of consumers and commercial customers, giving the automaker access to lucrative new markets and potential streams of revenue.”We believe that data is the new oil,” said Alex Purdy, director of business operations, enterprise connectivity for Ford’s enterprise connectivity unit. “It enables us to have an always-on relationship with our customer.”Ford is calling its new over-the-air update capability “Power-Up,” highlighting its ability to enhance and upgrade a vehicle well into its lifecycle.Tesla in 2012 became the first automaker to utilize OTA for significant upgrades such as driving characteristics. Other automakers such as General Motors have used remote updates for navigation or infotainment systems but have only recently started launching vehicles that can receive more significant upgrades.OTA updates could save automakers billions in warranty and recall costs. They also provide a direct connection between the automaker and consumer, increasing potential earnings from data fleet monetization and recurring revenue opportunities for new features or updates.”It’s a total reversal of the ownership model, where vehicles just used to get older,” Purdy said. “Now, Fords will get better over time.”Ford said it has already sent OTA updates to more than 100,000 F-150 pickups and Mustang Mach-E customers since late March. An update to the F-150 for a battery drainage issue saved Ford more than $20 million in warranty costs, according to the company.”This is highly transformative,” said Aziz Makkiya, manager of software updates for Ford’s enterprise connectivity unit. “The sky’s the limit as we have more population of vehicles that are capable of this new technology.”Officials said OTA capabilities will eventually be available across Ford’s vehicle lineup as it releases new cars and trucks with more capable electrical systems and components that can handle the updates. The next vehicle to feature OTA updates is the upcoming Bronco SUV, according to the company.One of the next updates will be a drawing pad and kid-friendly games for the touchscreen of the Mach-E, according to Ford. It expects to send out an update this fall to include Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant for inside their vehicles in the U.S. and Canada.More significantly, Ford plans to update vehicles such as the F-150 and Mach-E remotely later this year to enable a new hands-free driving system for highways.Ford CEO Jim Farley has touted data analytics and vehicle connectivity as important opportunities for the automaker, especially for its profitable commercial business customers and EV buyers.”Those are growth initiatives that I believe are not in the stock price today,” he previously told CNBC. “Not that that’s the only thing that’s important, but they’re growth initiatives that could really add tremendous value.”Since Farley became CEO in October, shares of Ford are up by about 70%. That includes a roughly 30% increase in 2021. The automaker’s market value is $44 billion. More

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesTwo U.S. senators called on the Federal Trade Commission in a letter Thursday to do more to protect American consumers from travel scams.Responding to reports that there has been an increase in travel- and tourism-related fraud — such as scammers posing as travel advisors or creating fake airline websites to sell counterfeit tickets — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., wrote the FTC’s acting chair, Rebecca Slaughter, to ask the agency provide information on any actions it has taken to address the issue and how it plans to prevent such crime going forward.More from Personal Finance:Could a vaccine passport be the ticket to vacation this year?How travelers could benefit from hotel industry strugglesWhat to expect as live music events take to the stage again”While the FTC posts advisories pertaining to travel scams, we believe that more must be done to protect consumers,” the Senators wrote. “Travel reservations made on fraudulent websites can be costly and stressful for travelers, and it is critical to ensure that Americans understand how to recognize travel scams and their recourse options should they fall victim to these scams.” Klobuchar and Daines note in their letter that as vaccination rates pick up and restrictions are lifted nationwide, some 67% of Americans say they’re planning to travel this summer. In addition, they cite a recent FTC report that found consumers overall have lost more than $400 million to fraudsters since the pandemic began more than a year ago. Klobuchar, a co-chair of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus, has been active in advocating for U.S. travelers. In March, she and the other three caucus members wrote Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo asking what steps the department was taking to help the travel and tourism industry recover from the pandemic and to promote the “Brand USA” public-private marketing partnership.In February, Klobuchar and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., introduced the Protecting Tourism in the United States Act “to improve tourism across the country by studying the effects of the pandemic on the travel and tourism industry and identifying key policy recommendations,” according to her office. More

Gas prices surged past $3 a gallon, the highest since late 2014, as the Colonial Pipeline shutdown squeezed supplies.The price rise comes ahead of what is expected to be a busy summer driving season with reopenings and pent-up demand fueling consumer travel.Mark Tepper, president of Strategic Wealth Partners, does not expect that to derail summer road trips, though.”If you think about it, a family of four has received over $10,000 from the government over the course of the last year. Come July 1, they’re going to get $300 per month per kid, so you know an extra 100 bucks a month or so that they’ll pay at the pump is really nothing in the grand scheme of things given what’s going on right now,” Tepper told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday.Tepper added that rising airline prices may also push consumers to take road trips over flying to vacation destinations.”The company I like right here is Six Flags. I like the regional amusement park play over the destination parks like Disney and SeaWorld. I think they’re easier to get to, you can drive there, you can make a day trip out of it, you can go for a weekend,” Tepper said.Shares of Six Flags, a $3.5 billion park operator, are up 21% in 2021, more than double the gains for the broader market. Tepper said the stock has room to grow.”Six Flags trades at a valuation discount and I really think expectations and earnings revisions are going to go up and up and up over the course of the next several quarters for those guys, so I think it’s a buy here,” he said.The company is expected to report a loss of 82 cents a share in fiscal 2021, according to FactSet, narrower than the pandemic-related loss of nearly $5 a share in 2020. It is forecast to return to a profit of $1.92 a share in 2022.Gina Sanchez, CEO of Chantico Global and chief market strategist at Lido Advisors, likes Six Flags in the short term but says another amusement park play is the better bet in the long run.”Disney has a few other legs to stand on besides just the parks play because they also have Disney Plus and a lot of other elements to their business,” Sanchez said during the same interview. “We think that it’s still attractive because the outlook for these destination parks is still quite gloomy. … Disney was the hottest park globally before Covid. I think it will still be the hottest park after Covid.”Disney will report earnings after the bell Thursday. Analysts anticipate earnings of 26 cents a share, down from 60 cents a share a year earlier. Its parks and experiences segment make up 23% of total revenue.Disclosure: Lido holds Disney.Disclaimer More