Kohl’s and Amazon Merge

Kohl’s announced that they are now officially in business with Amazon Inc.

10 Kohls’ stores located in Los Angeles and Chicago markets will begin selling Amazon’s smart home products as well as accept online retailer’s returns this Wednesday. The arrangement will be beneficial to both companies as it will draw more shoppers to Kohl’s stores while also making it easier for Amazon’s customers to return their unwanted products.

Kohl’s Chief Merchandising and Customer Officer Michelle Gass disclosed that their company has been quietly working on building an alliance with the e-commerce giant since spring.

"I really do think it's an example of two companies that can leverage each other's strengths," Gass said. "We're leaning into our store base, which is a competitive advantage for us."

She will be taking over the retailer’s chief executive position after Kevin Mancell steps down in May of next year. Gass is also responsible for spearheading the partnership between Kohl’s and Amazon.

An analyst said that the partnership between the two companies “just makes sense.” She pointed out, "[Kohl's] is one of the few department chains not closing stores, they're operationally focused, and they have a broad swath of stores with potentially a little extra space now."

When asked about the future of Kohl’s with Amazon, Gass said that she wanted to take things slow, “For now, let's walk before we run.”

Kohl’s shares have sunk almost 12 percent since the start of 2017, but are still in a better ground when compared to the declines that happened to some of its peers, namely Macy’s, which has seen its stock fall more than 44 percent over the same amount of time.

"Kohl's struggles like all department stores, but I would certainly say they've moved forward from where they were a year ago," an analyst argued. "They're trying to drive customer traffic to stores, and the Amazon deal is the latest example of that."

Amazon and eBay Profits from Online VAT Fraud

A UK parliamentary report stated that Amazon and eBay should be held responsible for not doing enough to prevent tax fraud which therefore resulted to the perpetrators successfully evading tax payment.

The National Audit Office said in April that Britain was losing up to 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) annually in value-added-tax (VAT) due to fraud or error by mostly China-based sellers on the two online market places.

An investigation was conducted by the Public Accounts Committee regarding the problem. The results of the said investigation were published on Wednesday which indicated that the companies were slow in making any step to prevent fraud. The investigation also showed that the companies had resisted sharing data with the UK tax authority, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

Meg Hillier, a member of the parliament and the chairwoman of the committee said, “These people are profiting from VAT fraud, because they still take their commission.”

The companies both said that they are taking the matters seriously. An Amazon spokesperson said that they were reviewing the committee’s recommendations while the eBay spokesperson said that the company wants a fair marketplace for both its buyers and sellers.

HQBroker is here to give you a daily news roundup about the forex, commodities, technologies, automobiles, and economies. You can open an account now and make yourself updated with essential news in the market.