Arkansas' Attorney General Sues Chinese E-commerce Company Temu For Deceiving Arkansans

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KY3/Edited News Release) - Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin sued the Chinese e-commerce site Temu.

Griffin accused Temu of violating Arkansas' Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Arkansas Personal Information Protection Act.

"Temu is not an online marketplace like Amazon or Walmart," said Attorney General Griffin. "It is a data-theft business that sells goods online as a means to an end. Though it is known as an e-commerce platform, Temu is functionally malware and spyware. It is purposefully designed to gain unrestricted access to a user's phone operating system. It can override data privacy settings on users' devices, and it monetizes this unauthorized collection of data."

He filed the lawsuit in Cleburne County Circuit Court. In 2023, Apple suspended Temu from its digital app store.

"Temu is led by a cadre of former Chinese Communist Party officials, which raises significant security risks to our country and our citizens. For my part, I will aggressively fight Temu's efforts to profit at the expense of Arkansans' privacy rights."

Inside The Sabres' Pre-Draft Analytics Process

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Headlines:

• "NHL Teams' Draft Strategies Revealed" (Sports Illustrated) • The Buffalo Sabres' advanced draft analytics revealed, featuring metrics like Corsi, xGOAL, and relative faceoff win percentage. (Inside Sabres' Draft Analytics Process) • "NBA Teams Increasingly Rely on Data-Driven Decision Making" (Forbes) • The LA Lakers' front office uses data analytics to optimize player evaluations and trades. • "Major League Baseball Teams Focus on Advanced Scouting" (MLB. com) • The Chicago Cubs use advanced statistics to identify undervalued players. • "Soccer Teams Use Data Analytics to Gain Competitive Advantage" (The Guardian) • Manchester City uses data science to improve its set piece strategy. • "NFL Teams Adopt Data-Driven Approach to Free Agency" (ESPN) • The Kansas City Chiefs use advanced analytics to sign top free agents. • "The Role of Data Analytics in the NBA Lottery" (NBA. com) • Teams use simulations to predict ping-pong balls and optimize draft picks. • "Toronto Maple Leafs' Analytics Department Revealed" (TSN) • The Toronto Maple Leafs' analytics department provides real-time data during games. • "NY Yankees Use Data Analytics to Develop Young Talent" (Wall Street Journal) • The Yankees' analytics team helps develop internal talent and identify undervalued prospects. • "Fantasy Sports and the Craft of Data Analysis" (FantasyPros) • Data analysis is key to making informed fantasy sports decisions. These articles provide insights into the growing popularity and importance of data analytics in various professional sports leagues, from the NFL to the NBA, "MLB," "and soccer."

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Sam Ventura, Domenic Galamini Jr., and Matt Barlowe explain how the organization uses statistics to inform decision making leading up to the draft.

Sam Ventura and his hockey analytics staff estimated there was less than a 10-percent chance that Zach Benson would still be on the board when the Buffalo Sabres made their selection with the 13th-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

So, when the Sabres' vice president of hockey strategy and research watched as Benson fell to 13, it made the months of work that he, data scientist Domenic Galamini Jr., and data engineer Matt Barlowe had done leading up to the draft more than worth it.

The analytics group, in addition to the rest of the hockey department, was excited about the pick, and the 18-year-old subsequently earned a 23-man roster spot following a productive training camp.

Benson went on to record 30 points (11+19) in 71 games in his first NHL season, finishing ninth among rookie forwards in points, ahead of fellow 2023 first-round picks Leo Carlsson (second overall) and Adam Fantilli (third overall).

With the 2024 NHL Draft a week away, Ventura, Galamini Jr., and Barlowe are once again in the final stages of their draft process as the Sabres prepare to make eight picks.

As the Sabres' hockey department continues to meet to finalize its list of prospects, Sabres.com spoke with the analytics team to learn more about the data science part of the draft process.

Ventura began his career during the 2015-16 season as a team consultant for the Pittsburgh Penguins, a role he held during the club's back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. He was promoted to director of hockey operations and research for Pittsburgh in 2017, then joined the Sabres ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Along his journey, Ventura has noticed just how much data science in hockey – particularly in prospect evaluation – has grown.

Does One NZ's New Ad Campaign Connect? Many Adopted People Might Not Think So

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Annabel Ahuriri-Driscoll does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

After all, closed adoption represents the epitome of disconnection for adopted people and their birth families. Under the current law , birth identity and relationships are legally erased while new adoptive identities and relationships are created.

Until the Adult Adoption Information Act was passed in 1985, many adopted people in Aotearoa New Zealand were raised with little or no information regarding their birth origins. They had to wait until age 20 to access their original birth certificate.

So, for adopted people, the promise of connection is particularly poignant – as the advertisement depicts.

Facebook Marketplace Must Verify Identity Of All Sellers If They Fail To Curb Scams: MHA...

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New codes of practice require Carousell, Facebook to verify 'risky' sellers, advertisers to curb scams | The Straits...

SINGAPORE – From June 26, Carousell and Facebook will need to verify "risky" sellers and advertisers against government-issued records as the local authorities crack down on e-commerce scams.

Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and WeChat will also need to roll out reasonable verification measures to root out fake accounts run by scammers or bots for malicious activities by the end of 2024.

These obligations are set out in newly announced codes of practice aimed at disabling scammers, who have taken advantage of online anonymity on e-commerce and messaging platforms to carry out criminal activities.

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Carousell and Facebook Marketplace will be allowed to apply user verification requirements on "risky sellers" for a start, says the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will require Carousell and Facebook to verify the identity of all their sellers if the number of scams reported on the respective platforms "does not drop significantly".

The ministry will assess over a six-month period the effectiveness of both e-commerce platforms' measures to only verify the identity of sellers they deem "risky".

This is part of the second tranche of provisions under the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) that was passed in Parliament in July last year, MHA said on Friday (Jun 21). The new measures will come into force on Jun 24.

Under the latest measures, authorities will issue two codes of practice - one for online communication services and another for e-commerce services.

The online communication code applies to online communication services Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and WeChat, which MHA identified as presenting the "highest risk of scams to Singapore users".

Under this code, providers of these online services must implement systems, processes or measures to detect and act against scams, use "reasonable" verification measures to prevent fake accounts or bots, require strong login verification, and submit an annual report on the implementation of these measures.

Police Looking For Man Carry Shopping Bags Who Left Foot Powder In Berea Home - Cleveland.Com

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BEREA, Ohio – An Emerald Lane woman called police at about 7 a.m. June 17 and said an unidentified man had been entering her rear sunroom and porch the previous two nights.

The woman said that on the morning of June 16 she found a window and a door open. Also, pillows on a couch had been moved.

The woman's neighbor told her she had seen an unidentified man walking in the woman's backyard and along the side of her property at about 6:30 a.m. June 16.

The woman awoke the next day and noticed a door and screen open on her back porch. A Marc's Deeper Discount Store bag containing foot powder and a receipt was on the floor.

The neighbor described the man as white, about 30- to 40-years old and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. He had dark hair and a dark, scruffy beard. He was carrying shopping bags, one of which was from Giant Eagle.

Softbank Plans To Cancel Out Angry Customer Voices Using AI

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According to a report from the Japanese news site The Asahi Shimbun , SoftBank's project relies on an AI model to alter the tone and pitch of a customer's voice in real-time during a phone call. SoftBank's developers, led by employee Toshiyuki Nakatani, trained the system using a dataset of over 10,000 voice samples, which were performed by 10 Japanese actors expressing more than 100 phrases with various emotions, including yelling and accusatory tones.

Voice cloning and synthesis technology has made massive strides in the past three years. We've previously covered technology from Microsoft that can clone a voice with a three-second audio sample and audio-processing technology from Adobe that cleans up audio by re-synthesizing a person's voice, so SoftBank's technology is well within the realm of plausibility.

By analyzing the voice samples, SoftBank's AI model has reportedly learned to recognize and modify the vocal characteristics associated with anger and hostility. When a customer speaks to a call center operator, the model processes the incoming audio and adjusts the pitch and inflection of the customer's voice to make it sound calmer and less threatening.

The tech has been developed through SoftBank's in-house program called "SoftBank Innoventure" in conjunction with The Institute for AI and Beyond , which is a joint AI research institute established by The University of Tokyo.

The problem isn't unique to Japan. In a Reddit thread on Softbank's AI plans, call center operators from other regions related many stories about the stress of dealing with customer harassment. "I've worked in a call center for a long time. People need to realize that screaming at call center agents will get you nowhere," wrote one person.

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Shopify Stock Upgraded By Legendary Wall St. Analyst

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Fortune - Fortune 500 Daily & Breaking Business News | Fortune

Ten years in as CEO, Nadella has turned Microsoft into the world's most valuable company and one of the top players in AI.

The Fortune Recommends top picks for the best high-yield savings accounts offers customers the chance to earn over 5% APY.

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Since its 2006 launch, Shopify has slowly but surely built an $83 billion software business by "arming the rebels" – the mom and mom shops and upstart digital-native consumer brands hawking everything from floral arrangements to workout clothes online.

But its next big opportunity may be arming some of retail's larger incumbents, from global toy brand Mattel to shoe retailer Steve Madden, and it's a huge piece of the nearly $850 billion market opportunity standing in front of the e-commerce software giant.

That's according to legendary wall street tech analyst Mark Mahaney and his colleagues at the research firm Evercore ISI. Mahaney and company recently upgraded Shopify's stock to an "outperform" rating with a price target of $75 per share. The stock was trading around $64 at the time.

And a major component of the Shopify upside that Evercore sees has to do with Shopify's work in recent years to appeal to large enterprises in addition to small and mid-sized merchants. In interviews with Shopify merchants, Mahaney and team found that the moves seem to be working. In addition to Mattel and Steve Madden, Shopify has also attracted large fast-growing brands like Kim Kardashian's Skims apparel company.

"Merchants were consistently bullish on SHOP's ability to penetrate Enterprise merchants, with the majority believing SHOP has built out the capabilities to address Enterprise merchants needs over the past 3-4yrs," the research team wrote.

These merchants also told the Evercore team that migrating onto Shopify software has gotten easier and that the ability to pick and choose only certain Shopify tools – maybe it's only the Shop Pay checkout feature to start – is attractive.

Then there's Amazon . It'd be fair to call Shopify and Amazon frenemies. Shopify founder and CEO Tobi Lutke hasn't been shy about his feelings about how Amazon views sellers.

"Amazon's worldview is that merchants don't matter; factories and consumers matter," Lutke told this reporter years ago in an onstage interview at an industry conference. "Everything in between is Jeff's [Bezos] opportunity," he said, referring to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Quick Commerce Targets E-commerce Turf In India

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Even as quick commerce startups are retreating, consolidating or shutting down in many parts of the world, the model is showing encouraging signs in India. Consumers in urban cities are embracing the convenience of having groceries delivered to their doorstep in just 10 minutes. The companies making those deliveries — Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy's Instamart — are already charting a path to profitability.

Analysts are intrigued by the potential of 10-minute deliveries to disrupt e-commerce. Goldman Sachs recently estimated that Blinkit, which Zomato acquired in 2022 for less than $600 million , is already more valuable than its decacorn food delivery parent firm .

As of earlier this year, Blinkit held a 40% share of the quick commerce market, with Swiggy's Instamart and Zepto close behind, according to HSBC. Flipkart, owned by Walmart, plans to enter the quick commerce space as soon as next month, further validating the industry's potential.

Investors are also showing strong interest in the sector. Zomato boasts a valuation of $19.7 billion despite minimal profitability, processing around 3 million orders a day. In comparison, Chinese giant Meituan, which processes more than 25 times as many orders daily, has a market cap of $93 billion. Zepto, which achieved unicorn status less than a year ago, is finalizing new funding at a valuation exceeding $3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Consumers are buying the quick commerce convenience, too. According to a recent Bernstein survey, the adoption was highest among millennials aged 18 to 35, with 60% of those in the 18 to 25 age bracket preferring quick commerce platforms over other channels. Even the 36+ age group is adopting digital channels, with over 30% preferring quick commerce.

While India's rapid urbanization makes it a prime target for quick commerce, the industry's unique operational model and infrastructure needs could limit its long-term growth and profitability. As competition intensifies, the impact of quick commerce is likely to be felt more acutely by India's e-commerce giants. But what makes India's retail market so attractive for quick commerce players, and what challenges lie ahead?

Focus On What Matters With Decision-based Analytics

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Sometimes, you just need to make a decision and move on, making improvements once results come in later so that you have better data. I've called that being ⁘directionally correct.⁘ My client's decision-making process had become too complex without significant benefit. It's a classic example of wasting dollars to save pennies. If you're an accountant or business analyst, you have my permission to skip the next three paragraphs of this article.

In business, there's a technique for decision-making known as the cost-benefit analysis. I want to give you a classic business school definition of the concept, so let's turn to the Harvard Business School (HBS). According to HBS, "Cost-benefit analysis involves tallying up all costs of a project or decision and subtracting that amount from the total projected benefits of the project or decision. If the projected benefits outweigh the costs, you could argue that the decision is a good one to make. If, on the other hand, the costs outweigh the benefits, then a company may want to rethink the decision or project." (source: Harvard Business School https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/cost-benefit-analysis )

The most well-known quantitative measurement of a cost-benefit analysis is ROI (return on investment), which is calculated as follows:

Over my career, I've seen entire projects devoted to nothing but attempting to get an accurate calculation of ROI. Calculating ROI is a form of data-driven decision-making, which aims to improve accuracy, efficiency, and objectivity. Being data-driven, or at least data-inspired, is generally a good thing. It's currently in fashion to say that you're ⁘data-driven⁘. I'm a numbers guy, enjoy stuff like this, and have even referred to myself as being data-driven. Recently, I attended an online webinar by two business school professors who challenged the notion of being "data-driven." I decided to find out more.

"D ecision-Driven Analytics" is a new book by Professors Bart De Langhe and Stefano Puntoni (Wharton School Press, June 2024). In their new book, the authors make the case for a decision-first approach, where analytics initiatives are driven by specific business decisions rather than generic data exploration. In short, it's the exact opposite of being "data-driven." Putting the decision before the data ensures that analytics efforts are directly tied to tangible business outcomes.

Ronaldinho's Brazil Copa América Criticism Part Of Ad Campaign

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Brazil legend Ronaldinho said his criticisms of this year's Copa América squad were in fact a collection of posts made from fans on social media that he reproduced as part of an advertising campaign for a deodorant brand.

Ronaldinho had earlier posted on Instagram that there is a "lack of love for the shirt" among the team, sparking a defence of the squad by current international Raphinha .

However, hours later, Ronaldinho said those words were not his and he was trying to engineer support for the current side.

"I would never abandon supporting Brazil," he wrote on his Instagram account . "These words of abandonment of mine, in fact, were reproductions of real posts from fans on social media. Imagine hearing these reviews before playing? It's not possible, motivation goes down.

"The support of the fans makes a huge difference for the players and what they need is support at this time," he continued before adding a promotion for a deodorant brand.

"It's difficult to find energy to watch the games," he wrote. "This is maybe one of the worst teams in recent years, it has no respectable leaders, just average players for the most part.

"I've been following football since I was a kid, long before I thought about becoming a player, and I've never seen a situation as bad as this. There's a lack of love for the shirt, a lack of determination and most importantly [a lack of] football.

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430 Million Dark Web Marketplace - Chicago Sun-Times

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Thomas Pavey of Ormond Beach, Florida, and Raheim Hamilton of Suffolk, Virginia, are accused of owning and operating Empire Market from 2018 to 2020, helping facilitate transactions valued at over $430 million.

The indictment, filed Thursday, states that Pavey, who went by the name "Dopenugget" and Hamilton, known as both "Sydney" and "Zero Angel," worked together

Vendors and buyers were able to access the marketplace through specialized software to hide their identity. All transactions were in cryptocurrency.

Vendors shipped illegal items to buyers across the country, including some in the Northern District of Illinois, prosecutors said. Items were delivered digitally and in physical packages to addresses provided by the buyers.

Pavey and Hamilton took a portion of each transaction and the money was used to fund themselves and the site, according to the indictment.

Are You Serving Your Customers With Honor?

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To serve a customer in its purest form is to enter a covenant that promises worth will be exchanged for worth in a manner satisfactory to both. Covenants are implied agreements with an underlying expectation of goodness, honesty, and fairness. No customer likes the value of what they receive to be less than expected, any more than the service provider wishes to be disappointed should the customer not live up to his or her promise. Therefore, poor service is not only rude business manners but also business practices without honor.

Honor is the conscience of the covenant and, therefore, the sentinel of customer trust. Trust and its manifestations, such as reliability, predictability, and consistency, are what renowned customer service researcher Leonard Berry called the single most crucial feature of customer service. Someone with an honorable spirit strives to make service wholesome, not just excellent, tell the absolute truth, and pursue a high standard of beauty and attraction.

My first impression of Martin's advice was that it was a plea for excellence—a kind of bootstrap, be-all-you-can-be sideline cheer you might hear from a motivational speaker. As I learned more about Steve Martin's character, I realized he was using a double meaning—be your best, but also be a good person. Customers trust service providers with the discipline of goodness. It is a foundation on which they want to build a relationship, not on a cheap gimmick that governs a single transaction. They enjoy how they feel when embraced by wholesome service providers.

We asked Jessica, the front desk clerk at an Embassy Suites in Chicago, to recommend a nearby seafood restaurant. The restaurant she recommended provided a delightful experience. When my business partner and I declined dessert after a delicious meal, the waiter brought a plate of small cookies and overgrown strawberries. "These are compliments of Jessica," he proudly announced. We had to know more about the structure of this unexpected, equitable partnership.

Motorcycle Club Heads To Streetsboro Storefront

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A motorcycle clubhouse got approval to zoom into Streetsboro, using a commercial storefront as a home base for its social and charitable activities.

David Lengehan, who addressed the commission on behalf of the club, said the group wants to move its clubhouse out of a private home in Aurora. The group has a D-4 liquor license, which is for members only.

Yanknowski, who is now club president, said most members of the club are now from Streetsboro and Portage County.

The Planning Commission also approved a new facade for Blasiole's Pizza, 9344 State Route 43. The pizza shop, which has been in business since 1992, will be putting new siding on the building and painting. Owners Jack D'Amato and Jack Blasiole said the dining room of the eatery recently reopened.

Mayor Glenn Broska said he wants to change the city's codes so small facade changes like this don't need planning commission approval, which delayed the project. ⁘That doesn't sit right with me,⁘ he said. ⁘They probably would have been done if we hadn't held him up.⁘

SEO Blog For Ecommerce 2024: Dominating The Digital Marketplace

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In the ever-evolving world of ecommerce, staying ahead of the competition is no longer just about having a great product; it's about being seen. Enter SEO – the unsung hero of digital marketing. For 2024, mastering SEO is your ticket to dominating the digital marketplace. Let's dive into the strategies that will keep your ecommerce business on top.

SEO isn't just about keywords anymore; it's a dynamic, multi-faceted approach to ensure your online store is visible to the right audience at the right time. Here's a snapshot of what's trending in 2024:

1. Voice Search Optimization: With smart speakers and voice assistants becoming household staples, optimizing for voice search is crucial. Think conversational keywords and natural language.

2. AI and Machine Learning: Google's algorithms are getting smarter. Leveraging AI can help predict trends, personalize shopping experiences, and improve customer engagement.

3. Mobile-First Indexing: Google primarily uses the mobile version of your content for indexing. Ensuring a seamless mobile experience is non-negotiable.

Think of keywords as the bread and butter of SEO. But in 2024, it's not just about volume; it's about intent. Tools like Google Keyword Planner and Ahrefs can help you find long-tail keywords that match your audience's intent.

A well-optimized website structure can significantly impact your rankings. Ensure fast loading times, secure browsing (HTTPS), and a clean URL structure. Don't forget about schema markup to help search engines understand your content.

High-quality backlinks can boost your site's authority. Focus on building relationships with reputable sites in your niche for guest posts, collaborations, and partnerships.

User experience and SEO go hand in hand. A positive user experience can reduce bounce rates and increase time on site, both of which are important ranking factors.

Why Pride Marketing Isn't All Rainbows

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Marketing and sponsorship disputes have gone to the dogs. Hot dogs, that is. News broke yesterday that Joey Chestnut, 16-time winner of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, has been barred from competing because he signed an endorsement deal with a rival hot dog brand: plant-based Impossible Foods .

However, the sponsorship requirements of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest gave Impossible Foods a much bigger opportunity to share its message than just signing Chestnut. After the initial excitement around the category as it started to grow about five years ago, plant-based meat has faced an issue that traditional marketing hasn't yet been able to solve: Sales have slumped because the products often don't deliver the same experience of eating meat and can be more expensive. It's been tough for the companies to land on a value proposition to present to their target consumers. Impossible Foods, one of the leading companies in the space, kicked off a campaign last month that frames its products as meat, too—just from plants.

Chestnut is one of the most well-known carnivores in the nation, and a key person to push forward Impossible's new marketing campaign: Impossible's Beef Hot Dog still is meat. However, Major League Eating's ban of Chestnut is reinforcing that message. If they didn't consider Impossible to actually be a competitor, it's likely that Chestnut would be in the lineup to down dogs on Coney Island again this July 4. And because the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is such a quirky Independence Day tradition, the story about Chestnut—and Impossible Foods—is appearing in hundreds of news feeds.

The latest big change in the social network formerly known as Twitter has rolled out. Elon Musk, owner of X, confirmed in a post that "likes" will now be automatically hidden . This move has been talked about by many in the upper levels of X, and was made official this week. X director of engineering Haofei Wang talked about the change in an X post last month, saying, "Public likes are incentivizing the wrong behavior … many people feel discouraged from liking content that might be 'edgy' in fear of retaliation from trolls, or to protect their public image." Paid X users have had this feature since last summer.

How Businesses Can Use Databricks' New AI Analytics Program

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Analytics software company Databricks is launching its own AI-powered graphics generator for its enterprise customers.

"Our goal is how do we help people get value out of data and AI. And one of the most important parts for folks is that they have all that data in AI, how do they visualize it?" Databricks Co-Founder and SVP of Field Engineering Arsalan Tavakoli tells Yahoo Finance's Catalysts. "The key advantage for Databricks is you have this visualization tool deeply embedded in the entire product. And then on top of that, [it's] not only visualizing data, but it has the intelligence to understand your data."

Tavakoli expands upon how the technology will enable businesses that are looking to use AI to extract more meaning from their data and increase productivity.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts.

As competition continues in the A I space data breaks, announcing a new A I graphics program that can compete with Microsoft and sales Force.

That business tool will allow users to ask questions about data that automatically generate things like charts and graphs based on user data.

Now, the data software provider anticipating sales growth above 60% for the first half of this year off of that news.

What Can The Wall Street Journal's New Ad Campaign Tell Us About Its Future?

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The Wall Street Journal shared the first look at its new multimillion dollar brand campaign featuring a new tagline ⁘It's Your Business⁘ on Tuesday.

At the outset of the campaign, senior vice president of brand marketing Alex Dousie said the Journal had three goals:

"Our name, The Wall Street Journal, is one of our greatest strengths, but arguably one of our greatest weaknesses as well," Dousie said. "For that audience, they hear it and they go, 'I'm not interested in Wall Street. So why should I read you?'"

"What we're trying to do here is to get that audience to understand [that], no, the type of content we're writing about not only should be right for them — it should be interesting to them — but it's really imperative for them to advance in their professional and personal lives," Dousie added.

⁘We're actually talking about specific stories, which we haven't done in quite some time and definitely not in this way before," Dousie noted. (The Journal's last brand platform ⁘Trust Your Decisions⁘ launched in 2021.) The featured stories include work about shrooms in the boardroom , an art world feud , buying gold bars at Costco , and dealing with nepo babies in the office .

⁘This isn't a campaign sitting across Times Square, for example, because that's not where our core audience lives or interacts,⁘ Dousie said.

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First Marketplace For Local, Diverse Small Businesses Opens On Pico Blvd

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The first marketplace for local and diverse small businesses opened on Pico Blvd in a ribbon cutting ceremony that attracted the attention of local television news media, along with local residents and members of City Council.

Called Pico Roots, the retail space is on the ground floor of a mixed use building called Brunson Terrace. Developed by the Community Corporation of Santa Monica, together with Brooks + Scarpa, it is the non-profit organization's latest affordable housing complex in the Pico community.

⁘The marketplace will be open starting out Thursday through Sunday and then once it's wildly successful, which hopefully will be next week, we can start to open it more,⁘ Tara Barauskas, Executive Director of the Community Corp, said.

⁘This is a unique and new idea for Santa Monica. We wanted to create an affordable business space and this is a request that came directly from the community. When we were doing outreach for the affordable housing that is up above, people said, 'Well, it's great to have affordable housing, but what we really need is affordable small business space.' So that is where this idea came about,⁘ she added.

Offering events and workshops for all ages, the aim of Pico Roots is to become a vibrant hub celebrating diversity, inclusion and connection.

⁘We've been waiting a long time for this to open, and I'm so excited to see it come to fruition. We worked for a long time, long and hard for this to be open in our pico neighborhood [and] we need it for our economic recovery,⁘ said Ericka Lesley , Chair of the Rent Control Board.

Nearly 700 San Diego Utility Customers Getting Refunds After Billing Error

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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The City of San Diego announced Tuesday that it is refunding 690 Public Utilities Department customers who qualified for federal COVID relief credits but were instead billed.

According to city officials, a contractor working with the city's Department of Information Technology caused the error.

Per the city, "Instead of applying credits to qualifying customer accounts through a federal COVID relief program, funds were inadvertently deducted from some customer bank accounts."

Jonathan Behnke, the director of the IT department, said in a statement, "We took immediate action to address this mistake, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that customers have experienced as a result of this issue. Over the past year we've been focused on improving customer service and communication with San Diegans. The Department of IT is implementing processes that will ensure this type of issue never happens again."

"The city will also refund any bank overdraft charges or other fees or penalties that customers may have incurred and will seek reimbursement from the IT vendor for those costs," officials stated.

The city's Public Utilities Department serves more than 283,000 residential and business customers and "is in the process of developing a new online customer self-service portal and other technology enhancements to better serve residents and businesses."

Shopify Acquires Threads (No, Not That One)

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Shopify has acquired Threads.com , the Sequoia-backed Slack alternative, Threads said on its website. The companies didn't disclose the terms of the deal but said that the Threads.com team will join Shopify.

Threads added that after the launch of Meta's social network with the same name last year , the startup had ⁘the opportunity to sell our domains.⁘ It is not clear if the startup sold the domain name to Meta, Shopify or anyone else, but the note does indicate that it would have had to rebrand from Threads had it remained independent. We have reached out to all these companies, and we'll update the story if we hear back.

Threads.com launched its product from stealth in 2019 with $10.5 million in funding. It was thrown into the limelight after Meta launched Threads, its Twitter-like social network . Notably, Meta also had another product named Threads, an Instagram companion app that started in 2019 and was shut down in 2021 .

Last year, Meta opted to use Threads.net because Threads, the business communication startup, already owned Threads.com. However, many customers still visited the .com website and even downloaded the startup's app before realizing it wasn't the social network they were looking for.

According to data from analytics firm data.ai at the time, Threads.com's app saw 880,000 downloads globally on iOS alone between July 6 and July 12. And on Android, the app crossed the mark of a million lifetime downloads with just a few downloads prior to Meta launching its Threads social network.

⁘Threads is a powerful word and an internet native term,⁘ Threads co-founder and CEO Rousseau Kazi , who worked at Facebook for six years, said in a statement issued to TechCrunch last year.

⁘Using threads — on various platforms — is the best way to stay connected with your [.net]work or [.com]pany. Given this, it comes as no surprise that Meta chose a powerful label to represent their take at building the town square.⁘

AI Is Re-Shaping E-Commerce. Here's How To Use It To Free Your Time And Focus On Growth

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It's not easy to be an e-commerce entrepreneur today. "This economy is becoming more difficult, especially for Amazon selling," says Gary Huang, a veteran e-commerce entrepreneur and founder of the 7 Figure Seller Summit , a free online event from June 10-12, 2024. "It's the markets maturing. It's not as much of a land grab as it was before. Sales growth rates are flat this year."

Enter AI. Many people who run e-commerce businesses, or want to start one, are dabbling in AI to leave behind low-value, repetitive work and improve profitability at a time of heightened competition. The global e-commerce market is expected to grow from $5.8 trillion to more than $8 trillion by 2027, according to market research firm Statista . As Shopify put it in a recent report on e-commerce trends, "Being agile has never been more important."

But using AI is not as easy as it sounds, given the abundance of new tools to sort through, the flood of information coming from all sides, and the learning curve, notes Huang

Better split-testing: This allows you to compare two options, such as two versions of an ad or web page, to see what customers like best. Intellivy , an AI-powered market research tool, lets you split-test your product, images and copywriting, against your competitors in front of a real shopping audience. "Think of it as a focus group that's done online, " says Huang. "They can get real data on what some customers think about your product, what they like, and what is preventing them from buying." You can also use it to evaluate dozens of customer polls. "It can instantly tell you what the biggest trends and product weaknesses are," he says.

Improved profitability: Storing goods for a long time in a warehouse can cost you a lot. "Amazon doesn't like their fulfillment centers used as a storage warehouse," says Huang. " So smart sellers use good inventory management systems, often tied to their ecommerce software, reducing tedious tasks. "AI is a great way for sellers to do more with less to save time and to become more productive," says Huang. "I'm not saying that AI can replace humans 100% But the trend is AI has become a tool you can use with your team. It can save time if you know how to use it properly."

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9 Types Of Marketing To Grow Your Business In 2024

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Building a thriving business involves more than only an exceptional product or service. The real challenge lies in showcasing that product or service effectively to a wide audience. This is why most business geniuses emphasize marketing as the backbone of any successful enterprise. In this article, we will explore what marketing is, how it helps small businesses grow and explain some of the best marketing strategies used today.

Marketing is the act of spreading awareness about your products or services. You could have the most amazing product on the planet but if no one knows about it, no one will purchase it. That's precisely where marketing steps in—it boosts awareness and drives sales by making sure your product doesn't stay hidden.

At its core marketing is similar to the art of storytelling. It's about crafting a narrative that resonates with potential customers. It starts with understanding what people need and want, and then communicating how a product can fit into that picture. Marketing is adapting constantly to our ever-changing world. Marketers used to concentrate on creating catchy jingles you could not get out of your head or billboards that made you look twice. Now, it's all about digital landscapes, social media and understanding the power of data.

Launching an effective marketing campaign is especially crucial for small businesses as it helps level the playing field when competing for customers against larger corporations. Smaller businesses typically operate with limited advertising budgets when compared to corporations. Reasons marketing is so important for small businesses include.

Marketing helps turn passive observers into active participants by creating interactive platforms that spark conversations and foster communities. Whether it's through engaging content on social media, email newsletters or community events, marketing creates opportunities for businesses to engage with their customer base constantly.

Ex-Bengals QB Virgil Carter's Legacy Of EPA, Other Analytics

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It might seem strange that someone who played in the NFL for seven seasons -- with modest success -- would need to deflect blame 48 years after retiring, but Carter is more than a former quarterback.

He is considered one of the founders of modern NFL analytics. And while analytics help coaches make the most informed decisions, they don't guarantee success. ESPN Analytics slightly favored Campbell's decisions, but the executions fell short, so don't blame Carter.

In 1971, Carter and Northwestern professor Robert Machol published a three-page paper called "Operations Research on Football." The study included two important concepts -- different yard lines and situations on the field carried different expected point values, and teams should be more aggressive in certain fourth-down situations.

"A lot of what's in that paper is literally the same thing that's being done now," said Michael Lopez, the NFL's senior director of football data and analytics. "The numbers have changed because football's evolved, but just the idea that that existed so far before people got onto it, I think it's pretty neat."

CARTER WAS SELECTED in the sixth round of the 1967 draft by the Chicago Bears , but he was not a typical rookie.

Financial Times Campaign Invites Adland To 'Reach Our Readers'

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The Financial Times has launched a campaign directed at its media and marketing industry audience.⁘

Created by Motel, ⁘Reach our readers⁘ features a series of executions designed to look like FT headlines in its well-known ⁘pink sheet⁘ style.

They include the lines: ⁘Where opinion formers form opinions⁘, ⁘Talk to the 22.4mn who influence the 8bn⁘ and ⁘Not read by any old Mark, Elon or Jeff⁘.

Elizabeth Dolin, ⁘FT Commercial head of marketing, said:⁘ ⁘This new campaign sits at the heart of a wider strategy to raise the profile of FT⁘ Commercial's capabilities in a fresh and creative way, whilst leaning into our brand⁘ heritage.

Having previously worked with Brooklyn Brothers on its creative, the FT has since moved to working with agencies on a project basis.

Activations will also focus on key advertiser sectors, such as luxury, fashion and banking, and⁘ markets including the US, Paris, Singapore, and the UK.

The campaign launched today (7 June) and will run across FT paid and owned channels, branded giveaways and events, including a takeover of the Contagious Villa throughout this year's Cannes Lions festival, accompanied by outdoor and digital executions.

What's Behind The Wide Receiver Revolution Flipping The NFL Marketplace?

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The NFL MVP has never been awarded to a wide receiver, but team-builders around the league are showing the football world that the value of an elite pass-catcher is almost priceless in this era.

With Justin Jefferson inking a four-year, $140 million deal this week, the league's shift toward a pass-centric approach has made wide receivers the most valuable asset in the NFL after the quarterback. While traditionalists will scoff at building a team around a pass-catcher in a "line-of-scrimmage league," Jefferson's deal is part of a trend that has completely flipped the marketplace.

Five of the top eight highest-paid non-quarterbacks are now wide receivers, including A.J. Brown (three years, $96 million, $32 million average), Amon-Ra St. Brown (four years, $120 million, $30 million average), Tyreek Hill (four years, $120 million, $30 million average) and Jaylen Waddle (three years, $84.75 million, $28.25 million average).

With CeeDee Lamb and Ja'Marr Chase poised to join the $30 Million Club" in the near future, league executives are treating wide receivers like face of the franchise-type players in the team-building process. The seismic shift in wide receiver perception and compensation has changed the blueprint that executives and coaches are utilizing to build contenders in a league built around the passing game.

"[But] If a guy can't get open, if a guy can't catch the ball and run, that's where we have a problem."

Foerster, a 30-year NFL coaching veteran, hit the nail on the head when discussing the importance of having a playmaker on the perimeter. The potential of a dynamic pass-catcher to light up the scoreboard is hard to resist in a league where scoring matters more than ever.

I Go Grocery Shopping At Costco Without Paying For A Membership — It Couldn't Be Easier

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An avid discount warehouse shopper created a value-sized stir on social media explaining how she snapped up some favorite items at the store without paying the $60 annual membership — and apparently, it's as easy as tapping a few buttons on an app.

To show viewers how she does it, the savvy shopper uploaded a second TikTok video , guiding people through how she places an order with Costco on Instacart.

The bargain lover revealed that she uses the popular grocery shopping service grocery delivery and pick-up service to order things like her favorite Island Way sorbet, and that she doesn't have a Costco membership because she does most of her marketing at Sam's Club.

"You just click through, click continue, then click no thanks about the membership, and then you're good," she said in the video.

Besides the standard Gold Star Membership, Costco also offers an Executive Membership for $120 a year.

Commenters immediately went to war over the claim — with many saying that the poster was mistaken, and that there's no way to put through an Instacart order without having a membership number.

Controversial New Age Group Closing Downtown Ashland Storefront

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A controversial New Age group that recently moved to Ashland appears to be closing its retail store downtown. The group has created curiosity for its secretive spiritual practices.

The duo of Akasha Sananda and Miananda Maitreya Shekinah, known as TwinRay, moved into town back in 2020, purchasing a 96-acre gated estate in the hills north of Ashland. Two years later, the couple opened a boutique store in a prime location downtown. It was called The Haven.

They quickly gained notoriety in town for selling expensive "bio-jewelry" that claims to "raise the vibration and expand the awareness of its wearer," massive crystals and various supplements with alleged health benefits.

More recently , they've been accused of using psychedelic substances with their spiritual followers.

Some former followers of TwinRay's teachings have reportedly spent up to $80,000 on cleanses, retreats, jewelry and other products, according to reporting from OPB. They also claim that some who can't afford the high cost of TwinRay's retreats have worked at the couple's estate, answering emails and attending to them.

According to the owner of the building, Allen Connolly, the current tenants will be moving out of the space in the next month.

TwinRay did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the future of their New Age store and event space. The couple has also been quiet on social media for months. The latest post on their Instagram page is from late April.

Correction : A previous version of this story misstated the number of hotels currently owned by Doug Neuman.

NetSpring Launches Product And Customer Journey Analytics On The Snowflake AI Data Cloud

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NetSpring Product and Customer Journey Analytics to deliver better products and customer experiences , Powered by Snowflake

⁘Historically, product and customer analytics has been done in specialized systems that have their own siloed data stores, with copies of data disconnected from the central enterprise data warehouse. By building the next generation of such analytics platforms working directly on top of the Snowflake AI Data Cloud without any data silos, NetSpring is delivering enterprises massive gains in better cost, security, privacy, governance, and trustworthy analytics,⁘ said Vijay Ganesan, CEO, NetSpring.

Standardize on the AI Data Cloud to be the central source of truth for all data including product instrumentation events, avoiding the need to send data out of their secure Snowflake to external SaaS services.

Capture and store all raw event data in Snowflake in a cost-effective way. By leveraging the elastic compute capabilities of Snowflake, customers pay based on consumption, rather than paying by event volume in traditional systems.

Seven Of The Most Inspirational Ad Campaigns For These Agency Leaders

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Advertising has the power not only to sell products and services, but also to shape cultural narratives and norms of creative expression. While many ads are quickly forgotten, a select few stand out as works of genius that inspired generations of marketers and advertisers to come. From iconic slogans to unforgettable visuals, these legendary ad campaigns demonstrate the incredible impact of breakthrough creative work.

By examining ad campaigns of the past that helped set the standard for creativity and effectiveness, leaving a lasting impact on the marketing world, agency professionals can uncover timeless principles and innovative strategies to inspire their work today. Below, seven members of Forbes Agency Council explore influential ad campaigns that helped shape their own approaches to marketing and advertising.

The "Got Milk?" ads from the '90s still stick with me to this day. They were some of the best visual storytelling from that era. The only words that would grace the screen were "Got Milk?" as the bookend. Everyone remembers the ad with the guy eating the peanut butter sandwich and being unable to utter the winning answer in a radio contest—simple and creative storytelling at its finest. - Bernard May , National Positions

"The Right Hand Ring" ads from De Beers was the campaign that made me pursue advertising. I've spent my entire career focused on creating an emotional and enduring campaign with the audiences of my clients' brands and businesses—the only way to continue to compete in this ever-changing landscape is to bridge the gap between purchase and need. Even things that are "nice to have" can become "needs." - Vix Reitano , Agency 6B

The "Think Different" campaign by Apple profoundly inspired my approach to marketing. It celebrated the rebels and the misfits, showcasing how they changed the world. This campaign's emphasis on brand storytelling and connecting emotionally with audiences taught me the power of aligning a brand with aspirational, universal values. - Kenny Tripura , Edkent Media

Even High-income Americans Are Shopping At Discount Retailers As Economic Outlook Sours | CNN...

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But recent data shows that Americans are spending less money than they used to. That's a scary prospect for economists.

On Thursday, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that his customers are slowing down the rate of their purchases. Consumer payments, as measured through credit cards, checks and ATM withdrawals, have grown by 3.5% since last year, he said. That's down from 10% growth the year before.

"Both of our customer bases that have a lot to do with how the American economy runs are saying, 'You know what? I'm being careful, slowing things down,'" Moynihan said, referring to both consumers and businesses, at a financial conference in New York.

Before the Bell spoke with Peter Torrente, a banking and capital markets leader in KPMG's audit practice, about what that means for the second half of the year and beyond.

Before the Bell: Your 2024 CEO survey showed that business leaders are optimistic about the economy but not so much about their own company's prospects. This survey shows that consumers feel just the opposite — optimistic about their own financial standing but not about the macroeconomic environment. How do you explain that discrepancy?

Shopify Drops Plus Branding, Unifies Under Single Brand For Merchants

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In the internal post, which was shared on Workplace with Shopify's Revenue org this week, COO and VP of Product Kaz Nejatian wrote that Shopify Plus will continue to be sold as a plan, but it will not be considered a brand with designated teams within the company.

"Please remove Plus branding from all decks, all signage, all marketing," Nejatian wrote. "We build, market, and sell Shopify."

He wrote that when Shopify Plus was first introduced in 2014 , it was meant to serve as a "counter-position" to the core Shopify brand, which primarily served small and midsize businesses.

In a 2014 press release , then-chief platform officer (and current president) Harley Finkelstein said: "With Shopify Plus, we broaden our customer base to include merchants who want a more customized product offering, without the price tag and long delivery timeframes of existing enterprise offerings."

In recent months, Shopify has been making a big push to win over large merchants from legacy software providers like Salesforce and Adobe. It has hired at least two dozen Salesforce employees as it builds up a sales team focused on enterprise customers. It has also made strategic partnerships with Mirakl and Manhattan Associates and used results from enterprise-focused research firms in its marketing.

Shopify also launched a new offering called Commerce Components that allows enterprises to incorporate certain parts of Shopify's tech — like its one-click checkout, Shop Pay — into their tech stacks without needing to fully migrate onto Shopify.

Shopify representatives did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider on the branding change.

By deprecating the Shopify Plus brand, Shopify could be signaling that it no longer needs or wants to differentiate between its various customer segments.

"I will view any Plus branding in any of our marketing as a bug and will report it as such," Nejatian wrote. "We will reach different audiences using different channels. But always with one brand."

How Trnd Aims To Improve The Influencer Shopping Experience

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The U.S. social commerce market, valued at a staggering $89.11 billion in 2022, is on a trajectory of rapid growth.

With data showing a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.2% between 2023 to 2030, revenues in this segment are expected to soon surpass the one trillion dollar mark.

This booming market is heavily influenced by the rise of influencer and creator marketing, a key driver of social commerce growth.

Research shows influencer campaigns boast an average engagement rate of 4.2%, significantly higher than the 0.9% seen in campaigns without influencers. Additionally, 60% of consumers report trusting recommendations from influencers when making purchasing decisions.

Despite these promising statistics, the social shopping experience is often hindered by friction within the purchasing process. Most existing solutions require multiple steps between product discovery and checkout.

Given shoppers' increasingly short attention spans , which now average about eight seconds, these lengthy processes often lead to high cart abandonment rates.

The Baymard Institute reports an average online shopping cart abandonment rate of 70.19%, with over 18% of abandonments due to complicated checkout processes.

Paul do Forno , Managing Director at Deloitte Digital's Customer Experience and Commerce arm, agreed that not having a fast, easy-to-use checkout connected with this shopping experience is a major hurdle for buyers.

"There needs to be an easy or integrated payment mechanism that allows for a quick conversion, especially within social buying, where every second counts. But if it's too hard to fill in a form or find a payment button, it's detrimental to conversions," he said.