It’s good to be the king. Amazon has decided to charge a 2% fee for members of its Seller Fulfilled Prime program who chose not use Amazon fulfillment services. The fee is on top of the usual Amazon referral fee of 8% to 15%.
The company joins the ranks of companies trying to find ways to enable individuals to monetize their own data. In this case the company is looking to provide people with the ability to fine-tune which data they share with third parties and to opt-in with companies they trust.
You may recall that robo-taxi services Cruise and Waymo received permission to expand their services in San Franciso last week, despite local opposition. It didn’t take long for that particular chicken to come home to roost: on Friday, the state Department of Motor Vehicles told Cruise to cut in half the number of operational vehicles, following a crash between a passenger-occupied, driverless Cruise car and a fire truck. Cruise complied but still argued its cars are better drivers on average than people.
It’s all surveys today, Dear Reader. Marigold reports that consumers are eager for personalized content, with 79% saying they’re likely to engage with a personalized email tailored to their interests. Sadly, 33% feel their needs are unmet by current brand messages. Discounts and coupons (95%) top the list of what they want in exchange for personal data, followed closely by loyalty rewards at 94%. Content is last at 61%.