Do you grocery shop either in-store or online with Walmart? If you do, chances are you probably make use of their mobile grocery app. If you haven’t already heard, there is an important change that will be taking place if you regularly use the iconic Walmart grocery app.

Loyal Walmart e-commerce customers know that up until now, there was a separate app for groceries and another one for all other products. The standalone Walmart grocery app will begin to be phased out in favor of integration with the store’s main app. This essentially means that both of Walmart’s apps will be combined into a single more effective shopping application. If you use the Walmart grocery app on a regular basis, don’t despair because you will now be able to find everything you need on the main app. This has all been done in order to streamline and simplify processes and you will now no longer have to constantly switch between the apps when conducting your online ordering with Walmart.

Walmart is streamlining their shopping app experience.

Users need not worry about creating new accounts or saving their personal details again on the main Walmart app because if you already have an account with Walmart for your groceries, these details will all be available on the main app. Obviously, the main Walmart app looks a bit different from their grocery app but the functionality is basically the same and it will continue to accept payments for groceries, toiletries and much more. The main thing to remember is that Walmart is not trying to make life more difficult for customers but is, in fact, attempting to do the exact opposite.

The Walmart grocery app will be a thing of the past in early June. Therefore, whether you use your Walmart grocery app for grocery deliveries or pick up at the store, you should make sure that you have also downloaded the main app so that you will not be affected. Due to the Coronavirus and people self-isolating as much as they can in the past 2 months, downloads of the Walmart app have reached an all-time high. In fact, Walmart has even overtaken Amazon recently as the most popular shopping app and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Although the number of people downloading an app doesn’t mean that much in the greater scheme of things, if you consider that Walmart sells far more than just groceries, this is really a good sign of great things to come for the retail giant. Research articles have indicated that mobile e-commerce ordering has grown dramatically over the past decade. Unfortunately, some consumers feel that ordering via an app can be a complicated and frustrating process. Walmart has taken these concerns to heart and has tried to make online ordering as easy as possible with the integration of its two apps. Retail experts believe that Walmart has made an excellent decision by deciding to integrate its apps into a single, unified interface. Not only does it benefit the customer, but it also has many advantages for Walmart itself. This is because when Walmart customers do their regular online grocery shopping on the new platform, they will be more likely to see other, non-grocery products that they may be interested in purchasing.

Regardless of whether consumers prefer to support Walmart, Amazon or another supermarket for their grocery needs, experts have predicted that the two main players will continue to be Walmart and Amazon, who will continue to vie for the top position. With online ordering becoming the “new normal” as folks practice social distancing, it is likely that Walmart will see even more growth in this space.

Amazon Asks Congress to Enact National Price Gouging Law

Whenever you think of online order, Amazon is the first place you go. Amazon is a trusted name however they are also home to many third party sellers and it is not new to see entrepreneurs trying to take advantage of a major event. Whenever the demand for basic needs increases, some will try to exploit the conditions by marking up goods in a way that goes beyond the laws of supply and demand.

Amazon, an online retailer, has been criticized for not acting quickly enough to limit sellers who have charged hundreds of dollars for hand sanitizer, which is in high demand due to the coronavirus epidemic. As coronavirus spread, it led to an increase nationally in complaints about price increases. Many states have laws for price-gouging, but these laws vary. About 12 states do not have laws prohibiting price increases, although some of the state councils have introduced bills.

In the month of March, 32 government attorneys general insisted on the online giants Facebook, Amazon, eBay, Craigslist, and Walmart to closely monitor the price-raising practices of the third-party sellers dealing in online orders. This included examples of price increases in March, highlighting a 2-liter hand sanitizer bottle sold on Craigslist for $250, an eight-ounce hand sanitizer on the Facebook market listed for $40, and face mask packs on eBay sold for more than $50.  Similarly, Reuters reported that in March, some of the Amazon sellers charged $400 or more for a pack of small bottles of Purell hand sanitizers. In April, California buyers filed a federal claim against Amazon for allegedly overcharging.

The lawsuit claimed that high demand products such as cold remedies and face masks showed an illegal increase in prices. Responding to criticism, a spokesperson said that Amazon had deleted more than 500,000 products and suspended around 4,000 accounts in the United States. Amazon has also provided information to government attorneys and federal lawyers on sellers suspected of placing high prices on products in high demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Amazon urged Congress on May 13th to pass laws prohibiting price increases in the event of a national emergency. The public policy vice president for Amazon said that each state has different laws regarding price increases. Establishing standards is a significant challenge for retailers who want to help law enforcement, protect consumers, and obey the law.

Amazon says that it can do a lot on its own and the inconsistent standards of the states bound its ability to suppress price hikes, while laws against price hikes in times of crisis are currently in about two-thirds of the United States. Not surprisingly, the legislation proposed by Amazon guarantees that only the party that sets the price, such as the third-party Amazon retailer, is responsible for the increase in prices, not Amazon that is facilitating online shopping. While the actions being taken might be a few months late, they can ultimately help consumers and prevent unscrupulous businesses from taking advantage of bad situations.

As the spike in COVID19 cases around the world has been observed in the past few months, the authorities of many countries have implemented nationwide lockdowns to lower the number of cases in the coming days. This strategy to cope with COVID19 has been effective in some countries but many affected people have grown restless.

As the lockdowns have continued, many businesses have incurred losses and faced severe financial hardship. One such example is the Simon Property Group, the biggest mall retailer in the U.S. This retail business has seen losses of 20.2 percent in the last quarter of March as the closure of their malls became a reality to minimize the COVID19 spread.

Malls are counting on visitors to return when they reopen.

The company’s U.S. properties were closed on March 18 as the concerns regarding the COVID19 pandemic grew. This closure was causing Simon Property Group financial difficulties, so it has been planning to reopen some of its properties as local governments have eased restrictions. They have already reopened 77 malls in the first week of May. The retailers are considering implementing restrictions to contain the COVID19 spread, such as six-feet social distancing, enforcing reduced capacity, limiting open hours, and handing out masks to visitors.

After the decision to reopen its malls, Simon Property Group’s shares increased dramatically by more than 9%. As the market closed on the Monday after the announcement (May 11), Simon Group reported quarterly revenue of $1.35 billion, beating the estimated figure of $1.33 billion.

David Simon, the chief executive of the Simon Property Group, said that he had been satisfied by the outcome from other malls that were reopened. But people, according to a PYMNTS survey, are as eager as expected for the malls reopening because the fear persists that they might contract COVID19.

Simon has been advocating the reopening as a move to help people and local governments, “because frankly, they depend on our sales taxes,” he said, according to CNBC. But the reopening of the malls is seen as a way to tackle Simon’s own financial problems. Retail tenants have resisted paying rents to the mall owners. Only 15% of the rents were paid in April, and May is looking worse.

Gap, the largest inline retail tenant in Simon malls, recently announced that it was suspending paying the rents to save $115 million a month. Gap’s rent comprises 3.5% of the total base minimum rent. Other large tenants have also contributed to declining in rents paid, including retailers like Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands, PVH, the owner of Calvin Klein, and Coach parent Tapestry. It seems that opening the malls again is necessary to enable tenants to restart paying their rents.

Retail malls like Simon’s are facing a difficult situation with the COVID19 outbreak. The mall owners have reduced staffing, frozen hiring, and cut operating expenses and corporate spending in order to reduce their expenses. But as the reopening of malls continues, the shares of the company have recovered and prospects for the future look brighter.