Amazon gets federal approval to expand drone deliveries (chainstoreage.com)

USA TODAY announced the return of its Best-selling Booklist featuring expanded content, the ability to filter by genre, updated tools to enable data collection as well as new partnerships that support independent booksellers across the country in USA TODAY Network markets. “USA TODAY Best-selling Booklist is back, and we couldn’t be more thrilled because this content is important to our vast audience and uniquely supports the communities we serve,” said Kristin Roberts, Gannett Media Chief Content Officer. “Readers, authors, publishers, booksellers and those who cherish books can experience our data driven best-sellers list again.” USA TODAY's Best-selling Booklist, a leading force in the market since 1993, ranks the 150 top-selling book titles weekly based exclusively on sales analysis from U.S. booksellers including bookstore chains, independent bookstores, mass merchandisers and online retailers.

FY24 first quarter service performance scores covering October 1 through December 8, included: *First-Class Mail: 86.7 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 4.3 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter. *Marketing Mail: 93.9 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter. *Periodicals: 82.4 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 3.6 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter.

Comparisons refer to the 13-week period ended April 29, 2023 versus the 13-week period ended April 30, 2022: *Net sales decreased 3.3% year-over-year, to $3.4 billion, with comparable sales down 4.3%. *Gross margin as a percentage of net sales was 39.0%, an increase of 67 basis points. *Selling, general & administrative (SG&A) expenses decreased 4.2% year-over-year, to $1.2 billion. As a percentage of total revenue, SG&A expenses were 34.7%, a decrease of 13 basis points year-over-year. *Operating income was $98 million compared to $82 million in the prior year. As a percentage of total revenue, operating income was 2.8%, an increase of 55 basis points year-over-year. *Net income was $14 million, or $0.13 per share. This compares to net income of $14 million, or $0.11 per share in the prior year. *Inventory was $3.5 billion, a decrease of 6% year-over-year. *Operating cash flow was a use of ($202) million.