eBay’s US sales grow almost 5% while global GMV accelerates the most in 3 years

Gap Inc. has acquired the New York and Tel Aviv based start-up Context-Based 4 Casting Ltd. (CB4) that uses cutting-edge AI and machine learning tools to transform retail operations, increase sales and improve the customer experience through predictive analytics and demand sensing. “We believe artificial intelligence and machine learning will shape the future of our industry. Gap Inc. has experience working with CB4’s world-class data scientists, so we understand the impact and the wide applications their science can have across sales, inventory and consumer insights, as well as its potential to unlock value and enhance the customer experience,” said Sally Gilligan, Chief Growth Transformation Officer Chief, and head of the Strategic Growth Office at Gap Inc. The deal was brokered by Gap Inc.’s Strategic Growth Office, a unit of the company that seeks out opportunities to fuel growth and accelerate new capabilities across its portfolio of brands.

In response to Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico on September 20, a number of agents, editors, and authors in the children’s book community and beyond have joined together to hold an online talent auction in support of Puerto Ricans affected by the storm. All proceeds for the #PubforPR auction, which runs through October 5, will go to local charity organizations, Unidos por Puerto Rico and ConPRmetidos. The cause began to take shape on September 24, when a group of five authors and publishing professionals—Nova Ren Suma, Patrice Caldwell, Mara Delgado, Carrie DiRisio, and Kara Thomas—learned of the devastation caused by the storm. Thomas, a YA author, told PW, “I had been talking privately with friends about how frustrated we were with the lack of government response to the situation in Puerto Rico.” Thomas later connected with fellow members of the children’s book community, in response to DiRisio’s tweet about starting a charity auction. “So many other writers were replying to the thread, asking if they could help,” she said. “We mobilized via email and came up with a plan for approaching agents, editors, and authors for donations. Once we reached out, the response was enormous.” Click Read More below for more of the story.

The Postal Service’s proposal appears to target mail that consistently fails to meet service performance goals and has the most opportunity for improvement. However, the Commission is concerned that the Postal Service did not conduct any operational or pilot testing of its proposed service standard changes. The Commission finds this lack of testing problematic as mail processing is complex and requires timely execution to provide reliable service performance. In addition, the Commission notes that the Postal Service’s estimated annual cost savings for the proposed service standard changes do not indicate much improvement, if any, to the Postal Service’s current financial condition. Rather, the estimated cost savings from extending the service standard would be eliminated by additional costs associated with the growth in packages. Therefore, it is not clear that the tradeoff between financial viability and maintaining high-quality service standards is reasonable. Likewise, the Postal Service concludes that any reduction in First-Class Mail and Periodical volume due to its proposal will be modest, but that conclusion is premised upon analysis of customer satisfaction and demand that relies on numerous unproven assumptions. The Commission encourages the Postal Service to consider the full recommendations outlined in its advisory opinion prior to implementing its plan. The Postal Service should: *Regularly update and publicly communicate realistic targets throughout its implementation *Ensure cost savings are realized but balanced with and not prioritized over maintaining high-quality service standards *Closely monitor the implementation of its plan to determine whether the new potential surface transportation network actually increases efficiency and capacity utilization *Monitor more closely customer satisfaction going forward, particularly for customer and mailer segments that the change may most impact *Be more transparent in the feedback it receives from stakeholders and keep its plan flexible to the needs of customers, stakeholders, and the general public *Not rely upon its filed econometric analysis to estimate the impact of the proposed service changes on volume