Last year, Ikea reduced prices on over 2,000 products to offer inflation-weary customers a reprieve. Although this resulted in an increase in orders, revenue declined for the first time in four years as discounts cut into its bottom line.

Ikea’s sales fell 4% to €45.1 billion ($49.3 billion) in the fiscal year 2024, which ran from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024, the Swedish business said Thursday.

Ikea Revenue Falls After It Lowered Prices

Ikea, the world’s largest furniture retailer, has stated that it has no regrets about emphasizing “lowering the prices” in a $2 billion discount push across all of its locations worldwide.

In a news release, Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, Ikea’s largest franchisee, stated that “inflation and interest rates have impacted people’s wallets, and when times are challenging for people, we want to support in the best possible way.”

“Investing into lowering our prices is our long-term promise and this has been a year where the strength of the Ikea vision, our togetherness, and our entrepreneurship lived up to the test of time,” he tweeted.

Ikea, like its competitors, has gradually raised prices since the Covid-19 high in 2020, as material and transportation costs have risen. Last year, the company’s main discount promotion reduced the price of several of its most popular items, including the Billy bookcase.

Ikea Revenue Falls After It Lowered Prices

Lower prices increased visitors to its stores and website by 21%. Ikea sold 1.2 billion meatballs this year, and a company representative told CNN that it also sold more meals at its cafés.

Ikea has announced that it will provide additional reductions this year, although they will be less.

SOURCE | CNN

Marriott International has agreed to pay $52 million and make improvements to improve its data security in order to satisfy state and federal claims stemming from catastrophic data breaches that affected over 300 million of its customers globally.

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission and a consortium of attorneys general from 49 states and the District of Columbia announced separate settlement agreements with Marriott. The FTC and the states conducted parallel investigations into three data breaches that occurred between 2014 and 2020.

Marriott Agrees To Pay $52 Million, Beef Up Data Security To Resolve Probes Over Data Breaches

According to the FTC’s proposed complaint, the data breaches enabled “malicious actors” to collect passport information, payment card numbers, loyalty numbers, dates of birth, email addresses, and/or personal information from hundreds of millions of consumers.

The FTC stated that the breaches were caused by weak data security measures at Marriott and its subsidiary Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

Specifically, the agency said that the hotel operator failed to secure its computer system with proper password management, network monitoring, or other data-protection methods.

As part of its proposed settlement with the FTC, Marriott agreed to “implement a robust information security program” and give all U.S. customers with a method to request the deletion of any personal information connected with their email address or loyalty rewards account number.

Marriott also paid similar charges filed by a group of attorneys general. In addition to committing to improve its data security processes, the hotel operator will pay a $52 million penalty, which will be shared among the states.

Marriott, based in Bethesda, Maryland, stated on its website Wednesday that its agreements with the FTC and states included no acknowledgment of liability. It also stated that it has already implemented data privacy and information security measures.

In early 2020, Marriott discovered that an unexpected amount of visitor information was accessed using the login credentials of two workers at a franchisee location. At the time, the business assessed that the personal information of approximately 5.2 million guests worldwide may have been compromised.

Marriott Agrees To Pay $52 Million, Beef Up Data Security To Resolve Probes Over Data Breaches

In November 2018, Marriott reported a huge data breach in which hackers gained access to information on up to 383 million guests. In that case, Marriott stated that unencrypted passport numbers for at least 5.25 million visitors were accessed, as well as credit card information for 8.6 million guests. Starwood operated the affected hotel brands prior to its acquisition by Marriott in 2016.

The FBI spearheaded the investigation into the data theft, and investigators assumed the hackers were working for China’s Ministry of State Security, which is roughly similar to the CIA.

SOURCE | AP

(VOR News) – A partnership between Apple and Amazon is being formed in order to further strengthen their existing partnership in the streaming business.

An announcement that was issued by Amazon on Wednesday stated that beginning later this month, customers in the United States would be able to subscribe to Apple TV+ through Amazon Prime Video for a monthly charge of $9.99.

This will be available on Amazon.

Apple TV+ will be added to the broad selection of more than one hundred different subscription options that Prime Video now provides as a result of this move. HBO Max, Paramount+, and Discovery+ are some examples of platforms that could be considered for this category.

As part of Amazon’s overall goal to provide its consumers with a streaming experience that encompasses everything, this connection is a component of that strategy. Rather than having to handle several subscriptions on an individual basis, this technique gives consumers the ability to manage many subscriptions through a single platform and billing system.

Mike Hopkins, who is Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, underlined the importance of simplifying the process by which customers may tailor their streaming experience within a single app. This initiative is intended to make it easier for customers to do so.

“We are proud to welcome Apple TV+ and its celebrated, critically acclaimed shows, films, and events to Prime Video,” he stated in addition. “We are excited to be a part of this partnership.”

As a result of the exceptional material that Apple TV+ has produced, such as “Ted Lasso,” “The Morning Show,” “Severance,” and “Shrinking,” the service has garnered a reputation for being of high quality. Not only does it offer live broadcasts of Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball, but it also offers exclusive films that are only accessible through this platform.

These films feature top Hollywood talent such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Casey Affleck, and they are only available through this platform.

When compared to other major platforms like Netflix, Apple TV+ has had a far higher amount of cancellations, which is proof that the service has struggled to maintain its user base.

They provide a vast array of Amazon titles.

Eddy Cue, who serves as Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, has expressed that the business is filled with enthusiasm regarding the cooperation. According to him, Apple has the intention of making its critically acclaimed television shows and films accessible to a larger audience by exploiting the massive user base that Prime Video possesses.

Amazon Prime Video continues to increase its original content and live sports services, including the National Football League’s “Thursday Night Football,” despite the fact that it is behind Netflix in terms of overall viewing time in the United States. Other live sports offers include the National Football League’s “Monday Night Football.”

Prime Video recently announced that it has reached 200 million monthly viewers across all of its platforms.

Amazon’s goal is to reinforce its position as the industry leader by expanding the variety of content it provides to its customers through the inclusion of Apple TV+ to its roster of subscription services.

In the latter part of the month of October, Prime Video subscribers will have the opportunity to gain access to Apple TV+. This will give them with a convenient way to access Apple’s premium content in addition to the subscriptions they already have.

In the past, Amazon was successful in obtaining a partial victory in an antitrust action that was brought forward in the United States of America. According to the judge, certain allegations that were filed against the corporation were dismissed.

It is still possible that the technology corporation will be subject to an inquiry for additional accusations, such as allegations that its business practices hinder competition and restrict the number of options available to customers. This does not change the fact that the firm will continue to be investigated.

SOURCE: TET

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