Amazon is using big data to dominate the competition

Could the Instant Pot be a harbinger of Bed Bath & Beyond's doom? The insanely popular pressure cooker is driving Amazon.com's A report by One Click Retail reveals that housewares is second only to consumer electronics in importance for Amazon, which means that its prowess at extracting and analyzing data about its 300 million active customers "with unmatched accuracy" should be of significant concern to any retailer counting on that niche to revive its own fortunes. The analysis by the e-commerce data measurement company found U.S. sales of housewares surged 20% last year to an estimated $8 billion, driven by such kitchen appliances like the Instant Pot, which nearly doubled its sales in 2017, and almost single-handedly drove the majority of Amazon's sales growth in the category. That's key because the online retailer's core demographic is the millennial -- an age group that ranges from early 20s to mid-30s, and that is finally entering homeownership in serious numbers. One Click Retail says the Instant Pot's phenomenal success offers some useful insights about these customers, who, because they're investing heavily in their homes -- but who also work long hours and desire products that save them time and effort -- find the Instant Pot a magical convergence of "convenience and in economy of space."