“Many rural online shoppers are used to waiting half a week or longer for purchases to arrive. Amazon, which disclosed its $4 billion rural delivery push last year, has narrowed that to less than 24 hours for 1 in 5 rural and small-town households, according to a Bloomberg analysis of delivery times for commonly purchased items. The company offers 48-hour delivery to 62% of rural households, the analysis found.

The payoff could be huge. Rural shoppers in the US collectively spend $1 trillion a year on clothing, electronics, household goods and other items, representing about 20% of retail purchases excluding cars and gasoline, according to Morgan Stanley. Amazon aims to recondition those shoppers to expect quick delivery, which would play to its strengths and make the company top-of-mind for online purchases.

Amazon’s biggest obstacle is Walmart Inc., which claimed the heartland decades ago during an aggressive expansion on its path to become the world’s largest retailer. Walmart has spent years training rural shoppers to come to its stores for groceries and then snag clothes, TVs and crockpots while there. It has a big head start on Amazon in proximity, with stores and Sam’s Clubs located within a 10-mile drive of nearly two-thirds of rural households, Bloomberg’s analysis shows. Walmart is also upping its e-commerce game, turning its thousands of locations into delivery hubs and pickup locations for products ordered online.”

From Bloomberg.

“This study compares the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023–24 with 2011–12 and finds significant advancements in spending on durables goods and ownership of key durable assets. These changes represent shifting priorities and aspirations for consumption among Indian households and improvements in quality of life. Additionally, our analysis focuses on the Bottom 40 (B40) percent of the households by consumption, which have been extensively targeted through programs of the Government of India and state governments. Studying the consumption and ownership trends of these households is an important measure of the effectiveness of welfare policies. Consumption patterns of households have transformed significantly over the last decade with households spending a smaller portion of the monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) on food items. Across the three components – food items, consumables and services, and durable goods the share of food has fallen to less to than 50% in both sectors. Consequently, a greater share of household consumption expenditure is now non-food spending on consumables and services, and durable goods. Consumables and services are the largest component of household spending in urban areas.”

From Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.

“Telehealth company Ro on Wednesday launched a new tracker to help patients find a popular class of weight loss and diabetes drugs called GLP-1s amid shortages of those treatments in the U.S.

The supply tracker could be a valuable tool for many Americans scrambling to get their hands on GLP-1s, such as Novo Nordisk’s weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic.”

From CNBC.

“Amazon Pharmacy, which has sold prescription medicines online since 2020, will now handle some of the home delivery of anti-obesity therapy Zepbound and other Eli Lilly drugs that are ordered through the drugmaker’s new direct-to-consumer service, the companies said Wednesday.

The service, called LillyDirect, connects patients with telehealth services specializing in obesity that can write prescriptions for Zepbound or another weight-loss drug. The service also arranges for a prescription to be processed and mailed directly to customers.”

From Wall Street Journal.