Whole Foods May Get Amazon Go Tech Next Year; TikTok Sues US Over Ban; Foxconn & Others Look to Mexico for Factories; DoorDash Launches Grocery Delivery

Amazon may be putting in its cashless tech from the Go convenience stores at Whole Foods locations as soon as next year. Theverge.com reports that the installations could start in the 2nd quarter of 2021. Amazon has used the tech in their Go stores since 2016…albeit for employees only at first, but since 2018 for the general public. The cashierless model is cool…walk in, buy the goods, and just walk out. The dark side is that it could allow a massive loss of retail jobs if widely adapted. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union calls it “a direct threat to 16 million American retail jobs and is part of a ruthless strategy to eliminate as many good jobs as possible.”

As expected, TikTok has filed a suit against the Trump Administration over its plans to ban the popular service who’s parent company is criticized as being too much under the control of the Chinese government. According to the AP, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent, has insisted it is not a national security threat and that the US is acting without evidence or due process. The suit was filed in federal court in California against the Commerce Department, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and President Donald Trump. It seeks to prevent the government from ‘impermissibly banning’ the app. Trump issued two executive orders this month relating to the situation, and giving ByteDance 45 days before they take effect. He then ordered them to sell assets used to support TikTok in the US. The app has over 100 million US users. ByteDance has held talks with Microsoft, Twitter, and Oracle so far with regards to selling off those assets involved.

Foxconn and Pegatron, both based in Taiwan, are now eyeing Mexico as a site for new factories in light of the ongoing disruption from the US-China trade war. Reuters.com says such factory plans would inject billions into Latin America’s 2nd largest economy over the next several years. According to two different sources, Foxconn would use a factory in Mexico to build iPhones for Apple. They are set to pull the trigger or not by early next year on such a deal. Foxconn just started building top line iPhones last month in India. Foxconn unit Sharp is already building TVs in Mexico. Pegatron would mainly assemble chips and other electronic components in Mexico.

DoorDash is ratcheting up its on demand delivery efforts with the rollout of grocery delivery, starting with select chains in California and parts of the Midwest. According to theverge.com, they will initially only be working with Smart & Final, Meijer, Fresh Thyme, and Hy-Vee. Smart and Final will only serve California customers in the Bay Area, LA, Orange County, Sacramento, and San Diego. Customers in Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee will have access to Meiher and Fresh Thyme, with support for Hy-Vee stores coming at a later date. To help get the new service off the ground, DoorDash is even enrolling grocery delivery into its DashPass subscription service, which means those who pay the $9.99 monthly fee can get free delivery.