End of Year Gifting Strategies
As we move into December, we want to share some gifting strategies for our clients who enjoy gifting to individuals or non-profit organizations. In the video below, Austin and Steve discuss two common options, but there are many others available as well. If you have a desire to gift in 2020, give us a call at 615.370.4040.. We would love to help however we can.
Salesforce Buys Slack
On Tuesday, Salesforce announced the biggest acquisition in its history, the purchase of chat software developer Slack. The purchase will be for over $27 billion and will be made through a combination of cash and stock. For reference, Microsoft purchased LinkedIn for $27 billion in 2016. With the acquisition, Salesforce is adding to its portfolio of enterprise applications and acquiring 130,000 paid customers from Slack. The deal values Slack at over 24 times estimated revenue for next year, according to CNBC.
The UK Approves Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine
This week, the United Kingdom became the first Western nation to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine was 95% effective in preventing infections in a final analysis of the Phase 3 trial. These statistics held for older adults and caused no serious safety concerns, according to Pfizer. The United Kingdom has ordered 40 million doses, with the BBC reporting an initial 800,000 doses being delivered next week. Elderly people, health workers, and vulnerable individuals will be at the top of the priority list.
Black Friday Stats
While Americans continued to shop during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the traffic looked a lot different this year, according to Forbes. Overall there has been a 23.9% sales decline in brick and mortar retailers. Thanksgiving weekend foot traffic was down 41.3%, with mall traffic down 44%. Instead of lining up on Friday morning, shoppers used their laptops and phones instead. Cyber Monday online sales were $10.8 billion this year, up 15.1% from last year. 37% of all online Cyber Monday sales were made from mobile devices. Overall, shoppers have spent a total of $106.5 billion online this year, up 27.7% from last year.
Under Armor Launches Curry Brand
On December 1st, Under Armour launched Curry Brand, which will feature clothes, shoes, and other products from basketball and golf inspired by Stephen Curry. The move is an attempt by Under Armour to reach younger customers and compete with Nike's Jordan brand. The brand will give back to communities through creating safe places to play, supporting school and community programs for young athletes, and training more than 15,000 coaches.
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