Amazon encourages some customer service reps to work from home that sources say is meant to cut office costs; source: Amazon to close multiple US call centers (Spencer Soper/Bloomberg)

Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Numerator: during Amazon’s second Prime Day, the average US order size was $46.44, down 23% from the July Prime Day, mostly comprising household essentials  —  Amazon.com Inc. shoppers are largely skipping pricey purchases during the company’s Prime sale sequel — favoring pantry items …

Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer on running the division, how decisions are made, delaying big games, Xbox, Keystone, exclusives, rivals, and more  —  The CEO of Microsoft Gaming thinks King is the crown jewel of the Activision empire. … Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming …

Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Insider Intelligence projects US online sales to rise just 9.4% to $1T in 2022, the first single-digit YoY growth, including slower Amazon sales, up 9% to $400B  —  Amazon.com Inc. sellers are bracing for a bleak holiday shopping season as inflation-bitten consumers curb their spending.

Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Amazon says its new “Tailored Audiences” tool, available to all US sellers in early 2023, will let brands and merchants send marketing emails to shoppers  —  Amazon.com Inc. will let brands and merchants send marketing emails to shoppers, a risky bid to boost sales that could inundate inboxes with spam.

Anthony Capaccio / Bloomberg:
The US Army starts accepting some of the 5,000 sets of HoloLens goggles, citing encouraging results from field testing, after putting the order on hold in 2021  —  The US Army is taking delivery of a first batch of high-tech combat goggles made by Microsoft Corp., citing encouraging results from testing in the field.

Bloomberg:
Snap, which just reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth ever, will close its San Francisco office, saying it “was lightly used” due to flexible work  —  Snap Inc., which is cutting costs and relying more on remote work, is closing its office in San Francisco …