Finance

Amazon partnering with Intuit Quickbooks for third-party sellers

Published

4 weeks ago

December 9, 2024

Business Finance News

Sasan Goodarzi, president and CEO of Intuit Inc. and Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Amazon has for years counted on millions of third-party sellers to provide the bulk of the inventory that consumers buy daily. But keeping track of their finances has long been a challenge for outside merchants, particularly smaller mom-and-pop shops.

Amazon said on Monday that it’s partnering with Intuit to bring the software company’s online accounting tools to its vast network of sellers in mid-2025. Intuit QuickBooks will be available on Amazon Seller Central, the hub sellers use to manage their Amazon businesses, the companies said. Eligible sellers will also have access to loans through QuickBooks Capital.

“Together with Intuit, we’re working to equip our selling partners with additional financial tools and access to capital to help them scale efficiently,” Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide selling partner services, said in the joint release.

While the Intuit integration isn’t expected to go live until the middle of next year, the announcement comes as sellers ramp up their businesses for the holiday season, the busiest time of the year for most retailers. The companies said that sellers will see a real-time view of the financial health of their business, getting a clear picture of profitability, cash flow and tax estimates.

Representatives from both companies declined to provide specific terms of the agreement, including how revenue will be shared.

The marketplace is a critical part of Amazon’s retail strategy. In addition to accounting for about 60% of products sold, Amazon generates fees from providing fulfillment and shipping services as well as by offering customer support to sellers and charging them to advertise on the site.

In the third quarter, seller services revenue increased 10% to $37.9 billion, accounting for 24% of total revenue, a number that’s steadily increased in recent years. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on the earnings call that “3P demand is still strong and unit volumes are strong.”

Amazon shares are up almost 50% this year, climbing to a fresh record on Friday, and topping the Nasdaq’s 31% gain for the year. Meanwhile, Intuit has underperformed the broader tech index, with its stock up less than 4% in 2024.

The shares dropped 5% on Nov. 19, after The Washington Post reported that President-elect Donald Trump’s government efficiency team is considering creating a free tax-filing app. They fell almost 6% three days later after the company issued a revenue forecast for the current quarter that trailed analysts’ estimates due to some sales being delayed.

QuickBooks, which is particularly popular as an all-in-one accounting, expense management and payroll tool for small businesses, has been one of Intuit’s key drivers for growth. The company said last month that its QuickBooks Online Accounting segment expanded by 21% in the latest quarter, while total revenue increased 10% to $3.28 billion.

Intuit has been adding generative artificial intelligence tools into QuickBooks and other small business services, like its Mailchimp email marketing offering, to provide more automated insights for users.

“You can imagine, as we look ahead, our goal is to create a done-for-you experience across the entire platform across Mailchimp and QuickBooks and all of the services,” Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi said on the fiscal first-quarter earnings call.

Goodarzi said in Monday’s release that the company is bringing its “AI-driven expert platform to help sellers boost their revenue and profitability, save time, and grow with confidence.”

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Finance

Chinese robot vacuum cleaner Roborock reveals AI-powered robotic arm

Published

3 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Business Finance News

EMBARGOED TO 1AM SG MON JAN 6 / 9AM PST SUN JAN 5 2025

Beijing-based robot vacuum maker Roborock revealed a new model in January 2025 with an artificial intelligence-powered folding arm for removing obstacles.

CNBC | Evelyn Cheng

BEIJING — Chinese robot vacuum cleaner company Roborock revealed a new model on Monday that comes with a folding arm for removing socks and other obstacles — a feature powered by artificial intelligence.

It’s the latest step toward what Roborock President Quan Gang expects will be the inevitable: that robot vacuum cleaners become as essential as washing machines.

That’s something that could happen in as soon as three years, especially with the emergence of AI, Quan told CNBC in a late November interview. “If the era of AI flourishing has really arrived, I’m confident that robot vacuum cleaners will be the first category to apply AI,” he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Using AI that the company developed, the Roborock Saros Z70 can detect and remove obstructions such as socks, small towels, tissues and sandals weighing less than 300 grams (10.58 ounces), according to the company.

The Saros Z70 is set for release in major global markets in the first half of the year, but Roborock has yet to announce pricing. The product reveal comes ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show that kicks off Tuesday in Las Vegas.

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Ever since Massachusetts-based iRobot launched its Roomba floor vacuuming robot in 2002, the circular machines have evolved to include mopping and the ability to automatically return to the charging base. Many companies, including several based in China, now sell robot vacuum cleaners.

Beijing-based Roborock started selling to the U.S. in 2018, Quan said, noting that sales in the country didn’t start to take off until 2023. Roborock also sells its robot vacuums in countries such as Germany, China and South Korea, and makes sure to adhere to local data privacy rules, Quan said.

But robot vacuum penetration rates remain low — just over 10% in developed countries and single digits in developing countries, Quan said. He said that’s both a challenge and a potential for growth, which he expects can get a boost from the integration of artificial intelligence.

The Verge and Wired late last year both named different Roborock models the best robot vacuum available. But the machines aren’t cheap.

“Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an exceptional vacuum cleaner,” The Verge said, noting it is “the best model in the relatively new category of ‘hands-free’ robot vacs, bots that do virtually everything for you: empty their bins, refill their mop tanks, and clean and dry their mop pads.”

“Roborock invented this category with the S7 MaxV Ultra and has been steadily improving it,” The Verge said.

Wired selected Roborock’s Qrevo S, which sells for $800 on Amazon. The review highlighted the Qrevo’s lidar-based navigation and AI feature which enable the machine to distinguish between carpets and tiles for vacuuming or mopping, respectively.

Competition is fierce. CNET said two other companies’ robot vacuums tied for best of 2025, the $900 Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo — which also has a self-emptying dustbin — and the $359 iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus.

Supporting an AI research lab

Shares of Shanghai-listed Roborock closed 2.6% higher Friday after reports emerged of the Saros Z70 and its robotic arm. The stock climbed 10.3% in 2024.

Operating revenue rose by 23.2% for the first three quarters of 2024 to 7 billion yuan ($960 million), with profit of 1.47 billion yuan. Roborock does not break out revenue by region.

Quan said that soon after Roborock’s founding in July 2014, the company sensed the importance of artificial intelligence and set up a dedicated lab in Shanghai and a research institute in Shenzhen. Each location houses around 30 researchers, who only need to focus on technology, in contrast to the product development team that must meet deadlines and consider profit, Quan said.

The next challenge is to expand the number of researchers to around 300 people, Quan said, noting it’s been hard to find qualified talent.

The company spent 9.1% of its operating revenue in the first three quarters of 2024 on research and development, according to CNBC calculations of public figures. That’s up from slightly more than 7% in each of the past three years, the data showed.

Roborock on Monday also announced updates to its washing machines, which can dry clothes in the same unit.

— CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this report.