TECH

Why the cloud will save the ''black friday'' in the USA

Alphabet's Google Cloud is poised for an increase in sales from US retailers in the fourth quarter as they prepare for a record online shopping holiday this year due to social distance measures.
Cloud computing technology, used to host websites and store data, is an essential part of many retailers' e-commerce operations. As fees are usually tied to website traffic, a jump in activity will increase the unit's revenue.
Carrie Tharp, vice president of retail and consumer for Google Cloud, told Reuters that her team this year launched its linear growth model to predict how many servers will be needed to process online purchases from retailers on Black Friday.
"We are predicting peaks after peaks," she said on Monday. This could be a benefit for Google Cloud, which generated about 30% of its revenue during the fourth quarter over the past two years
This year, demand at the level of Black Friday has flooded stores since March, when the United States began isolation, Tharp said.
She said the pandemic has already benefited Google Cloud, with some retailers adopting its predictive algorithms years ahead of schedule to help them discover the most efficient way to fulfill consumer orders.
Electronics retailer Best Buy, for example, on Tuesday announced a multi-year deal to centralize customer and product data with Google Cloud to improve its loyalty program and online advertising campaigns.
The companies declined to give more information about the deal, but Tharp said he hoped this would lead Google to leverage Best Buy's online ordering system.

Reuters