Rishi Taparia - Issue #12
This week an ecommerce unicorn filed for IPO, Amazon Prime hits 90 million users, Alipay expands further in the US, a payments titan calls it a career, interesting data on the Internet of Goods, a book recommendation and more. Enjoy!
Commerce
Stitch Fix has filed publicly for its long-awaited IPO
Stitch Fix, an e-commerce behemoth, filed for IPO this week. A tremendous company run by Katrina Lake and Mike Smith, the 6-year old business has done incredibly well. A few stats: 2.2m clients, 86% repeat rate of purchase, $977m in revenue, $42.5m in VC money raised. Amazing.
Amazon Prime hits 90 million US Members
Amazon Prime just hit 90 million US members, up 6% QoQ. Prime shoppers apparently spend an average of $1,300 per year, compared to about $700 per year for non-member customers. Not too shabby.
Venmo users can now shop online anywhere PayPal is accepted in the U.S.
Paypal starting to extend Venmo beyond pure P2P, allowing users to pay at (the limited) locations around the US. Expect to see a lot more here in the coming months as PayPal continues to benefit from stores looking to compete with Amazon.
Amazon reportedly jumping into athletic wear
Nike vs Amazon? Retail industry news, voices and jobs. Optimized for your mobile phone.
FinTech
How a Messaging App Challenged Traditional Banks and Captured 45% of the Market
KakaoTalk, a popular Korean messaging app, got into the banking business in a big way. Within just 24 hours of launch, over 300,000 new accounts were created with KakaoBank (more than what all other Korean banks got in 2016 through online channels). Opening a bank account only took 5-7 minutes on average and the only document required was a photo of your ID card. Better service, better interest rates and a quick approval process - talk about customer value creation.
Alipay Integrates Into Poynt Smart Terminals
Poynt announced a partnership with Alipay, integrating the Alibaba-owned digital payments company into its smart terminals to improve the checkout experience for Chinese tourists.
[DISCLOSURE: I am the Vice President of Business Operations at Poynt]
American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault to Step Down After 16 Years
Kenneth Chenault, the head of American Express, a titan in the payments industry and will step down as chairman and chief executive Feb. 1, capping a 16-year run. He will be succeeded by Stephen Squeri, a 30 year Amex veteran. My biggest surprise: the top job didn’t go to former Visa CEO Charlie Scharf.
It Was a Busy Quarter for Deals in Fintech
Fintech’s still hot. Q3 saw over 412 transactions, the second highest number of deals ever.
Deals on deals on deals
Technology
Get Ready for the Internet of Goods
With the evolution of sensors and robots evolve, much has been said about ecommerce destroying jobs, with 123,000 jobs lost in traditional retail over the last 2 years. However, in that same time span, 178,000 jobs have been added in fulfillment centers and electronic shopping firms. An interesting piece on the digitization of production and the future of jobs.
From ICICI Bank To HDFC Bank: Robots are here to take up mundane banking jobs, so shape up or ship out
When ICICI Bank opened India’s first full-fledged electronic branches in 2012, many were left baffled. The Indian customer is used to tedious traditional banking and not interacting with human beings didn’t make sense. Now, 5 years later, the question is whether there need for a human interaction at all?
Random Tidbits
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
I recently finished Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens (another tremendous read). An examination of where humanity might be headed in an age of evolving technology and desire, it’s an incredibly provocative read. I highly recommend it.
The Art of Forming an Informed Opinion
One problem with opinionated people is their inability to calibrate those opinions to outcomes. And if you can’t change your mind, you can’t progress.