Rishi Taparia - Issue #2
Wrapping up a week that featured some huge numbers out of China in digital commerce, Vantiv closing their WorldPay deal, Visa trying to catch up in QR code payments and a thought provoking piece on the future of mobile. Enjoy!
Commerce
China's Hottest Internet Sector Is Old-Fashioned Food Delivery
China is showing the world what a digital commerce and payments future looks like. In the first half of 2017 295m people ordered food online, 92% via mobile. The numbers are staggering and just getting started.
Why You Should Look to China for the Future of Retail
A seamless and integrated experience between online and offline is going to be essential to the future of retailers. Chinese companies have been weaving both of these together for years.
Walmart lets shoppers check out without cashiers or registers
Walmart is rolling out a new technology in its stores that enables shoppers to scan and pay for their items without checkout lanes, registers, or cashiers. Not everyone is thrilled about it.
The Incredible Shrinking Sears
A great story on Sears, one of the first retail behemoths, and it’s epic rise and drastic fall. A fun fact: Sears launched the Discover card in the 1980s - within 4 months they already had 20 million users!
FinTech
Visa announces new global specifications for QR Code payments
Visa glossed over QR code payments, focusing instead on NFC as the next payment standard after chip. The success of Alipay and WeChat Pay now has them scrambling to maintain their global stronghold as the standard setter.
WhatsApp Payments will allow all users to send and receive money within the app
WhatsApp is officially getting into payments after having announced it earlier this year.
Vantiv: Will Worldpay Deal Pay Off?
With margins continuing to shrink and growing pressure from technology providers, merchant acquirers are making big moves to try and stay ahead of the curve. This week Vantiv’s $10bn merger with British rival Worldpay was approved. Now it’s wait and see who plays the next card.
Technology
The End of Typing: The Next Billion Mobile Users Will Rely on Video and Voice
The next billion people to come online will look drastically different than the first 4 billion. Companies will need to adapt to new customer demands and limited infrastructure. A feast for thought in this WSJ piece.
Why an eight-hour bus ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco might beat a flight
A new startup called Cabin is betting that getting to your destination in as short amount of time as possible is not the only consideration when traveling. They offer a $115 one way, over night from SF to LA - only leave the ‘red eye’ at home since the promise is a better night’s sleep in your own, private sleep cabin. The next phase of transportation or California dreamin’?
Random Tidbits
Is Our On-Demand Culture Really Making Life Easier?
We live in a “There’s an app for that” world that is supposed to be making us all hyper efficient and streamlined in our day to day lives. Is that reality?
How Your Phone Number Became the Only Username That Matters
The concept of identity continues to blur as we straddle both physical and digital worlds. Phone numbers have bridged the gap, but as more companies fight to be your defacto ID (FB, Google, Apple and more) how do we maintain security?