Rishi Taparia - Issue #20
This week we take a look the social credit scores taking over China, Amazon v. retailers round 10, Go-Jek aggressively expanding it’s payments infrastructure, Walmart shaking up the payday loans market and more. Enjoy!
Commerce
In China, a Three-Digit Score Could Dictate Your Place in Society
A tremendous piece on the evolving digital financial services in China, the idea of a ‘social credit’ score and the far reaching implications of everyone knowing your number. As more of our personal information and movements transition online how will a transparent, social ranking system change our behavior?
Amazon expands same-day delivery and one-day shipping to thousands more cities
Free two day shipping? Try free same day shipping, with delivery windows. Amazon announced has expanded its same-day delivery and one-day shipping service to thousands more markets across the U.S., just in time for the holidays. For traditional retailers, it’s not enough to copy them because they will just keep getting better.
Target is acquiring Instacart competitor Shipt for $550 million to fight back against Amazon
Target made one of it’s largest acquisitions ever, buying Instacart competitor Shipt for $550m in an attempt to fight back against Amazon. Target will offer same-day delivery from half of its stores by summer. Is it too little, too late?
Sephora Mastered In-Store Sales By Investing in Data and Cutting-Edge Technology
Sephora has been stepping up it’s technology game of late, furiously combating Amazon with it’s own in-store tools. Creating a technology driven experience in-store, Sephora is finding over 90 percent of sales happening offline. In experimented with smaller stores that stock less product but equip employees with smartphones so that they can find and ship additional products online from Sephora’s website, they have fully embraced the O2O opportunity.
FinTech
Go-Jek buys three startups to advance its mobile payment business | TechCrunch
Go-Jek is turning itself into a payments company, and in a big way. The Indonesian unicorn, known for it’s ride-sharing business, has acquired 3 companies to extend it’s Go-Pay services offline and take control of its own destiny when it comes to financial services. A tremendous set of acquisitions that makes the fierce competition in the region between Go-Jek, Grab and Uber that much more exciting to watch.
No MDR charges on debit card payments up to Rs 2,000 for 2 years starting Jan 1
In an effort to boost digital payments, the Union Cabinet has decided to waive the merchant discount rate (MDR) applicable on all debit cards, BHIM and UPI transactions up to Rs 2,000. I expect to see a very rapid spike in the number of transactions that fall just below the number…
Walmart Will Let Its 1.4 Million Workers Take Their Pay Before Payday
Walmart is partnering with fintech startup Even to let 1.4mm workers get access to their earnings before payday https://t.co/RYhAMf2wqC
Technology
Restaurants shouldn’t rely too much on VC-fueled delivery companies
If one of the best-run restaurant groups in the country walks away with a 12 percent margin, imagine how your local restaurant is doing.
Random Tidbits
The economics of our future world
An interesting look into the potential economics of our future world, based on Star Trek and the idea of a utopian society vs. dystopian.