Rishi Taparia - Issue #24
This week we find restaurants playing with variable pricing, the latest installment of ‘Big Box Retail Buys Their Way to a Better Experience’, WeChat offering money management services, the Chinese government scolds Ant Financial, Peloton launches a $4k treadmill and more. Enjoy!
Commerce
Bob Bob Ricard Restaurant Plans to Revolutionize the Way You Pay to Eat Out
Bob Bob Ricard, famous for it’s luxurious dining room, is taking a page out of the airline business when it comes to pricing. For the exact same menu, on off-peak times prices are 25 percent lower, and for mid-peak times prices will be 15 percent off (mid-peak includes dinner on Tuesdays and Sundays). Frankly, I’m a bit surprised this hasn’t happened in more places (albeit fixed cost structures for restaurants are different than that for airlines). It will be interesting to see the results and if it catches on elsewhere. I’ll know it’s real when Gymkhana implements it.
The Strange Brands in Your Instagram Feed
A new breed of online retailer doesn’t make or even touch products, but they’ve got a few other tricks for turning nothing into money. This is a fascinating long read on why those Instagram ads for unrecognizable brands of shoes and jackets show up alongside Nike and workout apps in your feed.
Kroger And Rivals In Talks To Buy Wholesale Startup Boxed For Up To $500 Million
Online wholesale startup Boxed is on the market to either raise a big round or get taken out. Kroger is supposedly in the mix with few other big box retailers in the latest installment of Buy Our Way to a Better Retail Experience.
FinTech
WeChat shows messaging is the future of financial services ‘platforms’
Tencent has received a license that allows it to sell mutual funds on WeChat and give the popular messaging app’s 980 million users. A fascinating new addition to the platform, it is likely to drive incredible stickiness. Unlike payments, a relatively unsticky product, people aren’t switching from money manager to money manager that easily. The population of China’s high-net-worth individuals grew 9.1 percent in 2016 to reach 1.1 million last year; their wealth grew 9.8 percent to $5.8 trillion - a huge market opportunity in a space that’s heating up!
Everyone Is Getting Hilariously Rich and You’re Not
Crypto madness has taken over, with everyone from Kodak to dogs wanting in on the game. Millionaires are emerging from the woodwork - most who are just as surprised as everyone else at their paper riches. An inside look into some of those newly minted millionaires (at least for now).
Visa Dropping Signature Requirement for Chip Cards and Apple Pay Starting in April
Visa finally announced it will eliminate its signature requirement for EMV payments beginning April 2018 in the United States and Canada. The faster we get out of the false notion that a signature on a pad is an appropriate form of customer verification the better.
China Swats Jack Ma’s Ant Over Customer Privacy
It’s been tough sledding for Ant Financial as of late. After abandoning its bid for Moneygram after being rebuffed by the US Government, this week Beijing’s internet regulators scolded China’s leading mobile-payments company for compromising privacy. There is immense pressure being put on internet firms to better protect personal data, which is interesting considering heavy state surveillance taking place in the country. It looks like the government is fine using data collected by the companies, but they don’t want the companies themselves using the data.
Did I Really Buy That? It’s Prime Time for Charge-Card Reversals
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s chargeback time! The post holiday hangover is over, resolutions have started to break, and credit card bills are being looked over. In the several weeks after Christmas, one analysis says, U.S. merchants and credit-card issuers can expect to see $980 million in disputed charges reversed in consumers’ favor. Talk about a lot of unwanted Echo Dots…
Random Tidbits
Peloton Tread is the treadmill I want but can’t afford
The white hot consumer hardware and software company Peloton, who’s $2,000 exercise bike took suburban workouts by storm, announced their second product, a $4,000 treadmill. Pricey for sure, but I wouldn’t scoff too loud just yet - they have their pricing models nailed and intimately know their target demo. The maniacal following they have built in a very short amount of time is incredible so while I remain skeptical on this reinvention of what was originally a torture machine, I’ll hold out to pass judgement.
The Munger Operating System: A Life That Really Works
Charlie Munger gave the 2007 USC Law School Commencement Address, and within it, outlined a very wise operating system for leading a good life. For those of you still looking to list out your 2018 goals, this is some good inspiration.