Rishi Taparia - Issue #38
Greetings from Rome where, based on the bustle in the piazzas and busy street markets, offline commerce is doing just fine. This week we look at a lot of Amazon, a Supreme Court case that could impact radically change ecommerce, India’s reliance on cash, Palantir’s scary level of insight and more. Enjoy!
Commerce
Jeff Bezos' 20th Shareholder Letter
This week Jeff Bezos released his 20th shareholder letter. Worth reading in full (particularly the upfront section on high standards in business), here are some choice tidbits:
100 million: Number of Prime subscribers globally. An insane number, publicly stated for the first time, it’s an amazing membership
>50%: % of sales of units on Amazon done by 3rd party sellers. For the first time ever, 3P sellers accounted for over half of all merchandise sales, showing how widespread the adoption of Amazon FBA has gotten
$20 bn: AWS revenue run rate…
$100k club: Over 140,000 SMBs made over $100k in sales on Amazon in 2017, again an amazing number.
Amazon transforms and reimagines themselves time and time again. An amazing run over 20 years with much more to come.
Retail's New Fork In The Road: Understanding Buying Versus Shopping
An interesting take on the challenge facing retailers today: the issue in retail is argued to be an understanding the difference between buying and shopping. As discussed here before, buying and shopping are fundamentally different retail consumer behaviors. Understanding the difference is key to making sense of retail’s future and the “retail apocalypse” narrative. This article argues (and I generally agree) retailers must pick a lane or risk getting stuck in an ever shrinking middle.
Amazon Prime’s 100 million milestone doesn’t show the battle to keep growing in the U.S.
Amazon continues to expand reach with Prime in the US, but as described here, they need to make it a “no brainer” in order to get to the next 100 million. It ouldn’t surprise me to see more Prime partnerships moving forward (buy this product, get Amazon Prime free), particularly focused on lower-income households.
Supreme Court Weighs Widening States’ Reach on Online Sales Taxes
With a decision expected by the end of June, this case will have broad reaching impact on the way ecommerce businesses structure themselves. Billions of dollars of goods sold each year by independent merchants on Amazon and other online marketplaces would be vulnerable to state sales taxes for the first time if justices decide to reverse a quarter-century-old precedent in a case before the Supreme Court this week.
Google Pay hits 100 million installs on the Play Store
Some 100 million announcements just aren’t as exciting as others (especially when they’re gamed). This week Google Pay hit 100 million installs on the Play Store, which just so happened to be announced after Amazon announced 100 million Prime members. The same number, vastly different level of difficulty.
FinTech
India’s A.T.M.s Are Running Out of Cash. Again.
India’s ATM crisis is proving that demonetisation failed and cash remains king. The shortage, caused by government policies, poses a challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was also responsible for India’s last cash crisis. The inherent challenge: trust in the banking system.
Palantir Knows Everything About You
With all the discussion on data and appropriate usage these days focused on Facebook, this well reported Bloomberg piece describing Palantir and their capabilities is timely. The lede: Peter Thiel’s data-mining company is using War on Terror tools to track American citizens. The scary thing? Palantir is desperate for new customers.
Spend the time reading this one if you haven’t already.
Technology
The Thing I Love Most About Uber
Prolific investor and former Uber board member Bill Gurley’s article on his favorite thing about Uber, namely, worker autonomy.
However, what [gig economy detractors] fail to consider is that there is one critical and fundamental feature of the “gig” economy that is completely absent from traditional job types. That feature — worker autonomy of both time and place — simply does not exist in other industries. One cannot show up for work at Starbucks on a Monday and then decide not to work at all on Tuesday, and for only 2 hours on Wednesday. Oh yeah, and then on Thursday let’s just “play it by ear.” One cannot get a job at Walmart or McDonalds or ironically even as a taxi cab driver without agreeing to some sort of shift or schedule. It is unheard of for an employee to say “I want to work 3 hours this week, 45 the next, and then take 2 weeks off.” This autonomy and freedom of the “gig” work type, which is highly valued by millions and millions of people, would be impossible to implement for the overwhelming majority of companies.
Random Tidbits
I Have Wasted My Life
An insightful essay by by Patricia Hampl on how meaning changes with time. Exploring James Wright’s “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota“, she talks about her life, her struggle and ultimately her peace.
The New Yorker Interview: Malcolm Gladwell on the Sociology of School Shooters and Police Bias
A 10 minute video interview of Malcolm Gladwell and David Remnick for the New Yorker. Gladwell talks to Remnick about how he arrived at his writing approach and some topics he is exploring for a new project.
Quote I’m thinking about: “Nothing can be compared to the new life that the discovery of another country provides for a thoughtful person. Although I am still the same I believe to have changed to the bones.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Italian Journey