What I wrote last week
My thoughts on why investing is hard
Business
Credit Suisse 2021 Report on Payments, Processors & Fintech. This deck is long and has tons of information. You can get a lot of pointers out of it, but be aware that many slides have quite old data.
The economics of dollar stores. An excellent post by The Hustle on how dollar stores work. The most interesting things to me are 1/ unit prices on some items at these stores can be higher than those at bigger chains such as Target or Walmart. The absolute prices are lower, but they are also on a much smaller volume. 2/ These stores seem to be more concentrated in poorer neighborhoods. I read somewhere that richer customers don’t mind the stigma of buying stuff at dollar stores. I wonder if that’s still true and how much the trend is a boost to these stores’ business.
How a Beer Giant Manages Through Waves of Covid Around the World. A great story of how a global business uses data analytics to make decisions in the tumultuous pandemic. Even when the AB Inbev’s data team accurately predicted the second surge in India, it did get the previous predictions wrong. Nobody has a crystal ball to see the future. All we can do is to increase the odds with a wealth of data and machine computing.
Mac sales in India tripled after online Apple Store opened. One aspect of Apple’s business that I think should be discussed more is its retail stores and website. The report here credited the presence of Apple’s website for the significant increase in sales. I also learned from the article that to launch own-brand eCommerce sites in India, companies need to source locally 30% of their production. I guess there is a side benefit of expanding supply chain in India, apart from lowering the risk of over-reliance on China.
An interesting article on the next CEO of Amazon, Andy Sassy. The level of detail orientation described in the article is admirable. I love the concept of the Wheel of Death. People naturally tend to get complacent. Having them on their toes and preserving the unpredictability is a great way to ensure that they perform to the level required.
What I found interesting
Inside Wikipedia’s endless war over the coronavirus lab leak theory. Content moderation is super difficult at scale. Especially when you are widely considered to be neutral and often accurate. And during a global pandemic.
Equipping cargo ships with puffy sails could help Michelin improve a vessel’s fuel efficiency by 20%
The 5 coolest trends in urbanism … in Europe
Stats that may interest you
1/3 of U.S grocery sales comes from independent supermarkets
Amazon Pay Later hit 2 million sign-ups in India
Minh Quang Duong 