What I Wrote Last Week
Business
Target to limit self-checkout to 10 items or fewer as Walmart also adjusts. If the goal is to keep customers in store longer so that they will buy more, I am curious to see what data these retailers use to make that determination. I, for one, like the self-checkout. It’s convenient and often faster. But I also understand the concern over theft. The technology doesn’t seem advanced enough to prevent this issue. What is old will be new again. Give it a few years, let the technology be developed and we’ll soon see self-checkout rise again.
Google’s Woke AI Wasn’t a Mistake. We Know. We Were There. I increasingly believe that it’s important to maintain balance in everything. You shouldn’t look down on people because they are colored or from a different culture. Likewise, you shouldn’t discriminate someone because they were born male and white. You know what, why don’t we stop discriminating people, period? For those that say social trends and cultural shifts have no impact on a business, just look at Google.
Exclusive: CapOne tells regulators Discover deal will boost competition and stability. It’s clear that Capital One is Discover’s great chance at competing with Visa and Mastercard. Cap1 has the ambition, the capability and the resources to scale Discover. Even though the road to being a serious challenger to the dupopoly will be expensive and time-consuming, it does increase competition from that standpoint. Regarding the credit products, access to credit is not something that anyone can monopolize in the US. There are thousands of financial institutions and companies that have capital to lend. Plus, the industry is heavily regulated and audited. How can there be a coordinated scheme that involves numerous entities and avoids the regulatory oversight? Especially when every company has in its interest to work alone. I have not read a single credible and convincing argument from regulators as to why this deal should not be approved.
How Prime Video failed so spectacularly in Africa. I think it may be a mistake of Amazon to overlook a market as big as Africa. The continent is home to the biggest source of population growth and youth in the world. The local economies are forecast to grow significantly in the future as well. If you repeatedly call out your video content as a way to acquire and retain customers, why would you not invest and leverage such an asset in a strategic market like Africa? On the other hand, Netflix is praised for deftly building relationships with local producers and creating localized content.
Other Stuff I Find Interesting
Why you should visit Japan’s small but mighty ‘little Kyoto’. “In order to preserve the medieval townscape and revitalise the local economy, in 2019, Ozu embarked on an ambitious plan centred on sustainable tourism, swiftly working to conserve and convert its heritage structures into attractive accommodations and new businesses. The goal was to restore Ozu as the cultural heart of the region and attract both tourists and residents.”
What I missed when I went to North Korea. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of North Korea as described in this article is the enterpreneurial spirit in the dark economy.
U.S. No Longer Ranks Among World’s 20 Happiest Countries. “Helliwell and other researchers suspect part of the decline among younger adults reflects their spending less time interacting with people in person than on social media. Other experts in psychology and neurology, and some young Americans themselves, blame worries about money, loneliness and anxiety about their own futures and what is happening in the world around them.”
Stats
40% of customers who shop Sephora at Kohl’s are new to the department store
Minh Quang Duong 
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