??♀? Peleton goes mass, The Sims is back

STOCKS & STARTUPS

Peloton starts selling equipment on Amazon in major retail strategy shift

It’s not confirmation of a rumoured Amazon acquisition, but Peloton have confirmed that Amazon customers can buy select products, including the Peloton bike, set-top Peloton Guide, clothing and branded accessories like shoes and weights, through the?official Amazon Peloton store .?Read more .

The takeaway:?The move marks a major strategy shift -?and, perhaps, concession - for a troubled Peleton. As it notes in a press release, this is the first time Peloton has sold product outside of its own site, stores and sales channels. Its recent struggles have proven, in part, that there’s a ceiling for the company’s famously cult-like devotion.

“Expanding our distribution channels through Amazon is a natural extension of our business and an organic way to increase access to our brand,” Peloton CCO Kevin Cornils said.

“We want to meet consumers where they are, and they are shopping on Amazon. Providing additional opportunities to expose people to Peloton is a clear next step, as we continue to generate excitement for our unparalleled connected fitness experience.”

What the Pret Index told us about the economic recovery

How can an egg sandwich be an economic indicator? Prets are generally located around cities’ financial districts and airports and?Bloomberg’s?“Pret Index” ?looks at transaction volume from January 2020 as a baseline to follow changes in work habits and travel demand in the economic recovery post COVID. It also shows how cities compare - for example, downtown NYC’s Prets have been slower to recover than London’s.?Read more .

The takeaway:?Pret’s cafes in UK airport terminals and train stations also showed how quickly leisure, business and commuting travel rebounded across the country, while data from Hong Kong and Paris offered an insight into how other different reopening policies across those business hubs stacked up against reopenings in London and New York. So, while you might not be a fan of Pret’s Pickle sandwich, it does come?with a side of macroeconomic insights…

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TECH & WEB3

‘The Sims’ creator Will Wright raises $6M for blockchain-powered games with NFTs.

Venture capital firm Griffin Gaming Partners is backing Will Wright to develop simulation games powered by blockchains and NFTs.

Wright is a major figure in gaming having famously designed the iconic?video games Sim City and The Sims for Maxis. He has also partnered with Lauren Elliott who created another old school icon - “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego”. Gallium, which they together founded in 2015, intends to integrate blockchain and AI into creator-owned simulation games.?Read more .

So what:?Gallium ran a?pre-sale ?for Proxi tokens last September, alongside blockchain startup Forte, which raised a whopping $725 million. And while Wright’s excited about working at the forefront of emerging technologies, he’s a bit sceptical of the hype around NFTs. He reportedly said blockchain allows players to maintain control over their content in a secure manner, but noted his studio struggled with NFT whales - who weren’t interested in the underlying games - buying up assets with intent to sell at a higher price.

Mastercard partners with Binance to bring Bitcoin payments to high street stores

Shoppers might soon be able to buy a loaf of bread with bitcoin after the boss of Mastercard announced a partnership with world’s biggest crypto exchange to introduce digital currency payments in high street stores. Mastercard is working with Binance to let people use their crypto holdings in over 90 million shops that accept Mastercard payments.?Read more .

The takeaway:?Mastercard’s announcement comes after El Salvador became the first country in the world to recognise bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021, despite protests from citizens and calls from the IMF to stop accepting the cryptocurrency or risk missing out on access to loans from the institution. The move means businesses in the country are obliged to accept bitcoin as a means of payment, something many small business owners have been unenthusiastic about due to the wild fluctuations in the value of the cryptocurrency. Mastercard says it doesn’t settle payments to merchants in cryptocurrencies. Instead, payments are converted to fiat currency to make the purchase, in a bid to counter the volatility.

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COMMS & CULTURE

Digital nomads are living their best lives by taking their kids on ‘workations’

One of Europe’s top work-related trends - digital nomadism - is broadening its appeal, with parents increasingly looking to take?their kids with them on ‘workations’. But despite the number of platforms connecting digital nomads with worldwide coliving and coworking spaces, there hasn’t been a lot of support for digital nomad families.?Read more.

The takeaway: The lack of support is despite 70% of “anywhere workers ” having children, according to a recent Lonely Planet and Fiverr report. Another?survey ?of 1,000 UK workers aged over 30 by UK business website?smallbusinessprices.co.uk ?revealed that 72% want to work abroad again, but 42% believe it’s too complicated to do, with 21% citing family commitments as holding them back. Will employers rise to the occasion to support the digital nomadism trends for families in a bid to win the war on talent? Or is this a post-COVID pipe dream that will lose popularity?

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Fact of the week

In what is probably a surprise to no one, Instagram is testing a feature called “IG Candid Challenges” that mimics BeReal’s no-filter selfie format and spontaneous photo-sharing app.

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Video of the week

Is appointment viewing back? Check out this video of a whole apartment block in NYC all watching House of the Dragon, the new Game of Thrones prequel in unison, in real time.

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