As I was finishing up this roundup, The New York Times shared yet another breaking Covid-19 story saying that Pfizer will allow its Covid pill to be made and sold cheaply in poor countries. According to the NYT, "the company announced a deal that could help significantly expand access to the Covid-19 treatment, but the agreement excludes a number of countries hit hard by the pandemic."
We've seen a similar announcement from Merck last month. These two agreements combined could be a great aid in the global struggle against the virus, providing a wide access to the pill and minimizing the impact of Covid-19 in those regions where it takes the highest toll. Unfortunately, many of them (like Brazil) are still excluded from the list.
We're still far from the end of it. Stay safe!
Disrupting Retail
- Many companies and investors need to learn a crucial lesson: Becoming a market leader is easy, but staying one for a prolonged period of time? Not so much.Success brings about imitators. And competition can quickly eat into sales, market share and profits. Just look at the lousy earnings from Peloton and Beyond Meat for example. Both stocks plunged following their latest results.
- How a Farfetch-Richemont deal would shape the future of luxury online. This week, everyone will be talking about a this partnership.
- Uber competitor Bolt has announced it will shortly allow its drivers in London to set their own prices as apps compete to recruit amid worker shortages. The Estonian app said it is making the move as, like Uber, it faces a dearth of drivers to meet demand levels, which have risen fast since restrictions were eased around the UK.
- With the ever-changing zeitgeist and state of our fashion landscape, we see more and more brands leaning towards environmentally friendly approaches to design and production. To highlight its shift in this direction, Zalando has teamed up with adidas on a campaign film that shows how this domino effect of inspiring others to think before they shop can spark a movement of awareness.?
- Decathlon-Germany has presented its 2022-2026 business plan with the slogan ‘Redesigning the playing field’. In the next four years, the sporting goods giant aims to double sales to €2.5 billion. “We have been active in the German sports market for 35 years with a motivated team. Now it is time to reshape our playing field. Sport is part of our DNA. We want to pass on this spirit to our customers,” comments Decathlon-Germany CEO André Weinert.?
- Amazon’s Just Walk Out tech makes “every other grocery store obsolete,” according to ex-Amazon executive Brittain Ladd. Ladd described Amazon Fresh’s arrival onto the high street as the grocery sector’s “Pearl Harbour moment”. The ecommerce giant has just opened a 35,000 square foot bricks-and-mortar location with the Just Walk Out tech capability in the US, something that Ladd believes the major retailers like Walmart would not have envisaged happening for several more years.
Finance & Tech
- If you’re an avid reader of TPG, you know that credit cards can provide outsized value beyond just earning and redeeming points. In fact, many banks create and maintain partnerships with other companies that fall outside their traditional wheelhouse. Especially during the pandemic, these partnerships have helped provide ancillary value for cardholders, whether it’s through monthly statement credits or discounts.
- Sibill is a digital platform that aggregates cash-flow data, simplifying all operations connected to cash-monitoring and management, enabling SMEs to swiftly mitigate potential threats to company stability. The team has raised €500,000 pre-seed funding from Copenhagen-based startup studio Founders and business angels including Federico Sargenti, CEO of Everli, Raffaele Mauro, Partner at Primo Space, Matteo Cera, CEO at Hogaru and Giuseppe Lacerenza, Managing Director at Slimmer AI, an Amsterdam-based venture builder.
- Analysts at Metzler Capital Markets believe it is likely that distributed ledger technology will become the dominant technology in the business of Clearstream, Deutsche B?rse's securities custodian and settlement provider, in the future. According to industry analyst Jochen Schmitt, DLT will be a disruptive force in securities settlement: "Particularly in the custody and settlement of securities, we believe DLT offers great potential and advantages for almost all parties involved - the main exception would probably be traditional securities custodians if they do not adapt to this development early on."
All-Things-Innovation?
- Cloud communications firm Vonage has announced new research revealing that about half of consumers worldwide have increased their use of digital channels to engage with businesses and service providers over the past 12-18 months and 87 percent expect to maintain or increase this level in the next 6-12 months.
- Keller Williams latest program, KW Military, aims to help agents use their military experience to build robust businesses through a series of courses and training events.
Personal Changes?
- The Western Union Company, a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments, announces the appointment of Devin B. McGranahan as new Chief Executive Officer. After a comprehensive succession planning process, the Board of Directors has appointed McGranahan to succeed Hikmet Ersek as CEO by year end 2021. McGranahan has also been appointed to the Board of Directors. After 21 years at Western Union, including the past 11 years as CEO, Hikmet Ersek announced his retirement from the role as CEO and Director of Western Union by December 31st, 2021.?
- The European Central Bank (ECB) has appointed Evelien Witlox to head its digital euro project. She will take up the post from 1 January 2022 with the title of programme manager. Currently she is global director of payments at ING. Witlox has held various managerial roles at ING. She is currently responsible for ING’s worldwide payments products and a member of the Dutch bank’s management council. Since 2018, she has also been a board member of the European Payments Council (EPC).
- Netguru is on the lookout for a purpose-driven professional who - as new Delivery Director - will play a strategic role in boosting the level of the company's high-quality software services by overseeing a diverse portfolio of projects for top global clients. The team is seeking an inspiring leader for talented experts (Service Delivery and Engineering Managers), someone who will act as a coach to achieve outstanding results together.
A Number to Remember
- The world’s largest digital coin - BTC - fell toward $60,000 during late morning trade Singapore time. It recovered some of those losses and was trading at around $60,542 at 9:26 a.m. London time (4:26 a.m. ET), according to Coin Metrics data, down 5% from 24 hours before.
Reader’s Corner?
- As vaccination rates in the US climb and COVID-19 restrictions ease, people are cautiously returning to life outside their homes. This movement is welcome news for retailers that rely on brick and mortar stores to drive revenue, but how ready are consumers to return to in-person shopping? Netguru dug into the latest data from leading research and consultancy firms, including McKinsey, Deloitte, and Forrester, to learn how customer preferences have changed and what this means for retailers.
And let’s wrap up here! See you next time!
