Walmart reads the signs of the times

I was initially puzzled to read about a tie-up between Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, and thredUP, a San Francisco-based used clothing reseller.  However, Barron's put it in perspective.

Walmart is taking a new tack in its effort to expand in e-commerce.

The company said this week that it formed a partnership with the clothing reseller ThredUp in a move that will see Walmart’s website offer secondhand clothing. The giant retailer will take a cut of the revenue.

Barron’s has written before about how ThredUp hopes to capitalize on a number of trends in the industry, from the treasure-hunt mentality that has fueled off-price retailers to millennials’ desire to shop more sustainably. We’ve also noted how Walmart has been willing to spend to boost its online presence in clothing, buying up brands like Modcloth and Jet.com to experiment with new ways to reach consumers.

. . .

The latest deal with ThredUp isn’t an acquisition. It will allow ThredUp products to appear on Walmart’s website, with Walmart providing free shipping for purchases over $35 and receiving a share of the sales.

Paying Walmart a commission seems like a reasonable trade-off for ThredUp, given that the partnership will give it access to a huge new audience.

Yet Walmart could also benefit from the deal, as it will have a large number of brands added to its site and get a piece of the preowned clothing market. Instead of making a risky acquisition, Walmart is mimicking Amazon.com, offering access to its site to a third-party seller.

There's more at the link.

What we're seeing is the emergence of online shopping malls.  In a physical shopping mall, people go "to the mall" to shop at an anchor tenant - a big store.  As they go to and from it, or relax with a snack in the food court, they see and are attracted to other stores in the same location.  The big stores attract customers to the small ones.  Online, customers go to Amazon.com or Walmart.com because they know they can get most of what they need there.  If, in the process, they can also be exposed to other businesses, and find interesting products there, they'll do their shopping through the main site, which gets a cut of the revenues from such transactions.  Ergo:  an online shopping mall.

I think we'll see more and more of this in future.  The big e-commerce sites basically have a lock on the market right now.  Smaller businesses would have a torrid time of it trying to break such a stranglehold from outside.  Therefore, as the old saying goes, "If you can't beat them, join them".

This may have an impact on independent authors and their books, too.  Right now, that market is owned by Amazon.com, which has made itself all but indispensable to most indie authors and publishers.  If another retailer such as Walmart can offer an alternative online home for them, with terms and conditions at least as good (if not better) than Amazon's and comparable market penetration, perhaps with better advertising and publicity opportunities, that might open up the market to more competition.  That'll be good for writers - and it can't be a bad thing for readers, either.

Peter

Shakespeare's influence on the things we say

I was interested to find this graphic on MeWe the other day.

I knew of Shakespeare's immense influence on the English language, of course, but it's intriguing to see how many expressions that we take for granted can be found in his plays and verse.  Without him, expressing ourselves would be much more difficult.

Peter

Satellite service for every cellphone?

Strategy Page reports on an interesting new technology soon to be available for standard cellphones.

In a major technological breakthrough an American firm, Lynk Global, conducted several demonstrations in February, before numerous industry experts, in which one of the three new Lynk LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites successfully enabled an ordinary cellphone in the U.S. to send text messages via that satellite 500 kilometers away to other another cellphone in the Falkland Islands (in the South Atlantic).

Standard earth-based cell towers have a maximum range of 35 kilometers and there are not enough cell towers to cover the entire planet. Lynk eliminates the problems an estimated 750 million cellphone users have each day in not being able to get a signal. Lynk can also provide cellphone service to over a billion people who live in areas without access to cell phone networks. Lynk is literally a cell tower in space that sends 2G signals to any cellphone below.

Initially, Lynk will provide a global texting service. As the satellite technology is improved voice calls will be available as well. Lynk does not make ground-based cell towers obsolete because these local cell towers can provide high-speed service needed to access most of what is on the Internet. Other firms have developed satellite-based Internet service but these require special, but small and inexpensive, equipment to access them. Lynk will work with any of the existing five billion cellphones. Lynk also takes advantage of the fact that most cellphone users prefer to use texting rather than voice calls. Access to the Lynk network will be sold separately although 30 existing cellphone service providers have already agreed to offer Lynk service as an optional feature of their networks. For two billion people in remote areas Lynk will provide a reliable and affordable to existing cellphone service.

For the military and emergency service organizations Lynk will be a lifesaver. In the aftermath of major storms, earthquakes and such a major problem people in the disaster zone and emergency responders have it reliable communications. Cell phone towers are put out of action, sometimes for months. Yet in the first days of such disasters communications are vital and a matter of life or death. Lynk expects to begin offering texting service by the end of 2020 as it puts more satellites into orbit. For Lynk, this service is seen as a $300 billion a year market for them and a boost to sales of cell phones to many people who never bothered to get one because they lived in an area without any service and not much expectation of such service being installed. While many of these remote areas are populated by people without a lot of income the fact that Lynk will work with any cellphone, including the many budget phones (under $100) or even cheaper (under $20) second-hand phones, they will be able to afford Lynk.

Lynk will also provide a missing capability that the military has been seeking. Troops often operate in areas where there is little or no cell phone service and for the last twenty years, the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies have been working to equip commercial cellphones with encryption and other features that make cellphones usable in a combat zone.

There's more at the link.

This will be great news for areas affected by natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.  Local cellphone towers typically go out of service for days or even weeks following such episodes, until repair crews can get to them and/or power can be restored.  If those in such areas have access to text messaging via satellite, to let their loved ones know they're OK or to send a message asking for help to emergency services, that'll be a real game-changer.  I wish we'd had it available during Hurricane Katrina, back in 2005.

As Instapundit often says:  "Faster, please!"

Peter

Many "preppers" weren't adequately prepared for COVID-19

Ferfal (his nom de blog:  his real name is Fernando Aguirre), who blogs at Survival In Argentina, also has a YouTube channel where he does regular podcasts and short "lessons learned" videos.  Here's one he posted yesterday, analyzing why many so-called "preppers" were caught short by the sudden arrival of the coronavirus pandemic.  He makes some good points, and highlights valuable lessons we can all learn.

Interesting and thought-provoking.  He has many other videos on his channel, which will repay your attention.

Peter