The Week of October 24th: 10 things eft’s been reading
Autonomous vehicles (again) Amazon (again) and eCommerce (again). But also blockchain.
1. Serial returners cause problems for shops (BBC) This was an interesting read. Clearly returns are a problem for retailers, but some are using it as an asset: ‘Try on at home’ ‘Buy different sizes’. Amongst the many areas of eCommerce being disrupted, returns is one space that could use some attention!
2. IBM, Walmart, university to put Chinese food products on blockchain (Reuters) Blockchain could have some really significant impact on supply chain in terms of visibility, security, quality control, CSR, velocity, piracy, ownership etc. In the last few weeks it looks like more and more companies in the industry are experimenting with the idea.
3. CBA, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton undertake first global trade transaction using blockchain (EconoTimes) As I was saying…
4. Amazon as an ISP Isn’t Bonkers—It Makes Perfect Sense (Wired) And here’s the Amazon section of the reading list… timed perfectly for Amazon’s Q3 results announcement! With their AWS success, could ISP be the next horizontal move?
5. Amazon could be a lot bigger than we think (USA Today) A look at Amazon’s true size and online reach. Effectively: is the battle already lost for retailers?
6. Here’s How Self-driving Cars Will Transform Your City (Wired) On the back of Tesla’s announcement, Wired decided to ask 8 urban planners to share their vision of the future driverless city.
7. Wal-Mart to invest $50 million in China online grocer New Dada (Reuters) Wal-Mart continues to fight to stay at the forefront of retail.
8. Singapore to trial driverless buses after successful shuttle pilot(TechCrunch) I found out a couple weeks back that Eindhoven had driverless busses at one stage – until someone stepped in front of one that is.
9. Blog: The Asos supply chain charms the millennial shopper (Retail Week) Changing consumer habits – some retailers are paying attention!
10. Uber's self-driving truck company completes a 120-mile beer run (Engadget) This was everywhere. The advantage of this link is that it has a fancy video to go with!