Hey Snackers,
That Twitter choose-your-own-adventure where you become Beyoncé's assistant was more distracting than we realized (game goal: don't get fired).
Markets barely budged Thursday as stocks slipped a tad from record highs.
Shopify's new iMessage feature for 820K merchants is a customer service game-changer
If you have a shopping problem... Shopify's complicit in the crime. And you don't even know it. That's because Shopify does ecommerce's dirty work — It's the back-end, logistics-coordinating, sales-organizing software for any retailer that may sell something online. And according to Engadget, it's making online shopping even easier with Apple's Business Chat.
- FYI: Chubbies (shorts), Bombas (socks), MVMT (watches), TB12 (Tom Brady gear), and hundreds of thousands more all sell with Shopify as their wingman.
Now you can track your Tom Brady hat (🤢) via iMessage... Text-based customer support puts help in your pocket. It's easier than lame email, time-destroying phone calls, or annoying chat windows. And it's all part of Shopify's strategy to manage the busy-work of ecommerce so brands like Bombas can focus on sock-knitting:
- Merchants: Those are Shopify's customers (aka businesses that sell products). It specializes in small biz brands, but it's also added big-time companies like Unilever.
- Pro services: Shopify's got tools for web design, bookkeeping, package tracking, customer support, and even Search Engine Optimization (so you show up on the top page of Google search).
- Insta: If you can whip up a t-shirt and post it to Instagram, you can sell it with Shopify's plug-in.
"Ecommerce as a service"... The makers of S'well water bottles are focused on making good water bottles. But they've got to be online. Instead of building their own ecommerce situation (which costs huge $$$), they can pay Shopify a monthly fee. That simple value prop has pushed Shopify's valuation to $30B, and its stock up almost 10x since its 2015 IPO.
General Mills drops 4% because it only half understands Millennials (aka their pets)
The Leprechaun should be ashamed... Lucky Charms, Cheerios, and Yoplait icon General Mills fell 4% after an earnings report with two dominating themes — Human snacks were down, animal snacks were up. PS: Cereal sales were flat.
Snack sales fell 2%... Feels meta talking about this. GMills' Fiber One, Nature Valley, Gushers, and lunchbox throwback Fruit by the Foot.
- Its Fiber One branded foods "fell out of step" (their words) with US diet trends.
- Even the CFO's confused about the direction of its snacks biz: "We need to get snacks back on track."
Pet food sales jumped 38%... mainly because of General Mills' $8B acquisition of Blue Buffalo last year.
- Blue Buffalo is munching the "pet humanization" trend that Chewy rode to its pet supply IPO this month — It's because Millennials spend big on labradoodles since few of us have kids.
- 90% of dog-owners say Fido is "part of the family" (86% for cat-owners) — And that means paying for Blue Buffalo's premium duck, halibut, and even alligator (it's true) based pet foods.
Pet food and snacks target the same Millennial customer... But General Mills is still getting to know us. It missed with snacks, but nailed it with pet food through a strategic acquisition. That's why its CFO also added this: "You'll see us invest behind some really good ideas on bars and snacks." Translation: GMills is planning to buy the trendy snacks this generation actually eats.
WeWork buys another "office tech" company
"I lost my access card"... Companies basically have an entire division to support that issue. So Waltz turned the access card into a QR Code in a free app on your phone, and WeWork just bought it. We're seeing a trend from the $47B valued private co-working pioneer that's expected to IPO this year or next.
It's called "The We Company" technically... but it's popping out its credit card to acquire office tech startups. Here are two of the 10+ acquisitions The We Company has made since 2017:
- Teem: The software companies stick in an iPad to greet visitors (and capture your NDA signature) and to book conference rooms.
- Euclid: Named after the founder of geometry, Euclid offers "workplace insights". It basically watches how worker bees move around the office and it offers productivity-boosting office layout tweaks.
WeWork two different ways... People spend about a quarter of their life hacking away in an office. So WeWork is getting ready to show public investors its 2 money-making work strategies:
- Its own office buildings: WeWork leases gigantic towers, WeWork-ifies them with standing desks, snacks, and colorful lounge areas, and rakes in rent from tenants.
- Clients' office buildings: WeWork's also a consultant, using Teem, Euclid, and Waltz to WeWork-ify your company's space, then collect consulting fees.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Full: Boeing's got so many grounded 737 Max planes (500 globally) that it's stuck some of them in the employee parking lot
- Stealthy: Tesla is reportedly building its own battery cells to cut Panasonic out of the equation
- iDrive: Apple acquires self-driving car startup Drive.ai — just as it was shutting itself down (it was once valued at $200M)
- Sour: Dean Foods is America's biggest milk processor, and shares just fell under $1 because of your almond milk moves
Thursday
- Earnings from Nike, Walgreens, and Peak Resorts
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Tesla