Sales in China dropped 20.5% for January and February due to COVID-19 and the lockdown. Restaurant sales dropped 43.1%. // Xinhua
Tencent (HKG: 0700) reported its 2019 financial results, growing the top-line at 21% and adjusted EBITDA at 30%. Its fintech services revenue has surpassed ¥100 billion in 2019. There are over 50 million monthly active merchants in 2019Q4 and LiCaiTong 理财通, increased its aggregate customer assets over 50% year-on-year, while its number of customers more than doubled year-on-year. // Press Release | Annual Report
Lilium raised $240M in a recent financing round led by Tencent, with participation from other previous backers that included Atomico, Freigeist and LGT. Lilium, a Munich-based startup that is designing and building vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft with speeds of up to 100 km/h, eventually plans to run in its own taxi fleet. // TechCrunch | Press Release
Dots to connect: QE, easing from central banks around the world, inflation on the way, bond issuing in low-interest-rate environment, another round of asset bubble(?) when recover, etc.
The year 1952 brought a separation of airline subsidies from airmail. The Post Office Department paid airmail compensation and the Civil Aeronautics Board made all airline subsidy payments, based on national interests aside from airmail.
The needs of passenger traffic overtook those of mail cargo in the second half of the 20th century. Airline companies organized their routes to maximize passenger needs. By 1975, airmail had become a fundamental part of the U.S. Postal Service’s transportation plan. That October, first class mailers no longer had to pay an extra fee for airmail service.
FedEx
In 1971, Smith incorporated Federal Express with his college idea of an integrated delivery system specifically designed to accommodate time-sensitive shipments with airfreight as the core.
While railway and steamship are useful in long distance delivery, short distance and city delivery system was still relying on manpower and horsepower. Things started to change in the 20th century.
In December 1899, an automobile mail wagon was tested in the US for the first time. Officials cheered the dramatic increase in collection speed and soon postmasters across the country were testing motorized vehicles. Collection times were cut at least in half in most trials. [PostalMuseum]
Driving was not an everyday skill in the early 20th century, so the Post Office asked manufacturers and suppliers to provide drivers along with the vehicles.
UPS bought its first car, a 1913 Model T Ford, and attached a truck bed to its back. By 1915, it was using four autos and five motorcycles, and employing 20 foot messengers.
Ford Model T UPS delivery vehicle in 1921 | Source: Wikipedia
In 1919, it started to use the current name UPS.
After WWII
During the Great Depression of the 1930s and America’s involvement in World War II from 1941–1945, new truck purchases were a low priority at the Post Office Department. As a result, trucks bought in the 1920s and early 1930s were kept on the road longer than expected. [PostalMuseum]
Fueled by the boom of the auto industry, industrialization again revolutionized the delivery system and further expanded the ability of settlement in less connected lands across the US.
Post war, the family car played a central role in suburban life; the number of cars on the road increased from 25.8 million in 1945 to 61.7 million by 1960. America’s growing dependence on automobiles and the growth of the suburbs pushed the Post Office Department to change how it transported and delivered mail. Passenger trains — which had transported most mail since the 19th century — declined, as more and more people chose the open road over the railroad. [USPS]
The first Highway Post Office bus was inaugurated on February 10, 1941. A second route was not established until 1946 due to the outbreak of World War II.
Highway Post Office Bus | Source: postalmuseum
Highway Post Office routes were organized on round trips which averaged about 150 miles each way. There was a very good reason for this, as the bus generally could only hold enough gas for about one 150 mile trip, and fuel stops meant losing valuable time.
Three-wheeled vehicles like Mailster were tested in half a dozen cities beginning in June 1950. By the end of the decade, more than 5,700 Mailsters were in service; the number peaked in 1966, at about 17,700 nationwide.
Postal system has its political importance, which is why it’s included in the constitution. As the US expanded, how information / news / mails were transmitted were directly influencing the limit of a united society.
On July 7, 1838, Congress declared all railroads to be post roads and enabled the railways to make contracts as long as sending mail by rail cost no more than 25 percent above transporting it by stagecoach.
But it’s the industrialization that enabled the US to include / connect California and other lands that are far away from the initial states.
In 1848, US acquired California at the end of the Mexican War. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico also recognized the U.S. annexation of Texas, and agreed to sell California and the rest of its territory north of the Rio Grande for $15 million plus the assumption of certain damages claims.
In November 1848, Postmaster General Cave Johnson dispatched a special agent to California to establish Post Offices. By Christmas, steamships were carrying mail from New York to California via the Isthmus of Panama. This was before the construction of the canal. When the ships reached Panama, the mail was taken off and transported in canoes or on pack animals – and later by railroad – about 50 miles to the Pacific coast. Another steamship collected the mail on the Pacific side and headed north.
The first U.S. Mail traveled to California by steamship, via the Isthmus of Panama, in 1848 | Source: USPS
Congress authorized funding for the overland routes not because they brought any financial profit to the Post Office Department or the federal government, but because they helped build and bind together a nation.
Also briefly mentioned in 一朝风雨一代王：Sears, Walmart, Amazon, the expansion of the US rail transportation contributed to the growth of USPS (Post Office Department at the time).
Source: gorhistory.comSource: gorhistory.com
In 1862, mail was sorted en route, as a train moved between two points, using converted baggage cars.
By the early 1900s, railroads were critical to postal operations. Like Union Station in Washington, D.C., located adjacent to the City Post Office Building, the Post Office Department ordered that all new main post offices in large cities be built as near as possible to the principal railroad station.
When the current coronavirus (COVID-19) hit the world and people prepare to stay at home for weeks, some of the social infrastructures are receiving increased attention.
The delivery system is a very good one to start. As uber not only provides uberEATS but also grocery delivery, Walmart / Target / CVS increasingly focus on delivery, etc., I will try to review the development of US delivery system recently and what is implied for the future.
Pre-industrialization: The Origin And Natural Power
The origin of United States Postal Service (USPS) can be dated back to 1775 when Benjamin Franklin was promoted as the first postmaster general.
In 1778, the US Constitution, Article I, Section Eight, known as the Postal Clause, says “The Congress shall have Power to establish Post Offices and post Roads”. This explains the importance of the postal system and its position as a government branch nowadays.
In the early days, mails were mainly carried by manpower and horsepower. In 1785, the Continental Congress authorized the Postmaster General to award mail transportation contracts to stagecoach operators, in effect subsidizing public travel and commerce with postal funds. Despite their higher costs and sometimes lower efficiency, stagecoach proposals were preferred over horseback.
The Philadelphia Stage Coach (about 1800) | Source: https://peterpappas.com
… expanded the scope of JumiaPay beyond our physical goods marketplace. As of December 31, 2018, JumiaPay was only available within our physical goods marketplace. It is now also available within our on-demand services, Jumia Food, and hotel booking portals, Jumia Travel, in selected countries.
…we continued to expand the range of financial and digital services available from third parties, powered by JumiaPay, offering our consumers an increasing range of relevant every day services.
In Nigeria for instance, consumers can now access micro-loans offered
by a local fintech startup, alongside event tickets offered by a local event ticketing provider.
In Egypt, in the second quarter of 2019, we started distributing services from a local deals provider allowing consumers to purchase their vouchers on the Jumia platform, using JumiaPay.
Not surprisingly, 2019 has been a good year for JumiaPay, with quarterly TPV ( Total Payment Volume) growing constantly and annual TPV of ~€124 million.
TPV as a percentage of Jumia’s GMV, grew from 8.6% in 19Q1 to 15.1% in 19Q4. (update: GMV before adjustment)
Meanwhile, the value per transaction on JumiaPay is lower than its value per order on Jumia, which makes sense as JumiaPay is more user in every day purchases.
In 19Q4, €19 per transaction is roughly half of the Jumia order value (€36).
JumiaPay provides a hyper-growth opportunity.
In the Q4 press release, it says “the ramp-up of JumiaPay on-platform is attributable to our continuous education efforts of consumers, the expanding range of digital services offered as part of our JumiaPay app as well as a number of newly introduced marketing initiatives. These include Mastercard Tuesdays discounts, cash-backs funded by card issuing banks or the possibility to pay for purchases in 12-month installments at no interest, offered by partner banks. “
SoftBank invested $1 billion in Beike 贝壳, together with Hillhouse, Tencent, Sequoia China, in a round of $2.4 billion. The round, closed in November last year, valued Beike at ~$14 billion. Beike is a real-estate brokerage with an online tool to match buyers and sellers, as sites like Zillow and Redfin do in the U.S. It also offers real-estate financing, home décor and property management. SoftBanks has also invested in another $1 billion in Ziroom for the long-term apartment rental market. // WSJ | Sina
TikTok’s owner, ByteDance is launching Resso in India, which describes itself as a “social music streaming app”: users are encouraged to share lyrics, comments and other user-generated content with each other, alongside full-length tracks of music that they can consume and also share with others. It has secured licensing deals with Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group as well as big publishers specifically in the Indian market. Resso’s pricing in India is in line with those of Apple Music, YouTube Music, Spotify, Times Internet-owned Gaana, and Reliance Jio’s JioSaavn. // TechCrunch
Bestore 良品铺子, a consumer brand in China with over 2,300 snack bars and online presence on Taobao and JD.com, etc., went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) with an online listing ceremony last Monday. The company livestreamed the 13-minute ceremony. Close to 50% of the company’s revenue comes from Hubei Province, the center of the epidemic. The stock has more than tripled, trading at ¥36.74 per share as of March 5 versus IPO price of ¥11.9. // kr-asia
Tesla delivered cars to customers in China with lower-performance Autopilot hardware than promised, because of supply chain issues caused by the coronavirus outbreak. According to the BBC, the new chip is up to 21 times faster at processing images than its predecessor. Tesla quickly apologized on Weibo 微博 for the decision and said it will offer free upgrades to affected Model 3 owners once supplies become available. // engadget | BBC
Despite YouTube’s ubiquity and its role as a public-facing platform, it remains a private forum, not a public forum subject to judicial scrutiny under the First Amendment
– Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown
Dots to connect: internet platforms’ products that operate like government, possible platforms with political views, regulation vs. indirect influence on tech firms, etc.
