…and Spotify goes after Audible
| Your Amazon returns become Uber passengers (SDI Productions/Getty Images) | |
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Yesterday's Market Moves | | Dow Jones
33,120 (-0.03%) | S&P 500
4,258 (-0.13%) | Nasdaq
13,220 (-0.12%) | Bitcoin
$27,451 (-1.21%) |
| Dow Jones
33,120 (-0.03%) | S&P 500
4,258 (-0.13%) | Nasdaq
13,220 (-0.12%) | Bitcoin
$27,451 (-1.21%) |
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Hey Snackers, Move over, pickleball. The latest quirky sport is plogging, a combo of running and trash collection that just held its world championship in Italy. Sounds like good, clean fun. Stocks ticked down yesterday as traders awaited today's US jobs report. Hot or cold, the monthly #s could influence rate hikes as the Fed aims for the fabled soft landing. 🧠 Test your Snacks-pertise! Take our new Snacks Seven quiz to test your knowledge of news we covered this week (you'll have the best pre-meeting banter). | |
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Uber rolls out a service for package returns as Americans' send-it-back habits intensify | 5-star ride... for your too-tight Zara blazer. Uber's getting into the un-delivery biz with a "return a package" feature. Users in dozens of US cities including NYC, Chicago, and Nashville can now pay a flat $5 (or $3 for UberOne members) to send packages to their local post office, UPS, or FedEx. Uber has transformed from a ride-hail app to an everything transportation app, delivering people, food, freight, pharmacy products, and that purse you forgot at your friend's party. Now: Real-time returns: Users can send up to five packages per ride, live-track the driver's route, and get a picture receipt when the return's complete. Irksome errands: Nearly 80% of shoppers under 30 think mail returns are somewhat or very annoying, and that's helped create a market for courier services.
Race to return… Returns have soared since the pandemic online shopping boom, when folks used their bedrooms as fitting rooms. Last year, 17% — or $212B worth — of all online purchases got sent back. The habit isn't easy to break, and companies are catching on: in January, DoorDash launched a similar $5 return-package pickup. Last year, Walmart debuted its return-from-home service at no extra charge for Walmart+ subscribers. |  | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Easing one problem can aggravate another… US returns are expected to hit $1T/year soon, and companies are struggling to keep up with extra shipping costs, restocking, and bloated inventories. In response, retailers including Zara, TJ Maxx, and Kohl's have gone from free returns to fee returns. H&M started charging for returns last month to discourage over-ordering. Last year, over 40% of companies charged return fees, up from 33% in 2021. As Uber and others make returns even easier, more companies could follow. | |
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Spotify adds audiobooks to its subscription, thickening the plot with Amazon | "Sapiens" at 2X speed… Spotify is coming for Audible. The Swedish streamer is giving paid subscribers 15 hours of audiobook listening a month, offering 150K+ titles. If listeners get stuck on a cliffhanger, they can pay an additional $11/month for 10 more hours. The literary perk launched in the UK and Australia this week and is expected to entertain commuters in the US and other markets this winter. The move could help Spotify retain and attract subscribers — especially after it raised prices this year. Prologue: Spotify got into the audiobook biz in 2021 with a $123M acquisition of audiobook platform Findaway, and started offering à la carte purchases last year (which struggled to catch on since users had to leave the app). Antagonist: Amazon-owned Audible dominates the biz, though Prime subscribers still have to pay for the audiobook membership. By offering listening hours at no extra charge to subscribers, Spotify could gain a leg up.
Trying earverything… Spotify has invested ~$1B in podcasting, sealing exclusive multimillion-dollar deals with everyone from "Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. But the investment has yet to pay off with a profit. The streamer has ended several of its big-name deals and laid off workers in its pod division. Meanwhile, music artists have long been battling for a bigger cut of royalties, as platforms and artists struggle to earn streaming $$. After losing $555M in the first half of this year, Spotify expects audiobooks to have high profit margins (40%+). | | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Books could be Spotify's high note… Audiobook sales have seen double-digit growth for 11 years in a row, with especially big spikes during the pandemic. More than half of Americans have tuned in to an audiobook, and listenership continues to grow as books in general remain popular. Plus, analysts say book publishers welcome competitors to Audible, meaning Spotify should be able to keep expanding its library. | |
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| 🌶️ Spicy… In his new book covering the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, Michael Lewis ("The Big Short," "Flash Boys") says the former crypto billionaire considered paying Donald Trump $5B not to run for president next year. ⚖️ Judgy… Su Zhu, a cofounder of Three Arrows Capital, was arrested in Singapore after refusing to cooperate with an investigation into 3AC, news reports said. The crypto hedge fund lost billions when TerraUSD blew up last year. 🤔 Sus… Before FTX went bankrupt, several of its US employees reportedly discovered code that allowed sister trading firm Alameda to rack up a negative balance on the exchange. After the FTX employees' boss was said to have flagged the code, the boss was fired. | |
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What else we're Snackin' | ChickenFight: Popeyes has become the #2 US chicken chain, passing KFC (though both lost market share to leader Chick-fil-A). The chicken-sandwich wars have contributed to poultry shortages as more chains enter the fray. Wiped: Clorox is still cleaning up from a summer cyberattack that stalled some US production. The sanitizing star warned that sales could've dropped as much as 26% last quarter, and its stock is down 20%+ since August. Beep: The first 16 days of UAW strikes cost GM $200M, but that could rise if the union (which is also striking against Ford and Stellantis) expands walk-offs. Bracing for a long fight, GM secured a $6B line of credit. Modelomentum: Constellation Brands reported double-digit beer sales growth, driven by Modelo and Corona. Modelo replaced Bud Light as the US's top-selling brew in May after a Bud boycott. Reverse: Lucid shares fell after the EV maker rolled out a cheaper version of its luxury Air Pure sedan, joining rivals like Tesla in the price-cutting race to pump demand. Still, the $77K model isn't exactly a discount buy.
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Snack Fact Of the Day | Nearly 7% of the US population is expected to be on weight-loss drugs like Ozempic by 2035 | | |
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