Commerce
Don’t let Ant Group’s name fool you, it is anything but small. The centacorn formerly known as Ant Financial finally filed to go public, jointly listing in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, and sharing more details on the business. Founded in 2004 as an offshoot of Alibaba, the far-reaching behemoth has come to dominate the payment and financial services markets over the last 15 years. The scale and scope of the company make it far more than ‘just another wallet’.
Read MoreThis week I attended NRF, Retail's Big Show, for the first time. The sheer size of the production is nothing short of impressive. Navigating the 840,000 square feet of the Javits Center in New York, it's hard to believe retail is struggling through a 'retail apocalypse.' The show is a beacon of retail strength, with a reported 40,000 attendees representing retailers, vendors, consultants, media, and thinkfluencers from across the retail spectrum, walking the conference in search of their place in the future of a $30 trillion industry. Three major themes emerged from the show, all centered around better experiences.
Read MoreA financial powerhouse was born as Fiserv agreed to buy First Data for $22 billion in an all stock deal. The news comes as a surprise for many in an industry that doesn’t see transactions of this size very often. The combined company (which will go by Fiserv in a tragic waste of an opportunity to rebrand) forges a mammoth technology vendor attempting to prove that despite all the noise around young tech companies like Square and Stripe, old dogs can also learn new tricks. The big question is whether it is too little too late.
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