Social Retail: Immersion & Serendipity

Any product that has a social component baked in has fundamental and asymmetric advantages over competing non-social products in that category: better growth loops, better engagement, better retention, better defensibility.

Historically, the relationship between consumers and companies was more transactional and direct. You would seek out an item you needed in a store. You might be put on a mailing list and sent promotional catalogs or coupons every few months, but communication remained relatively sparse. Today, the age of passive consumerism seems to be over. The ex... See more

The social internet will look a lot like the shopping mall of the 1990s. Is the shopping mall a social hangout or a place to transact? It's both. The social internet will make it natural to pay and play in the same place.

It happens through integration of social components into the traditional online shopping process.

Rebundling of social is a theme that I see emerging as digital becomes the default; as more and more physical (and bundled) experiences or offerings go digital, we will start seeing socialization or daycare elements being added back consciously to the digital element as a discrete and separately configurable component. We watched movies w friends i... See more

My overarching thesis is that we are at the early stages of a multi-decade super-cycle of retail empowerment driven by the fact that “consumption, culture and community” are now tradeable assets. Consumption is no longer ephemeral, but persistent. No longer private, but communal. No longer limitless, but scarce. Consumption is, for the first time, ... See more