It works for any country with Google Maps, so China won't work but besides that, you can get the data in many countries. Some countries are not that active in reviews in Google so data might be more limited, but I've done similar stuff in the past for Mexico and Brazil and it worked great.
In this case, I wanted to map out all companies within an industry for which I am building a solution (a voice and chatbot agent to automate all front-desk tasks).
This meant getting a list of companies and estimating their size to see which ones are the best to target first (e.g., multiple locations, consistent revenue).
I also wanted to get an overview of which software all these companies are using since the solution I am building has to integrate with their existing solutions. So besides knowing the big players in the market, this helped me to map out (for the most part) which companies are using which systems) to then narrow down on which ones make sense the most to integrate first based on their market penetration and availability of APIs.
Then I'm scraping the data from the actual booking site (which uses one of the identified software), to get their menu of treatments, descriptions, prices, and durations. With this, I'm building demos that create a simple showcase of how the agent could look to help them automate their phone calls, chat messages, and social media interaction.
The thing missing would be the integration with their booking systems and some additional personalization of their agent, but I'm planning on using these demos to make the pitch feel more real easy, in an efficient. way.
So it helps in any case where you want to get a more detailed overview of an industry (relying on google maps data) and if you're trying to identify which booking, ordering, etc. software they're using.
TLDR: it is all about what you make with the data.
Definitely. Data won't create the opportunity if you don't know what to do with the data or it won't answer the right questions if don't know what to ask. I think generally the accessibility to gather, process, and make decisions with data has just become so low and it's almost a given to do such analyses.
At the same time, many "business" people I talk to, don't know how to do these analyses. And many technical people, while they could easily do such analyses, don't think of data from that business perspective. |
Many players out there fighting fiercely to get more customers, every-time making it easier to get financing, which might not necessarily be the best on the long run or in the best interest of consumers.
There has been multiple analysts and news outlets writing about this.
When 33% of users from BNPL services claim that a reason to do it is that their credit cards are already max, I see this as a potential issue.
Also as someone that has been testing & doing research on this field, it is amazing how the services differ between Europe/US and Latam (probably Africa too but I didn't dig into this one yet).
BNPL services in Latam charge quite high interest to the consumers. I'm a bit worried when I get ads to pay for sneakers over the course of 3 months and they would end up costing around 30% more, which means many people actually purchase such items in such way.
What are your guys thoughts? While easier access to credit can be quite helpful, it does seem like there might be some potential issues in the industry, particularly in these days.
> While easier access to credit can be quite helpful
I've argued against this so many times, both online and to the management at a previous job. There is a small group of people to whom these payment options are completely sensible, and they manage them very responsibly. These people will argue in favor of Buy Now, Pay Later as well as easy access to small loan, reasoning that they are a good options for people like themselfs.
Their argumentation is more or less valid, it's just they aren't the target customers for this type of payment. It might not be situation anymore, but it the past a company like Klarna made no money on a customer who paid off their loan on time. The entire business model was people who needed payment plans, people who made bad finasical choices, people who were already poor.
My take is that BNPL is such a dangerous product, for a certain group of people, that it should be at least be restricted to select purchases. For instance, you should NEVER be allowed to use it for fashion, consumer electronics, and other now essential goods. Sadly that's where these options are primarily presented to consumers.
I think 30% over 3 months is a lot, but not prohibitive. First that's only like 27% after adjusting for inflation. Second, they're for luxury goods. Third, there was has to be a fairly high default rate.
I mean, that's a lot higher than a US credit card, but a lot less than a US payday loan.
Credit needs to be easier for small business formation, not sneakers. This is predatory lending through and through dresses up as I don’t know what but it preys on the people with the least financial literacy.
> When 33% of users from BNPL services claim that a reason to do it is that their credit cards are already max, I see this as a potential issue.
I also find it bizarre that 45% say it's easier to make payment than on a credit card and 44% says it's more flexible. Really?! I don't find it hard to give the credit card company money, and it seems like lower interest rates should be #1.
I think "more flexible" means that the payment periods are better aligned with your pay periods. The CC companies are going to want money every month on the same day.
Why is this a relevant factor? With a credit card you have a 3-4 week grace period to pay the bill. If you get paid every 2 weeks/twice a month then the due date is never more than a week away from your last paycheck.
One of the ideas/products I liked the most was the multiple-cards in one (meaning that you can store multiple credit card accounts or even debit cards, into one plastic, this way you only carry one).
A company called Curve is doing this in Europe and seems to be doing quite well. (~$200M valuation). Unfortunately, it is not available in the US.
While many people might say that you don't need plastic if you have your phone and use Apple pay, maybe I am old school, but I still would love to have just one plastic (or metal since nowadays that's the cool thing) carrying all my cards.
They didn't disclose but I am guessing average compared to market. They're not cheap but they seem to be good quality. ps - median price of a home in Austin is $624,000
