Two Ex-Googlers Want to Make Bodegas and Mom-And-Pop Corner Stores Obsolete

For example: these bodega guys sell the most popular items at higher margin; those items drove additional foot traffic into the bodega who then bought the next tier of items. Or someone needed the next tier and picked up the more impulse items while there. Once the cream has been skimmed, the economic model of the bodega is no longer available, so the shops vanish, which inconveniences everyone.

This is the Uber model too: pick off the wealthier passengers, leave the dregs to taxis who are required by law to pick everyone up.

This model has destroyed dry cleaners in SF; as a bonus the dry cleaning startup failed as well, but by that time the damage was done.

It's capitalism, sure, and in case you're wondering I'm not advocating for regulation to prevent innovation. But personally I try to avoid these cream-skimming businesses even though I am in the "cream" demographic.

I saw a tv show about how the managers of each conbini uses a sophisticated app that aggregates inputs like weather and sales trends to anticipate demand for each product and help order and deal with logistics. Every cash register has a set of age bracket buttons, so that can track age demographic even for cash sales.

The original breakthrough of 7-11 when it first franchised in Japan was to use the stores as a distributed warehouse where almost all inventory is for sale almost all the time. Since then, they’ve been chipping away at refinements and there’s plenty of competition, not to mention jobs for immigrants, etc.

I read somewhere that the average person in Japan spends around US$6.00 per day at a conbini. Even with all the costs, that’s a pretty healthy revenue stream.

Mini-bars are at least attached to your name and credit card for the duration of your stay.