Ni Xu

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Drizly: the disruptor of the 3-tier system?
Ni Xu
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:36 pm
Since the proliferation of on-demand transportation apps– Uber and Lyft, more and more startups have entered the on-demand service arena. For example, there is “Uber for food,” e.g. DoorDash, Eat24, and GrubHub. “Uber for drycleaning” e.g. Washio and NimNim, and [...]

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On December 14, 2015, Ni Xu commented on HBS: Creating Human, Intellectual, and Financial Capital :

I recently saw people from other business schools use HBS cases in their classes. I heard that HBS also sells rights to use some of the cases to other institutions to generate another revenue stream.

On December 14, 2015, Ni Xu commented on Warby Parker: Disrupting the Eyewear Industry :

Interesting! I’m still not very comfortable buying a prescription lenses online. I remember every pair of my glasses required a little calibration after receiving them. Not sure how Warby Parker addresses this issue. In addition, does its retail store carry inventory? It seems WP can operate like Bonobos. Retail stores only offer try on. After try-on, customers can order directly online. Warby Parker can save tremendous cost in such way.

On December 14, 2015, Ni Xu commented on Drizly: the disruptor of the 3-tier system? :

That’s a good question! I think individual liquor stores are too small to run a full-fledged mobile and web app. In addition, why reinventing wheel if there is a reasonable priced service? The liquor store market is similar to the bed&breakfast market (Think AirBnB). Each of them is too small to create a network effect, however, if you can group them together, everyone benefits.

On December 13, 2015, Ni Xu commented on Bonobos: Hybridizing the Digital and Physical Shopping Experience :

Interesting post! Now I’m very tempted to give Bonobos a try. Similar to CBL’s point, I can see Bonobos offers custom shirt and suit product lines and capture a high margin, similar to Indochina and Proper Cloth. I’m also curious to see whether this model works for female apparels since I suppose that’s a much bigger market.

On December 13, 2015, Ni Xu commented on New Belgium: Brewing Success :

Interesting post! I’m not familiar with the ESOP model. Under ESOP, do employees have the authority to overthrow the CEO? In addition, are board of directors appointed by employees?

On December 13, 2015, Ni Xu commented on Drizly: the disruptor of the 3-tier system? :

According to Drizly’s site, it uses a technology called “Forensic ID Verification System,” http://www.advancediddetection.com/. This system connects to government database and verify recipients’ driver licenses.

On December 13, 2015, Ni Xu commented on Microstar: Untapping Growth in Craft Beer :

Very interesting post! I definitely see the values for craft breweries. Since the kegs are unbranded, I’m curious how retailers, such as bars and restaurants, manage their inventory. Is there any retail-end information system in place? Another phenomenon in the beer industry is mobile canning lines, http://www.ironheartcanning.com/. Glad to see innovations in this industry.

On December 13, 2015, Ni Xu commented on Heady Topper: The journey from a small brew pub to the most elusive beer in the U.S. :

Great article! I think another reason some craft breweries remain local is that they don’t want to deal with distributors. Under the 3-tier system, producers can only sell their products to distributors and distributors sell to retailers. It seems that there is some exception in VT that allows Heady Topper to bypass distributors and directly sells to retailers. Most of the distributors control the supply chain of beer sales. Especially, under some state franchise laws, breweries can only work with one single distributor and it’s almost impossible to fire the distributor even if this distributor provides a terrible service.

On December 13, 2015, Ni Xu commented on Get the door. It’s the liquor store. :

I wrote about Drizly as well, but I like yours better! It’s interesting to know that Drizly has a close relationship with the wholesalers and Amazon tries to break into this market too. But from what I know, Amazon plants to act as a wholesaler & retailer. Let’s see how it pans out.