In today’s top news, Airbnb’s executives will forego six months of salary, while the company pauses $800 million in marketing plans, and Venmo and Cash App are vying to assist the U.S. government in delivering stimulus funds. Plus, Karen Webster on the state of Main Street small businesses in the age of the coronavirus.
Airbnb Execs Take Less Pay, Sideline $800M Marketing Plans
Airbnb’s executives will forego salaries for the next six months, while the company also plans to pause $800 million worth of marketing campaigns to save money and “stay resilient” as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread and stifle business.
Venmo, Square Cash Vie for Stimulus Funds Distribution
Venmo and Cash App want to be considered as ways for the U.S. government to deliver stimulus funds to help the coronavirus-wrecked economy. The government has not adopted either one for any official means thus far.
New Data: What COVID-19 Is Doing to Main Street SMBs
What would happen to the local economies and culture in every city and town all over the U.S. if one in every four Main Street businesses shut its doors and one in every three were teetering? Karen Webster said that’s what new PYMNTS research reports after talking to hundreds of SMB owners. Worse yet, 75 percent report having only enough cash to last the next 25 days. Here’s a sobering look at what these Main Street SMBs are facing and how they are coping.
The Healthcare Innovation Opportunities Emerging from the COVID-19 Crisis
From prescreening the “worried well” before they come to hospitals, to treating people via telemedicine, to working with healthcare providers to streamline payments, the COVID-19 pandemic is giving the sector an innovation intervention. Fiserv’s Colin Mellon; Buoy Health’s Jason Lavender; Flywire’s John Talaga and Amwell’s John Jesser told Karen Webster during this live virtual event that out of the COVID-19 crisis comes a powerful opportunity for healthcare innovation.
Lyft Directs Drivers to Take Jobs at Amazon
As demand for Lyft trips falls, the ride-hailing company has directed its drivers to pursue positions at Amazon as warehouse workers, delivery people or grocery shoppers. Lyft and Amazon have rivaled each other for workers in the past, but the rise in package and grocery deliveries has changed that paradigm.
eCommerce Filling Only Small Part of ‘Retail Gap’
Consumer sentiment has dipped to a three-year low, brought down by lingering fears over the coronavirus and the increasingly “new normal” of social distancing.
Lyft’s Driver ‘Referrals’ Show Limits of Model, as Uber Expands
The coronavirus pandemic has shown that Lyft faces challenges that Uber does not when it comes to pivoting gig workers to new revenue streams in times of crisis.
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