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Soon, all businesses will be able to use Metas AI to power live, 24/7 customer service that can interact with customers on behalf of businesses on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Meta announced advancements in business AIincluding the customer service AI agent that will make purchases and can respond to voice prompts from a userat a conference Tuesday morning. We are at an amazing and historic moment, said Clara Shih, the VP of Business AI at Meta. We are on the cusp of AI being in the hands of every consumer and every business. Over 600 million conversations between a person and a business occur in a day on all of Metas social platforms. With its new pilot program, Meta hopes to utilize its Llama AI model to help entrepreneurs and small business owners scale their businesses. As soon as today, Meta users may begin to see business AI featured on ads from brands. Users can ask questions live on the ad page, and the AI agent will answer using data from the businesss Meta footprint (analyzing previous posts and customer service messages). Business owners can also input their own data sources. Businesses can design these agents, which can operate both straight off of ads and also through DMs or Messenger, at no cost right now as the pilot program kicks off. Meta is currently working on specifics for pricing in the future. Business owners can also delegate which tasks they want the AI agent to handle, and which tasks they want the AI to hand off to a live customer service representative. Tasks that the business AI can tackle include managing returns and exchanges, providing product recommendations, handling purchases, and similar services. Shih said that providing these tools to all businesses, regardless of size, is democratizing access to powerful technology, which mainly large businesses have previously been able to implement. Fortune 500 companies have huge IT departments and can afford to piece together everything to make AI work . . . theyre fine tuning their models, Shih said. But if youre a small business or even if youre a medium-size business, you dont even know what fine tuning means. You shouldnt have to. These upcoming AI agents are different from the typical pre-programmed chatbots that users may encounter: The text sounds more natural, they are embedded into Metas social media services, and they are often easier to set up. In a January earnings call, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he expects 2025 to be the year when a highly intelligent and personalized AI assistant reaches more than one billion people, and I expect Meta AI to be that leading AI assistant.
Category:
E-Commerce
The worlds biggest fast-food chain by locations isnt Starbucks, KFC, or even McDonalds. Its Mixue Ice Cream and Tea. The Chinese quick service restaurant chain currently has about 45,000 storefronts across Asia and Australia, according to the research firm Technomic. Thats about 2,000 more than McDonalds’ global store count and 5,000 more than Starbuckss. But the boba tea purveyor really picked up broad attention when it debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Mondayand raised an IPO of $400 million. Shares surged by around 43% before by the end of the day, bringing the companys total valuation to $10 billion. (Storefronts aside, McDonald’s’s market cap is over 20 times that size at almost $223 billion, and Starbucks’s market cap is over 10 times at $129 billion.) Mixue was founded almost three decades ago in 1997. But for many Americans, its massive stock market debut might be the first theyre hearing of the company. Heres what to know about the beloved chain. Whats on the menu? As the name suggests, Mixue specializes in ice cream and bubble tea, offering a curated selection of sundaes, ice cream cones, smoothies, milk tea, and fruit tea. Popular options include treats like the super boba sundae (vanilla ice cream, sweet caramel or brown sugar syrup, and boba topping), brown sugar bubble tea, and lemon black tea. Why is Mixue so popular, and what sets it apart from U.S. chains? The main driver of Mixues popularity is its competitively low prices. Drinks and ice cream typically range between six and 10 Chinese yuan, which converts to around 83 and $1.40, respectively. Even in Chinas highly saturated bubble tea market, those kinds of numbers stand out. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Ernan Cui, a Beijing-based analyst for research firm Gavekal Dragonomics, noted that Mixues low prices have helped attract customers during an economic downturn: People are chasing more cost-efficient products, she said. Another key element of Mixues success is its expansion strategy. Several analysts have noted that Mixues tend to be relatively small by square footage but located in areas of high foot traffic, like near a university campus or squeezed between other popular shops. As the chain grows, this helps give the company a sense of ubiquity and build brand trust among repeated customers. Both Starbucks and McDonalds have tried their hands at incorporating a more trendy menu that somewhat reflects Mixues strategy. Starbucks launched boba offerings in the summer of 2024. McDonalds launched spin-off snack and bev concept store CosMcs in December 2023. But aside from featuring significantly lower prices than either Starbucks or CosMcs (a grande Starbucks boba cost around $7, while most of CosMc’s beverages land around the $5 range), Mixue stands out due to the relative brevity of its menu. Despite continuously expanding its locations, the company has kept its selection limited to the beverage and ice cream space, steering clear of any actual food for the time being. What about the branding and mascot? Mixue has gotten its branding down to a science. It centers around three main elements: sound, color, and character. To start, the chain has found a way to live rent-free in the minds of its regulars by blasting its signature jingle on a loop in many of its stores. The earworm is set to the tune of Oh! Susannah with lyrics that translate to, I love you. You love me. Mixue Ice Cream and Tea. While this strategy has created a sort of Pavlovian effect in customers, its unsurprisingly less pleasant for workers. I worked in Mixue for two months and this song is killing me, one former employee wrote under a lyric video of the tune. If I hear this song one more time Im going to die, this song is haunting me everywhere, another commenter wrote. The Mixue branding stands out in storefronts and on socials with its simple, bright red-and-white color palette and bubbly font. Perhaps most recognizable, though, is the brands mascot: A somewhat confounding snowman-slash-superhero figure named Snow King. He’s pleasantly round, wears a red cape, and holds an ice cream cone on a stick like a scepter. Both Snow King and the brand jingle debuted around 2018, and the mascot has since become integral to the brands image and social media channels. Across Mixues various local accounts, Snow King can be seen in a mascot suit interacting with members of the public and participating in various trendssort of like the Duolingo bird, but for bubble tea.
Category:
E-Commerce
CEOs who rushed to support Donald Trump after the election may have awoken this morning to the painful realization that they made a mistake. Its not just that business leaders were wrong to assume President Trump would never follow through on his threats to impose stiff tariffs on Canada and Mexico. They misjudged the man and the moment, failing to learn lessons from both politics and business. Now, clear-eyed CEOs should break from the herd mentality, steer clear of Trumps orbit, and plan for the likelihood that the pendulum will swing back to the center. Every day theres more evidence that the business communitys stampede to Trump was a miscalculation. Think of it as a Trump bubble, where enthusiasm overshot reality and undervalued risk. When the bubble bursts it will seem obvious that publicly aligning with a divisive, mercurial president was bad politics and bad business. Heres what many in the business community got wrong about Trump. Loyalty only goes one way Americas allies have learned this the hard wayjust ask Ukraineand business leaders should catch up. Its true that Trump is transactional. He has a history punishing corporate critics while shifting policy to reward financial backers. Former advisors say he is easily manipulated by flattery. But Trump is a fickle friend. Look at Mark Zuckerberg. After the election, the Meta CEO shut down fact checking on Facebook, allowed attacks against trans people and immigrants, and paid $25 million to settle a Trump lawsuit for suspending his account after the January 6 insurrection. But according to the tech journalist Casey Newton, Meta’s concessions to the right may have backfired. By bowing to Trump and giving credence to conservatives complaints about online censorship, Zuckerberg didnt quiet his criticshe emboldened them. Now Trumps Federal Trade Commission is launching a new probe of Facebooks content moderation policies. Voluntarily giving the bully your lunch money rarely works out. Trump is not as strong as he claims and is getting weaker every day Its true that Teflon Don defied political gravity by rebounding from his 2020 loss and still manages to shake off scandals that would sink most other politicians. But that doesnt make him invincible. Trump wildly exaggerated the size of his victory. While he started this term in a stronger position than he did in 2017, hes still the least popular new president in modern history and his chaotic first weeks have damaged his standing further. Approval of Trumps handling of the economy, long his strong suit, is rapidly declining. Consumer confidence is dropping and inflation fears are rising. Things are likely to get worse for Trump, not better. Public opinion usually shifts away from the presidents party over time. And Republicans preparing to slash funding for health care to pay for big tax cuts for the wealthy are repeating the same playbook that cratered Trumps approval ratings in his first term and led to Democratic victories in the midterms. Business leaders fawning over Trump may hope theyre hitching a ride on a shooting star, but its more likely theyve tied themselves to a sinking stone. CEOs are underestimating the risks that come with cozying up to such a polarizing figure You can look at the politics, as Republicans face angry town hall meetings and sinking poll numbers. But you can also look at the bottom lineand not just the costly tariffs that are likely to snarl supply chains and reignite inflation. Dumping diversity goals and retreating from sustainability targets may win points with MAGA critics in the short term, but research and experience both suggest it will be bad for business and the wider economy in the long term. Remember that companies did not embrace environmentally and socially responsible practices because of altruism, they did it because diverse talent leads to better outcomes, energy efficiency saves money, and because employees, customers, and investors demanded it. College-educated corporate workers and blue state consumers havent disappeared. Were already seeing some consumers start to vote with their feet. After Target joined the crowd abandoning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments, one study found foot traffic dropped nearly 10%. By contrast, it went up for Costco, which stood firm. Global companies face additional risks. They should expect cross-pressure from other governments and consumers around the world as Trump alienates allies and abandons shared concerns like promoting clean energy and AI safety. The same choices that help a CEO score a dinner invite to Mar-a-Lago may spur investigations in Brussels and boycotts in Toronto. Tesla sales are plummeting in Europe thanks in part to backlash against Trumps right-hand man Elon Musk. There’s business value in stability And even if you love tax cuts, they wont be worth much if the federal government is shattered and the rule of law is shredded. A healthy democracy, stable trading relationships, and a liveable planet are necessary for a thriving economy. This is starting to dawn on investors, who are warning of a Trump slump. The stock market has struggled since Inauguration Day. Even before the latest tariffs caused panic, the Wall Street Journal reported that for CEOs and bankers, the Trump euphoria Is fading fast. The Financial Times asked, Is corporate America already souring on Trump? Trump may cave to market pressure and roll back his new tariffs, but theres surely more chaos and uncertainty to come. He will have good daystodays State of the Union could provide onebut his honeymoon is ending faster than many expected. Looking ahead, business leaders should try to avoid controversy but be prepared for it to find them anyway. Smart CEOs are consistent in their long-term vision and arent swayed by passing political winds. You dont need to pick fights with a vindictive administration, but leaders arent afraid to tell the truth. Look at Ford CEO Jim Farley warning about the costs of Trumps trade policies, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert highlighting the cost of selling off Americas public lands, and Coca-Cola continuing to make the business case for diversity. As hard as this moment is, theres an opportunity waiting for those brave enough to seize it. Over the next four years, many consumers and talented workersand some investors, toowill be looking for businesses that refuse to be complicit in cruel and potentially illegal policies. If youre not going to stand up for whats right, at least dont bend the knee to whats wrong.
Category:
E-Commerce
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