You know Uber. You probably heard of Uber Eats. Perhaps you even ordered from their service. But are you familiar with how they are revamping the $863 billion US restaurant industry?
According to The New York Times, Ricky Lopez owned one restaurant in San Francisco, and was quite happy with the way things worked. Last year, Uber approached Mr. Lopez and told him there was demand for late-night orders of burgers and ice cream in his area. ⠀ Ricky Lopez now owns four restaurants, three of which are virtual — they exist only within the Uber Eats app. "Delivery used to be maybe a quarter of my business," Mr. Lopez claimed. "Now it's about 75 percent of it." ⠀ The company analyzes neighborhood sales data to identify unmet demand for particular cuisines. Then it approaches restaurants that use the app and encourages them to meet that demand, increasing sales for restaurateurs by an average of more than 50 percent. ⠀ Now, what if Spotify tries to do the same? The music streaming giant can analyze the preferences of its consumers, and look at what music is needed, but not yet produced. ⠀ Spotify can then point out their findings — the "weak spots", the demands that no one meets — and suggest what music to create. This way, Spotify can attract more musicians, more consumers, increasing both its own revenue, and that of their artists.