Today In Data: Getting Used To The Next Big Thing

Some digitizations are clearly an upgrade — consumers prefer doing their Black Friday shopping from their couch as opposed to the mall, and businesses prefer that their cross-border payments not be a source of surprise when it comes to arrival times. However, some innovations are, perhaps, a harder sale. We may live in the era of voice automation, but consumers don’t always love talking to non-human voices. In addition, ridesharing companies are embracing electric scooters en masse, but it remains to be seen if consumers will be enthused.

$100 Billion: Amount of online retail sales brought in during 2017.

90 percent: Share of American businesses that have experienced a late international payment in the last year.

33 percent: Share of card customers who prefer talking to a live person on the phone.

25: The number of nations in which Taxify operates.

$1: Cost per minute talking to a live person vs. about $.10 for an interactive voice response system.