Matt Britton argues that consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands are shifting toward service-based models that bring services into consumers' homes ("servicification"). He gives examples—Glam Squad (at-home stylists), Handy (maids), Wag (dog-walking), TaskRabbit/Ikea, Under Armour/MapMyFitness—and claims brands will acquire or partner with such services to gain continuous consumer data and direct access to households. He frames this as a major acquisition and valuation opportunity for companies that collect in-home consumer data.
This is Glam Squad. In major cities, Main street prices of real estate are going up and up and up. So if you're a salon and you're basically offering those services, it's really hard to make a profit Right now with rising real estate costs. What Glam Squad does is you hit a button, you have a team of stylists to come in your apartment and do hair, makeup, blowouts. They're actually coming to you. As more people have two income households, the they need the convenience of having people coming to them. And you're gonna start to see this in many categories where companies are gonna get into the services space to actually get into people's homes and collect their consumer data. There's Handy, where you hit a button. You actually have maids come to your house instantly. There's Wag, where you hit a button and they actually walk your dog. So anything that you need to do as a consumer, you can actually do without ever picking up the phone. You push a button. Which is why Ikea just made a huge acquisition of a company called TaskRabbit. That instead of when you buy that dresser with 110 pieces, but it only comes with 104 and for some reason it never works, PassRabbit will actually come and actually build that for you. And they're doing that because now Ikea has a constant communication stream with consumers. Under Armour bought a company called MapMyFitness, the jogging app where you could track how far you run. Because without that, Under Armour didn't know who their customers are. If I were l' Oreal or Maybelline or Revlon, I would buy Glam Squad instantly because that's going to get me into consumers homes. If I were Clorox or Mr. Clean, I would buy Handy because now I'm going to get my products into people's homes. All these companies are going to get bought up for huge valuations because they're collecting consumer data. And I think it's another huge opportunity.
