End of an E(xplorer)ra

Hope you’re all enjoying the summer sun! What have you been up to as of late? Some of us have been golfing around, while others have been binging on cool drinks. What’s your preferred summer activity? Let us know in comments! :)

This week we have Internet Explorer’s goodbye; Farfetch plays with crypto; Brex halts SMB servicing; It’s official: Facebook’s at war.

Analytics, Digital, Design In Action

End of an E(xplorer)ra

After 27 years, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browses officially bids farewell. All of Internet Explorer’s bug fixes and updates will be discontinued as of June 15, while Microsoft continues to push users to its newer Edge browser.

Complex @Complex

After 27 years, Microsoft is officially shutting down Internet Explorer today. The end of an era.

June 15th 2022

193 Retweets751 Likes

Since its launch in 1995, Internet Explorer has become one of the most popular ways to access the Internet, peaking at 95 percent usage in 2002 and 2003. In recent years, due to the lack of updates and upgrades, the IE browser has been criticized by users for its single function and poor compatibility.

According to StatCounter, as of this month, 0.28 percent of web surfers are still using Internal Explorer, compared to roughly two-thirds using Google Chrome and 18 percent using Apple's Safari.

Farfetch Goes Crypto

Luxury brand Farfetch has announced that it will accept cryptocurrency payments.

New payment option will be available to its private customers in the coming months and to all customers in the US, UK and Europe from the end of 2022.

The first batch will accept 7 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and BNB, and customers will be able to access cryptocurrency wallets to pay for goods by scanning a QR code on their smartphone.

This move by Farfetch is a sign of the luxury industry embracing new technologies and environments, a movement Farfetch has been leading as one of the industry’s premier marketplaces.

Brex Parts With SMBs

Fintech darling Brex is parting ways with SMBs, with the co-CEOs citing tough decisions related to the ongoing macro environment.

Pedro Franceschi @pedroh96

🧵 Yesterday we made the difficult decision to stop serving traditional small businesses at @brexHQ. Brex remains deeply committed to serving startups, so let me explain how we got to this (painful) decision, and why it allows us to serve startups even better.

June 17th 2022

72 Retweets466 Likes

Brex said it would no longer work with any businesses that did not have some sort of “professional” funding i.e., funding from venture capital, angel money or accelerators. Tens of thousands of businesses were told their accounts would be shut down as of August 15.

Brex started out serving corporate cards for startups like DoorDash and it expanded into SMBs around 2020. However, it’s recently retracting from the aggressive growth and looks to focus on its core, as with most growth companies these days.

Facebook at War

It’s obvious but it’s now official: Facebook is at war with TikTok. TikTok's success has raised concerns for the social media platform company, according to an internal Facebook memo.

You can find the memo here.

Facebook app head Tom Alison explained very clearly the company's plans to revamp its feed looks like it wants to make it more like TikTok's "FYP" (For You Page) tagging feature. The re-merging of the Messenger and Facebook apps is similar to TikTok's Inbox feature

Facebook is still prioritizing the push for Reels, with plans to "integrate Reels into Home, Watch, IFR and Groups."

Facebook isn’t the only one setting the gun on the Chinese juggernaut: Google is arming up its marketing arsenal to compete with TikTok.

We’re also recruiting for our ABD Team!

This week, we want to highlight a new BizOps position. ABD team has increasing needs for cross-functional collaborations, strategic alignment, and project management. We are looking for results-oriented individuals to drive organizational changes and push forward some of our strategic initiatives.

Also, check out our other positions that we are actively hiring.

Don’t forget that nominations are open for our Expert Circle! We’re on our Third Cohort!

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