"Indonesia is a low-cost location so it's attracting investment that would have previously gone into China but because of wage demands that investment is going into Indonesia, " he said.

CNN: Building on 'BRICS': The next emerging economies

The first stage in the cycle is that of factor-driven economies which focus on low-cost basic factor conditions, such as low-skilled labour, natural resources and geographic location.

BBC: Business

"Our biggest challenges were developing an algorithm which optimally combines the data from GPS and the other sensors, and overcoming the issues of using such low-cost sensors in a system without any absolute location reference, " said Smithson.

ENGADGET: Cambridge Consultants develops indoor tech to pick up where GPS drops off

You can argue that there are countless trendy restaurants serving low-quality food which still have busy periods (thanks to their location, decoration or animation), but once the trend is gone, so too is the crowd.

FORBES: Restaurants Are Like Facebook

Besides cleverly managing inventory and location, Feinstein and Eisenberg credit their success to low prices and spending little of their sales on advertising--1.5% versus 3% for their peers.

FORBES: BED BATH & BEYOND Happy Together