The Future Of Retail

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I got a few comments in a post I put up yesterday about JC Penny and shopping. Based upon the responses, I thought I would take a bit of a walk of how the future of shopping will look like. This is speculative yet is based upon looking at different technologies over the past 10 years.

It Will Be A Virtual World

Extended reality is getting very close. Over the next 5 years we will see advancements in both augmented and virtual reality. This is going to change things completely.

The first concept here is the virtual store. We are going to see websites turned into a complete store that people can shop in just like they do in the physical world. They will be sitting in their living room yet going down aisles seeing all the items they usually do.

With augmented reality, there will be advertisements popping up promoting specials and deals that you might be interested in. There will be coupons along with other savings that could also be of benefit to the customer.

Scanning And Printing

3D scanning and printing is going to merge the digital and physical world.

One of the areas that we will see a radical difference is with clothing including shows. A 3D scanner will allow one's entire body to be scanned, hence all measurements are always on file.

This means one will be able to shop for clothing (and shoes) which are contoured to one's body. 3D printing is going to allow for personalized product creation, on-demand. Items purchased will be printed after being ordered to the exact specifications required. This will reduce the number of items that arrive which do not fit properly.

Personal AI Assistant

The wild card in all of this could be artificial intelligence. It is likely that each of us will have a personal AI assistant that keeps records of all our likes. Much of the shopping that will take place could be done autonomously by our assistant.

This will be for the everyday or simple items. It could also extend to items such as sneakers. Under that scenario, we might tell the assistant to order a new pair of sneakers for walking. The AI will place the order which will accompany the specs of our feet. The company will then print them out and send them.

Many transactions of this nature will take place autonomously, computer-to-computer. When we run out of an item, it will be instantly placed on the list to reorder. Our personal AI will be interacting with the different products in our homes being notified when something is in need of replacement.

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Going forward, it is vital to watch those companies that are on the cutting edge of technology. This also opens up space for smaller players. As blockchain grows, more transactions will be taking place using cryptocurrency. This means that marketplaces tied to those chains will be of interest since the currency is already held.

The point here is to illustrate how many different technologies will converge together to create the world we live in.

Over the next decade, the companies that fail to adapt are going to be put out of business very quickly. The time from top of the mountain to bankruptcy has never been faster.

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Posted via Steemleo