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The impact of advancing automation on our daily lives did not go unnoticed for most of us. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, we experienced changes in traditional business models and got used to living through our screens. Nowadays, it almost feels natural to place your food order through online bots instead of with actual workers standing behind a counter. However, even though the rise of automation came with many benefits and facilitated processes in various ways, we must stay aware of the threats that come with all these rapid technology advancements. One of such threats is robots taking over our job market by replacing white collar and professional service positions.

Over the past couple of years, we already witnessed automation taking over the maintenance, agriculture, construction, mining and manufacturing industries. As a result, many workers operating in the manual labor market got replaced by lower cost alternatives such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Robotic Process Automation (RPA). The market size of R.P.A was valued at $1.57 billion in 2020 and is expected to have an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.8% from 2021 to 2028 (Mackie, 2021). This growth implies that not solely manual labor workers should be in fear of their jobs, but also those people operating in the professional service market.  Whether you have a college degree or not, if bot software or robots can be programmed to perform a specific job, this endangers your position. 

Robots infiltrating our workforce however does not occur in a steady pace as it concentrates especially in bad, economic times. If humans become too expensive for companies to employ, they tend to replace them by technology to avoid rapidly declining revenues. According to McKinsey & Company, there will be a displacement of 45 American workers by 2030. This number clearly indicates that technology has revolutionized every sector everyone can become a victim of automation.

But how do we cope with these rapid changes and secure ourselves of a worthwhile job? Clearly it has become inevitable to learn how to deal with AI and prepare for technological innovations continuously entering the market. We must think forward and understand which jobs bring new opportunities in the future and how we can take advantage of these opportunities.

Mackie, C. (2021). Beware Professional Services Workers: Robots Are Coming For Your Job Too!. Retrieved 6 October 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/calvinmackie/2021/09/30/beware-professional-services-workers-robots-are-coming-for-your-job-too/?sh=58dde9175237

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The past couple of months have been transformational for the retail industry as pandemic-induced lockdowns and social distancing pushed consumers to try new technologies and digital experiences. The desire for exceptional brand messaging and physical-meets-digital (phygital) shopping experiences has changed brick and mortar retail forever which forces brands to re-think how they sell their services online to the post-covid consumer. Consumers have come to expect brand messaging that feels educational, entertaining and surprising. Accordingly, it becomes a considerable challenge for brick and mortar to deliver clients experiential customer journeys and present their narrative universe online.

Experiential e-commerce refers to the element of serendipity in which customers can discover online events and structures in an unguided way. Here, one can navigate itself through a space which leaves more room for unexpected occurrences. For many customers, online shopping still seems a highly unfulfilling activity. Experiential retail wants to break this linearity of browser-based shopping and offer customers a type of platform that feels natural and through UX design. This allows users to wander around the space and discover new things without losing a sense of agency.

One of the approaches to do this and which especially works well with younger consumers is using a gaming-inflected approach to e-commerce. A good example is fashion brand Pangaia’s Microsite. Customers find themselves in an Antarctic surrounding where they can move around and ‘collect’ certain items on their way. While collecting these items, they get confronted with educational animations, games and 3D product models of apparel. Although they can check-out at every moment, the brand captures users’ attention by immersing them in the environment by using matching sounds and lightning. An important aspect of this gaming approach is including some sort of reward structure.  By incorporating hidden elements that only the very attentive customer sees, a brand can really create purpose and gives a customer reason to come back. Such technologies incentivize customers in a fun and emotive way, while also teaching them about the principles behind the brand. 

But how can brands like Pangaia make this experience even more meaningful for customers? One of the benefits of building a retail platform within a game engine is that it allows for the creation of shared experiences. In the future, multiplayer options in which ambassadors and influencers can assist the customer during its journey can optimize the experience. Also, it would permit customers to access the platform with friends while being able to create their own avatars. By offering shoppers meaningful virtual experience, brands can differentiate from competitors and increase digital presence.

Source: https://www.frameweb.com/article/experiential-ecommerce