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Forums – Regular meetings – meet at 6:30 at the Panera Bread Co. community room (875 Bethel Road). Also be sure to check out – and like –  “Columbus Futurists” on Facebook!

Forum: August 17, 2017

Topic: Future of Commerce

In 2016, global retail sales reached $22 trillion, with e-commerce sales taking $1.9 trillion of that total. Through Amazon Prime, customers are getting their packages delivered for free in a day, while Walmart is currently testing home grocery delivery in select markets within a few hours. Companies like Lowes have introduced Virtual Reality to allow customers to design and preview their home improvement project, and Augmented Reality to improve in-store navigation. Other emerging technologies l such as drones, driverless cars, chatbots, 3d printing, etc also could have disruptive impacts on commerce

At the same time, this year has seen 9 retail bankruptcies so far, with other businesses closing numerous stores, and malls having more vacancies every month. What will happen to existing malls that have been abandoned and retail space that is closing? What will happen to retail jobs as stores continue to close and existing jobs become more automated? What will happen to prices of goods and services as the cost of doing business decreases? Find that out and more at the “Future of Commerce” discussion, lead by Onyemobi Anyiwo, a millennial futurist who has experience working in the area of e-commerce at companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Express & Big Lots.

Some articles to consider:

Chatbots:

• https://blog.niki.ai/2017/06/why-everyone-is-crazy-behind-chatbots%E2%80%8A-%E2%80%8A1/
• http://blog.passkit.com/intro-to-chatbots/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_recent_activity_details_shares%3BNTcLLurESDOprrc2GHLB5w%3D%3D
• https://chatbotsmagazine.com/how-will-chatbots-transform-traditional-retail-3b0542e644d4

Mobile Commerce:

• http://www.futuristspeaker.com/uncategorized/21-startling-ways-the-future-of-retail-will-shift-in-the-self-driving-mobile-business-era/

Augmented & Virtual Reality:

• http://www.augment.com/blog/best-of-ar-in-retail/
• https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Why-Augmented-Reality-Will-Be-the-Next-Revolution-in-Retail?gko=dbc10
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/nikkibaird/2017/04/26/in-retail-ar-is-for-shoppers-and-vr-is-for-business/#40d2fda9618f
• https://newsroom.lowes.com/news-releases/lowesintroducesin-storenavigationusingaugmentedreality/
• https://www.marxentlabs.com/ar-videos/lowes-holoroom-3d-augmented-reality-virtual-room-home-improvement/

3d printing:

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2017/04/06/3d-printing-in-store-is-very-close-and-retailers-need-to-address-it/#72f37e4433b4

• https://www.voanews.com/a/future-of-retail-3d-printers-flashy-tech/3686796.html
• http://www.mytotalretail.com/article/5-ways-that-3-d-printing-going-shake-up-retail/all/

General Commerce:

• https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/retail-meltdown-of-2017/522384/
• https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/16/11/8746990/why-black-friday-sales-declined
• https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/10/27/black-friday-dead/92523796/

“On Demand”:

• https://medium.com/quiqup/the-future-of-groceries-is-on-demand-what-retailers-need-to-know-197cc0464563

Drone Delivery:

• https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602896/fedex-bets-on-automation-as-it-prepares-to-fend-off-uber-and-amazon/

Videos:

• Amazon Go Store (Cashierfree Smart Store) – 1:49:

Another great discussion in an exciting agenda emerging for our meetings this year. Hope to see you in the 20th!

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