Many industry analysts are predicting and projecting what the future of business technology will look like. Specifically, how our interactions with virtual and augmented realities will merge with mobile technology. One of the biggest industries that will be impacted is retail. So what does shopping look like in the near future?
When Amazon came out with Amazon Go recently, it was hailed as a revolutionary concept. As a frictionless, bricks and mortar shopping experience without the need for plastic or paper money, it is revolutionary. The technology that Amazon Go will use (for now) is mobile-based. Their older service, Amazon Dash had already made the lives of consumers easier by enabling them to place orders automatically or whenever a specific grocery item would run out. Combine the two technologies, and you get pretty close to creating the ultimate shopping experience.
While Amazon Go could initially cause some job losses on the high street, more jobs are likely to be created in the logistics industry. Consumers would also still require help making in-store choices, which may require more learned in-store human support teams. Recently, a retail chain in Japan was the first to pilot Panasonic’s ‘Reji Robo’ or robo-shopping bagger, a cashier-less terminal where shoppers scan their own items before the register bags them up.
