Discussion of the future of retail

The last part of the assignment requires you to discuss how retailers can survive and thrive in the future. As with the first part of the assignment, you can use the five exam materials to get inspired when writing your manuscript.

The general idea we get from the source material is that, to survive and thrive in the future, retailers have to adapt to customer needs and make use of new technology. This general point is best summarized in Text 1: “…hyper-customized concierge and on-demand services, and what she calls “consutainment,” the integration of ultra-convenience, consumption, and entertainment.” (ll. 5-7).

One way to do this is to offer consumers faster deliveries or, as Text 1 puts it, “Ultra-Fast Delivery” (l. 11). This means that consumers will want their items delivered as fast as possible - preferably within a day, ideally within hours. Text 2 also refers to this when it mentions “slashing prices and accelerating delivery times” (l. 16).

Another way to thrive in retail in the future is to use digital technologies and social media as much as possible.  For example, Text 1 notes that people’s “Kitchen Will Restock Itself” (l. 17) with the help of the Internet of Things, making shopping an automated process for certain items. The same source also mentions using apps to “Know Exactly What’s In Stock Where” (l. 26), which implies retailers have to connect their stocks to the apps as well.

Similarly, both Text 1 and 4 mention u...