Amazon Evolves from Online Shopping to Include Physical Stores
Amazon aims to open several physical stores with new forms of automation that could radically change the future of retail while also boosting Amazon’s internet sales by delivering orders within hours. These stores would also have forms of virtual reality that allow customers to view how new products would look in their homes. While some of these store ambitions may never materialize, many are already underway as Amazon opened its fifth physical bookstore in Chicago and is testing its convenience store Amazon Go in Seattle.
Our View: Amazon’s visionaries and disruptive technology are making online and in-store shopping quicker, more convenient, and more enjoyable. Energize your visionaries and core working group members and leverage their ideas for your organization’s success using our research, Disruptive Technology Training Deck: Think Like a Futurist.
Digital Transformation and Enterprise Architecture
Industry veterans across auto, banking, manufacturing, and healthcare verticals are facing substantial competitive pressure and potential disruption from new market players. Uber, Tesla, and many other startups have moved quickly from being niche players to dominant forces. Acknowledging this trend, industry leaders are now looking to transform their product development process and customer engagement to compete with new players, but current application architecture imposes significant challenges to rapidly iterating and efficiently scaling initiatives.
Our View: It is challenging to navigate the common enterprise architecture (EA) frameworks and right-size them for your organization. The benefits of an EA program are only realized when all components of the operating model enable you to achieve the program goals and objectives. Develop a unique architecture development framework based on best-practice approaches with an understanding of the various architectural views to ensure the creation of a successful process. To learn more, read Define an EA Operating Model.
Demand for In-Store Retailer Apps
Consumers want personalization and convenience, and in-store retailer applications can provide these qualities. A study by Apadmi found that the number of consumers downloading retail applications continues to increase and almost half of shoppers want retailers to implement technology that will make it easier for them to use their mobile devices in-store. “As shoppers continue to embrace mobile e-commerce and retail apps, the in-store experience needs to remain relevant and incorporate the benefits that can be achieved through shopping online,” shared Apadmi’s CEO Nick Black.
Our View: Harness the power of digital to transform your customer interactions. The CIO must be a key contributor, not just a supporter or order taker when it comes to digital transformation. Planning a digital transformation is a collaborative effort between all functions of the business, and the CIO must engage other business leaders to create a truly successful digital strategy. Learn more about how to Create a Customer-Centric Digital Strategy.
The Lift: Redemption for Library Patron
Library
fines accumulate when patrons don’t return their books on time, but for one
patron who stole a book from a Montana library in 1982, returning the stolen
book decades later wasn’t about avoiding fines. He returned the stolen copy of
Richard Matheson’s 1975 novel Bid Time
Return after having read it at least 25 times, having it restored, having
the author sign it, and including a $200 donation to the library while asking
“for a chance at redemption here.”