The online marketplace will become the new traditional business model

Marketplaces will continue to be the new department store. Marketplaces are continuing to thrive. In this year 2019 we will continue to see marketplaces take over as top revenue drivers in retail versus the traditional department store. Even though some retailers like Walmart or Target are working to innovate beyond their traditional business models, this won't be enough to save most department stores from slight (or in some cases, rapid) decline. Marketplace only charges a commission as they are providing sellers with a platform (with a huge network) to sell. Examples of online marketplace are Amazon.com, Flipkart.com, Hotels.com, etc

Online marketplaces are online and/or mobile platforms that act as virtual stores and environments connecting your service offering to consumers who require this service, instantly. They remove the physical barriers of time and place to allow transactions to happen securely online. Service providers and contractors must also understand the new business models driving market behaviour, and adopt new ways of working, to survive in a fast changing environment. Overall, the rise of the marketplace will significantly benefit consumers and established players who capitalise on the early opportunities presented by these services.

 Existing service providers must adapt to this new marketplace, or risk losing both market share, as well as their workforce. The convergence of anytime/anywhere technology and consumer willingness to engage with these platforms has created an environment ripe for further disruption across industries. Marketplace start-ups are testing the idea that any market can be disinter mediated via an online and/or mobile platform.

Digital brand relevance first

“Winners in 2019 will be those organizations that provide a sense of value and relevance not only to individuals, but also to the world,” said Brian Whipple, CEO of Accenture Interactive. “Value creation will not come from simply growing bigger, but by being better. Consistent with our mission to create, build and run the best customer experiences for our clients.

we believe this year’s trends support our guiding principle that the best experiences are those that make people’s lives better, more productive, and more meaningful”. This mind set shift has major implications — and creates massive opportunities — for organizations and for customer experience. It’s time to take stock and rethink products, services, and experiences that people actually want and value.

These brands have barrelled through passive exposure to come to life, actively participating with customers. They use technology to be more human, creating new experiences to engage with people in ways that enrich their lives.

Tech goes to Sleep

Tech has already infiltrated your waking hours. Now, it’s coming for your sleep. From smart mattresses to smart pillows, the products that are being released into the sleep market aim to improve sleep by tracking some of the most enigmatic hours of our days. In 2019, we will see that the Trojan horse into this industry is wearable technology.

 Fit Bit announced in August 2018 that it had plans to launch a sleep tracking program known as Sleep Score. The technology will use heart-rate tracking sensors on newer FitBits to give users nightly sleep scores and comprehensive views on how they’ve been sleeping. The sensors can measure oxygen levels in the blood and detect events that might be disrupting breathing during sleep.

Here's what happens: Using TVs, tablets, smartphones, laptops, or other electronic devices before bed delays your body's internal clock (a.k.a., your circadian rhythm), suppresses the release of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, and makes it more difficult to fall asleep.

Digital Banking takes off

Digital banking is the digitization (or moving online) of all the traditional banking activities and programs that historically were only available to customers when physically inside of a bank branch. This includes activities like: i)Money Deposits, Withdrawals, and Transfers, ii)Checking/Saving Account, iii)Management, iv)Applying for Financial Products, v)Bill Pay, vi)Account Services,vii)Loan Management.

Between 2017 and 2018 there was a 24% increase in digital transactions, with more than two-thirds of millennials in the US using their smartphone as a wallet. This is creating an environment where traditional financial institutions are implementing innovative digital banking solutions, while start-ups grow at a rapid rate due to the demand from venture capitalists to invest in fintech.

online banking primarily focuses on remote deposits, money transfers, bill pay, and basic online management of accounts. Other synonyms for online banking include internet banking, virtual banking, and e-banking. So, online banking focuses on digitizing the “core” aspects of banking, but digital banking encompasses digitizing every program and activity undertaken by financial institutions and their customers.

Oculus Rift

            Virtual Reality gaming is here in the form of Oculus Rift. This history-defining 3D headset lets you mentally feel that you are actually inside a video game. In the Rift’s virtual world, you could turn your head around with ultra-low latency to view the world in high resolution display.

            There are premium products in the market that can do the same, but Rift wants you to enjoy the experience at only $300, and the package even comes as a development kit. This is the beginning of the revolution for next-generation gaming.

           The timing is perfect as the world is currently bombarded with the virtual reality topic that could also be attributed to Sword Art Online, the anime series featuring the characters playing games in an entirely virtual world. While we’re getting there, it could take a few more years to reach that level of realism. Oculus Rift is our first step.

Immersive Experiences

                 Immersive experiences are starting to become available to an ever-increasing audience. From art fans and gamers to doctors, architects and engineers – only to name a few, more and more people are seeing the opportunities in the incredible experiences created by VR , AR and MR. The power that these technologies hold in emulating physical worlds and building completely new ones inspired first of all the creative and digital fields.

      Apparently the other industries are not so eager to adopt them, in spite of the seemingly far-fetched forecasts that indicate towards a $160 billion market attainable by the end of 2021. According to experts, the slow adoption rate in utility cases is due to the persistent lack of convenience and control. “Businesses already experiment with VR, but hesitate to fully commit.

             Be that as it may, plenty of statistics report that immersive technologies will actually be serving utility in a growing number of industries. Considering it’s not a question of if, but a question of when, here is a series of long-due improvements that will most probably contribute to a faster rate of adoption in 2019.

Digital Swag Bags

        Digital swag bags are a great alternative for event hosts looking to engage tech- and environmentally friendly attendees. Rather than carrying a cumbersome bag throughout the event, attendees will receive a digital swag bag via text, email, an app or a link on your site. They need to carry nothing more than a smartphone to cash in on great offers from event hosts and sponsors.

               The digital swag bag is filled with discount codes, free offers or contests run by the host or sponsors. One of the biggest advantages of the digital swag bag is a fairly obvious one—hosts and guests no longer have to deal with the hassle of transporting, carrying and assembling (or disassembling) a physical bag.

               The attendees interact with the swag bag online, event hosts and sponsors can get valuable data about those interactions. Major advantage of moving swag bags online is that they offer lead gen and analytics opportunities to the sponsors and host. Guests don’t need to worry about traveling home and events hosts don’t need to worry about the logistics of ordering, shipping and assembling the bags. 

Digitaltwins

           Digital twin refers to a digital replica of physical assets (physical twin), processes, people, places, systems and devices that can be used for various purposes. The digital representation provides both the elements and the dynamics of how an Internet of things device operates and lives throughout its life cycle. A digital twin refers to the digital representation of a real-world entity or system. By 2020, Gartner estimates there will be more than 20 billion connected sensors and endpoints and digital twins will exist for potentially billions of things.

             Organisations will implement digital twins simply at first. They will evolve them over time, improving their ability to collect and visualise the right data, apply the right analytics and rules, and respond effectively to business objectives. “One aspect of the digital twin evolution that moves beyond IoT will be enterprises implementing digital twins of their organisations (DTOs).

             A DTO is a dynamic software model that relies on operational or other data to understand how an organisation operationalises its business model, connects with its current state, deploys resources and responds to changes to deliver expected customer value,” says Cearley. “DTOs help drive efficiencies in business processes, as well as create more flexible, dynamic and responsive processes that can potentially react to changing conditions automatically.”

The complexity of digital streaming

         A lot has changed over the last three decades because of digital media, the way we access information, our dietary habits and even how we raise our children, but one change that isn't always acknowledged lies in the music industry. We seem to continuously overlook how drastically music has been affected by free and paid streaming. New music is always emerging, and because of the internet, it's more accessible than ever. 

          Some people believe that free streaming sites are the future, and that they will only become more prominent as time goes on. Most people counter this with examples of paid download and streaming services like iTunes, which appear to still be popular.  There has even been panic that all physical copies of music will disappear.  

           Music labels see a drop in music sales, followed by the rise of free streaming, and do what they can to make the same profits that they did before. The problem is that this often causes musicians to lose in the long run. 

Facial Recognition

           Facial recognition is a category of biometric software that maps an individual's facial features mathematically and stores the data as a face print. The software uses deep learning algorithms to compare a live capture or digital image to the stored face print in order to verify an individual's identity. 

        High-quality cameras in mobile devices have made facial recognition a viable option for authentication as well as identification. Apple’s iPhone X, for example, includes Face ID technology that lets users unlock their phones with a face print mapped by the phone's camera. The phone's software, which is designed with 3-D modeling to resist being spoofed by photos or masks, captures and compares over 30,000 variables.

             The technology, which uses machine learning to detect, match and identify faces, is being used in a wide variety of ways, including entertainment and marketing. Smart advertisements in airports are now able to identify the gender, ethnicity and approximate age of a passers by and target the advertisement to the person's demographic.

Immersive Experiences in Smart Spaces

             Chatbots integrated into different chat and voice assistance platforms are changing the way people interact with the digital world, just like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). The combination of these technologies will dramatically change our perception of the world that surrounds us by creating smart spaces where more immersive, interactive, and automated experiences can occur for a specific group of people or for defined industry cases.

            The momentum driving digital transformation forward within the technology industry has been building for several years. This shift in how organisations do business will affect every organisation in every sector and there is no sign of it slowing down in 2019. One of the technologies that Gartner has identified as a key trend for 2019 is ‘smart spaces’ – an innovation that will accelerate digital transformation.

               The idea of technology existing beyond a physical notion of a device has been popularised by cloud computing, but Gartner also believes that 2019 will see an increase in the number of autonomous ‘things’, such as robots, drones and vehicles, working together intelligently. Gartner foresees “swarms” of devices collaborating with each other and with humans to automate processes and solve problems.