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ePaper created 2012-04-27, 18:36:07 | version 1.23.1
The world is turning into a giant shopping center However, it is not just in-store shopping that is changing. The world its- elf is increasingly becoming a gigantic shopping center, in which products can be bought anywhere, at any time and right away, where consumers can click on any item – be it on a shelf, in a window or being carried by a passer- by – scan the bar code and purchase it. Applications such as ScanLife already incorporate a bar code scanner into mobile phones, used to identify coveted items in shop windows. This makes it possible to buy the item online right away, regardless of opening hours. However, round-the-clock availabili- ty of goods will quickly usher in a counter-trend of certain products being made available in limited runs, with an exclusive cachet. That will certainly arouse keen interest among cyber no- mads – a group with many resemblances to shopping Neanderthals. 3is turning intois turning into shopping centershopping center However, it is not just in-store shopping that is changing. The world its- elf is increasingly becoming a gigantic shopping center, in which products Anything that can be digi- tised will be digitised away Digitisation is an unstoppable process. Now that it has music and media in its grasp, the sights are trained on bookselling. But other phy- sical retailers will be fearing for their business models in future as well, as ground-breaking 3D technology is on the advance. If “The Economist” maga- zine is to be believed, it will turn every sector with which it comes into contact on its head. So-called 3D printers will enable new products to be designed and then printed out relatively quickly as tangible objects. The technology is still ex- pensive and not really for end-users, but that could change soon. The MakerBot, a 3D printer costing around USD 1,000, already allows keen hobbyists to print out simple objects such as plates, cups and toys at home. Sceptics should check out the “Thingiverse.com” platform, where DIYers are busy exchanging digital designs. That sounds like a gloomy outlook for shop owners, unless shops can set up their own 3D workshops in which customers can “print out” their own individual designs with professional support 4 elf is increasingly becoming a gigantic shopping center, in which products can be bought anywhere, at any time and right away, where consumers can click on any item – be it on a shelf, in a window or being carried by a passer- by – scan the bar code and purchase it. Applications such as ScanLife already incorporate a bar code scanner into mobile phones, used to identify coveted items in shop windows. This makes it possible to buy the item online right However, it is not just in-store shopping that is changing. The world its- elf is increasingly becoming a gigantic shopping center, in which products All traders are only temporary When retail businesses disappeared off the radar in the past, it was usually because they went bust, were bought out or ceased trading without any succession arrangements in place. In future, shops will disappear simply because their function as a store room or location for selling alone is just no longer needed. Some shops will cease to be required by a generation that has grown up with the mobile internet in its pocket. The message for retailers that are in business today, and that want to remain so in future, is that no shop – online or offline – is built for perpetuity any longer. More than ever, retail ne- ver stands still. That is highlighted, for example, by the growing number of pop-up shops that are opened at the right place and the right time and then disappear a while later. 5 DES Annual Report 2011 43