Tag Archive for: millennials
We have come to an end. This is the final article in this series and I’ve been struggling to find a fitting finale for it. We have covered topics ranging from customer service, customization, psychology to retail sustainability and global influence. All relevant sides to this major economic engine. I have conducted relevant research and read a lot of expert opinions. I think the only thing left to say is how I picture my future shopping experience.
What makes me so special?
Simply? The future shopper generation is my generation: The Millennials (Synchrony Financial, 2017). These shoppers will be technology-oriented. I am a futurist, hence the title. These shoppers will make purchases mostly online, but they will visit brick-and-stones store to benefit from merged service experiences! I’m partial to bookshop-cafés for example. Further, Millennial shoppers will opt for augmented reality to enhance their experience (ibid); I limit myself to trying out new hairstyles on mobile apps…
What I am trying to say is that I am a tiny drop in a massive storm that is about to come down on the retail industry. Together with my fellow “drops”, I have the power to shape the future and this is how I picture my future shopping experience:
First, I would like to bring to your attention the Law of Technological Adoption. As Taylor Romero said in his TED Talk “Everything invented before you were born: it’s just how it’s always been. Everything invented before you were 30: it’s innovation. Everything invented after you are 30: it’s impossible.” (Taylor Romero, 2016).
Let’s take a product that I like: books. You cannot go wrong with books. Nowadays, books come in many formats; hardcover, softcover, eBooks, audio books. When I was a kid, those formats were more limited. So, softcover and hardcover, it’s just how it’s always been. Ebooks? Innovation. I can take an entire library with me in just one tiny device, everywhere, every day. Currently, I’m still in my ‘innovation’ window of opportunity. What I really want, what I imagine many an avid reader wants, is total immersion in the world of stories.
I would love to walk into a bookshop and be welcomed by the smell of chocolate, hot pastry, and fresh paper. When I walk into a specific section, I want the authors to talk to me, let them be the advertisers.
Imagine a holographic Shakespeare popping up in the Classics section to tell you more about Hamlet, or King Lear, or Romeo and Juliet. This technology is not as science fiction as you might think. With the help of digital holographic projectors and optical screens that reflect the light of projected holographic 3-D images to a target observation area, digital 3-D signage and holographic in-car dashboard display is just around the door (Phys, 2016). Why shouldn’t it be adopted in the retail industry?
How wonderful would it be, if I would walk into the Fantasy aisle and an entire panorama of the Lord of the Rings’ Middle Earth would appear with Aragorn’s holographic self to escort me to the cashier. Talk about personalization!
If I had doubts about my choice of literature and immersion, then the augmented reality technology from my phone would help me understand what each book is about. In any of these situations, I would get my information instantly and accurately, no “buffering” for me, no sir! Because I have no patience. My gratification needs to be instant.
For a long time, I thought that this imagined experience was just wishful thinking, a daydream, but technology has this miraculous quality of transforming the abstract into almost tangible interactions.
Technology is the avatar of what we dream and cannot express.
It makes self-interaction possible without selfishness. The retail industry of the future can help me understand myself better: letting me explore the reasons why I like certain products or services, the reason why I chose them, or why I am not trying out new ones. Most importantly, the accessibility of the retail industry would be so easy; I would not be held back by the inertia of buying simply because it’s comfortable. Everything will be comfortable. What is left to say other than the fact that I am looking forward to the future. And William Shakespeare speaking to me from the aisles. And being guided to a cashier by a favourite character. Thank you for imagining the future with me.
This post is brought to you by one of AQ’s Undergraduates, Laura Susnea. As part of our internship programs, undergraduates and classic interns are encouraged to take part in company culture. Laura’s primary project focusses on training programs and eLearning and how best to adapt this to industries under pressure.
This is the final entry for the Imagining the Future series. The entire collection can be read here.
What does Understanding Customer Service mean?
I’m not talking about understanding them in terms of demographic or marketing terms. Here we will explore understanding them in terms of Understanding Customer Service.
Is the first thing that came to your mind after that sentence “empathy”? Well, that is right. Though, just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s take a look at some amazing examples before we move on.
Here we have the tale of Salisbury customer Service Legend “Ross” (it’s even mentioned by the customer herself)
You can read the rest of the conversation here.
I hope you have a smile on your face after reading that.
Now, if you get “English Humour”, you can see from the first post from the customer that she was complaining in a very tongue in cheek way. This is very dangerous since it could have easily been misinterpreted. I’m sure you can tell that it could have gone sideways very fast.
Our legend, Mr. Ross, understood his customer. He was not afraid to match the humour, maintaining completely professional to resolve the issue. This isn’t something easily done. Of course, some training is required (at the beginning). After years of dealing with people, it becomes possible to understanding customer service and the reasons why certain situations are handled in a certain way, breaking away from that rigid structure. This is when fluidity happens.
Different situations call for different actions. In Ross’s case, it was probably one of the worst customer service situations that could have happened. Worst still that it all took place was on Social Media – which could have led to a PR nightmare. Ross kept his cool, dug into his customer service tool box, and pulled out humour as the main weapon. LEGEND!
If you want to see more of this Customer Service Fluidity, here is another great tale for you to check out.
The tale of “William the Worm and Tesco.” There is even a poem – as you can see below – and a Facebook Page dedicated to William.
Customer adaptability depends on understanding the customer. So what does that mean? How do you built trust in a bad situation? Can you mimic or match that customer’s humour (if any)?
If you’re able to understand your customer, then you can adapt to them, and provide fluid customer service.
Tell us you thoughts and what you would like to read from us in the comments or on our social media sites.
Distracted much? Interruptions are the curse of this modern life we live. Day and night our phones, social media platforms, and other gadgets, buzz, ping, beep their way into our attention. This distracts us from whatever we are doing. It did become clear that these distractions hurt our productivity at work. I mean, pretty obvious, if you are completely honest with yourself how many times a day do you check your phone when it lights up or makes a sound ? Especially when you need to study for an exam or something and you have your phone next to your books. Let me tell you, not much studying is happening then, unless you put it on airplane-mode.
A study published in the Journal of Media Education last January 2016, also stated that using digital devices in classrooms for non-class reasons have its costs. Students were asked what the biggest disadvantages were and nearly 89 percent responded that “they don’t pay attention” and, therefore, miss instructions or other important information. The main reasons why students use their digital device is that they want to “stay connected” and “fight boredom”.
However, for many of us non-students our phone is our work. We literally cannot go to work without it. What if we don’t respond soon enough and the deal is off the table? That would be a shame, wouldn’t it?
Gloria Mark at the University of California has presented research that argues that standard office workers can only work for eleven minutes straight, before they get interrupted, most often by their phone. But what about multitasking? Isn’t that a thing?
Multitasking or Rapid Toggling?
The discussion starts with the neuroscientists. They say that there are very few people in the world who can actually multitask. Neuroscience researchers argue that what people call multitasking should actually be called “rapid toggling” between tasks. This means that the brain concentrates quickly on one topic and then switches to another.
This “switching” is not ‘free’; it takes time for the mind to get deeply involved with a single topic, therefore, transitioning between tasks can decrease productivity and mental performance. You take more time to complete tasks, you are less focussed and you are more likely to make mistakes.
Our brain can do amazing things like designing rockets that fly to the moon and make brownies, but it can only think about one thing at a time. So, multitasking is, in fact, not a thing.
Social Media & Communication
Right, now we’ve gained some interesting insights about multitasking. Let’s touch on the influence of social media on education and learning.
All distraction and disruptions aside, mobile technology has changed everything. We live in a world where learning is connected and through this, the impact of social media on education is becoming a driving aspect. The way we deliver instructions is changing due to social media; the world is getting smaller.
Let’s have a look at video communication platforms, such as Skype. There is no longer a need for a faculty member or student to be in the same room: instructions can be given over great distances. I must add that this system has its downsides as the internet connection can be bad and messages can always be misunderstood, and I’m talking from experience here. What I do think would be pretty cool is a hologram as a teacher, I mean that would add some vibrancy to the learning process, but we’re getting off topic here.
Social media is such a dominant part of our modern society these days. Did you know that, on average, Millennials checks their phone more than 150 times a day?! 150 times. That’s crazy. That’s 120 times more than the average adult, who checks it only 30 times a day.
When people check their phone, it doesn’t always have to do with social media, of course, but nevertheless, just to give you an estimation: in 2016, users spent roughly 50 minutes per day on social media. This might not sound like that much, and you probably think that you spend way more time on social media than 50 minutes per day. However, when you compare it to a recent survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics it is actually a lot of time. The results of this survey show that people spend way less time on other leisure activities like sports or exercise (17 minutes), or reading (19 minutes). People spend about 1 hour eating and drinking per day and social media takes up almost the same amount?!
So, what are positive impacts of social media on learning and education? Some positive influences are that social media sites can increase student collaboration. It is very easy to communicate via these mediums. Conversely, social media platforms are full of unimportant and surreal stuff, however, this increases the student ability to ‘filter’ information and learn only to use the relevant sources. Furthermore, students have the ability to reach out to experts across different disciplines.
What about the negative impacts of social media on education? First of all, (shocker) it is very distracting. From personal experience, I know for a fact that when a class gets boring, first thing you do is check your phone and social media. During breaks, you’re less social. Nowadays, when you go out for dinner and look around, how many people are on the phone instead of having a real conversation? When people mainly communicate via technology, body language clues can be missed; it’s like having half a conversation.
Now, of course, we are talking about communicating, when we communicate via social media or WhatsApp or something else, we tend to make a lot of spelling mistakes or write words differently on purpose. Many of these messenger platforms have a grammar correct function, but students do not develop the same accuracy than when they actually write the word themselves.
Also read this article: Retail Customer Service: Reality of Retail Industry
Whether we like it or not, social media has a powerful impact on education and learning. It has its positive and negative influences, but if I go from personal experience, and then I primarily look at the distracting aspect, I would say mainly negative effects. The fact is, social media – and mobile technology – will continue to evolve and change the educational landscape.
This post is brought to you by one of AQ’s Undergraduates, Paula van Staalduinen. As part of our internship programs, undergraduates and classic interns are encouraged to take part in company culture. Paula’s primary project focuses on training programs and eLearning and how best to adapt this to industries under pressure.
