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digital disruption

Being Self-Employed – One of the Consequences of the Digital Disruption

We should ready ourselves to be self-employed. Most alarmingly, the digitization of the businesses has obsoleted millions of jobs. In fact, this is happening right now in the financial sector of South Africa. As a result, a couple weeks ago, one of the four universal banks in South Africa announced that it will close 91 branches. That will leave about 1200 employees without a job.

The bank can hardly be blamed for closing its branches. I mean, when last did you visit your bank? If you’re looking for something to blame, you need to look no further than the digitization of the banking sector. Also, the entry of new digital players has challenged the status quo in the market, said Jorge Camarate, Strategy& Partner in PwC’s financial services division recently in ITWeb.

The digital disruption in the banking sector will sadly continue to cause more job losses. And this is happening across industries. So, 1200 bank employees will soon face the reality of surviving without their salaries.

As a result, the retrenched employees, especially the breadwinners, may have no other option to be self-employed.

What does it mean to be self-employed?

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Digital Transformation in a Small Business

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Digital transformation is for most small businesses the only way to survive the digital disruptions of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The digital disruptions are fueled by technology innovations that resulted in the “3rd Platform” which is built on a foundation of cloud, mobile, social, and Big Data technologies 1.

Many businesses reacted badly when the digital disruptions started to impact on their decision-making processes, operations, product roll-outs, and promotions. More importantly, they’d started to have problems engaging with their customers 1.  Indeed, some big brand businesses that failed to embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution, has closed down.

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The Dawn of Autonomous Cars, and the Demise of the Car Driving Experience

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The phenomenon of fully autonomous cars has begun. “Self-driving cars without a human behind the wheel could run freely on UK roads from 2021, the chancellor is set to announce”, according to AutoCar. Unfortunately, by replacing human drivers with robot drivers, the end of a rather emotional relationship that we are having with cars, will begin.

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Customer Centricity – Now is the Opportunity to know your Customers Better

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Customer centricity means that retailers should align products and services with the needs of their most valuable customers 1. Said Peter Drucker more than 50 years ago: “it is the customer who determines what a business is, what it produces, and whether it will prosper.”

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3D Printing Technology for Retailers – An Opportunity or a Waste of Money?

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3D printing technology for retailers is now emerging as an outcome for small localized retailers that are facing closure. However, as it is with most disruptive technologies, the advantages that 3D printing offer for retailers should be weighed against its potential pitfalls.

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Success in the Digital Age Requires Extraordinary Retail Leaders

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The carnage intensified last year. “There were 15 shop closures a day across the UK in the first half of 2016 and the number of new openings has fallen to the lowest level for five years” writes Graham Ruddick, senior business reporter at The Guardian. And the carnage is continuing this year. “Brick and mortar stores are suffering due to competition from online sales and the closures just keep coming” according to Daniel Kline in MotleyFool. What is happening? Where are the retail leaders?

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How successful are Retailers in the Omnichannel?

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Bricks and Clicks (B&C) retailing is with us for more than two decades. The adding of the online channel to their physical business has allowed retailers to survive and grow even during tough trading conditions.  However, a recent report by Andria Cheng in eMarketer suggests that B&C retailers are struggling to the get their omnichannel strategies to work.

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Pop-Up Shops as a Marketing Tool for Retailers

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Pop-Up Shops are short-term, temporary retail events that are “here today, gone tomorrow”. It is the temporary use of physical space to create a long term, lasting impression with potential customers. “The pop-up retail phenomenon, once known as flash retailing, has grown in recent years” say experts at Gordon James Realty, a local property management firm. Retail space for pop-up shops is rented for a fraction of the cost of a long-term space and is a cost-efficient way for a retailer to increase its brand awareness and make a profit.

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Artificial Intelligence – Digital Outcomes or Digital Disruptions for Retailers?

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence exhibited by machines. AI, still science fiction for most of us, is now becoming a daunting reality in the retail sector. Although we have learned machines (e.g. robots) for some time now, connecting them with the internet may accelerate digital disruption. Digital disruption occurs because unmet needs in the market and in our societies can be addressed through digital means 1.

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