Live from OmniShopper 2015: 'Maximizing Retail Opportunities in a Digitally-Enhanced Future Landscape'

'When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windows.'

-Chinese proverb

With these constant changes lie opportunities
for companies to win or lose- how exactly does this happen? Jonathan offered 3
pieces of information that will dictate our success in this whirlwind of
change.

It's all too
easy to for us to run in autopilot each and every day- wake up, shower, coffee,
head to work. Our work responsibilities and days are so overwhelming we get as
much as possible done in as little time and try to get out of the office with
some minimal amount of energy left to go home and actually live our lives.

We don't have
time or energy to think of things other than what we are already responsible
for at work and family related. The problem is- it's those advancements, those
changes that are occurring outside of our auto-piloted lives that are
detrimental to our future success.

It may be half
that we don't have time or notice these changes, but it also may be half the
fact that we really are unwilling to accept these changes. 'Change is enemy to
the competent,' Jonathan explained. We don't like it- it causes us to leave our
routine and actually have to think.

What are some
of these changes occurring right before our eyes? Think Smart Medicine that
allows us to swallow a pill and learn what our bodies need. We are able to
bypass doctors and instead learn about our bodies in real time. Or Airbnb-
where we now stay in strangers houses as if they were hotels. Or the importance
of opinions- Urban Outfitters releases a controversial 'Kent State' sweater
that causes and uproar from consumers, consequently resulting in a major negative
impact on stocks. Or hotels in Japan run completely by robots. Or wearable
contacts that allow you to envision you're in a different place.

Change
surrounds us and it is necessary to acknowledge this in order to thrive in the future.

Instead of
fighting this change we need to let it happen and ensure we leverage it. The aforementioned
trends are only a small piece of the entire pie Jonathan mentioned. We are
surrounded by change and must understand how this can impact us. He ensured us
that refusing to accept these challenges or thinking we can handle these trends
are actually poisons to us. We must use this change- we must embrace it and
learn to incorporate this into our thinking- to evolve what we are doing and
build upon what lies before us.

Many things are
changing at once and we never really know where we are in this ongoing phase.
Jonathan presented this change in a graph where we Plan on the linear white
line, Recognize Change on the yellow, exponential line, and experience
Disruption on the delta of these lines. This is the area of chaos wherein
opportunity and success lie.

He went into
further detail of the Change line- where it first begins we experience fundamental
change- change that many are unwilling to believe and usually over look. Next,
were see change meet the Plan (linear line) and we finally accept the change
yet perceive it as a low threat. And lastly we see the inflection point- at
this point it's too late. Change has come, advancements have improved this even
more and now we have no choice but to adjust and accept this change.

Surround yourself with those who
build windows and optimistically accept and build with change.

Janel Parker, Market Research
Consultant at SKIM, an international consultancy and marketing research agency,
has a background in Marketing and Psychology from Cornell University. Her
previous experience at a social media agency combined with her knowledge from
SKIM provide for a unique understanding of the relationships between social
media and marketing. She can be reached at j.parker@skimgroup.com.