Bots Still Can’t Replace Us
Happy Friday, futurists!
ICYMI, we had a pretty busy week here at Future Commerce.
The subscription service craze
It’s like every brand and product these days seems to offer a subscription service. It's like we've fallen into the clutches of what digital executive Amy Madonia (fmr Estée Lauder, VF Corp, Hanes) likes to call 'Shiny Ball Syndrome' (SBS) – an insatiable and constant desire to pursue the latest trends and ideas. This week in Insiders, Amy dives deep into this phenomenon and explores the three genuine consumer needs that truly warrant a subscription service.
Step by Step
The 12th season of Step by Step officially dropped this week! We all hear words like “seamless,” “personalization,” and “fully-integrated” thrown around by software providers. They sure do sound great, but do we even know what those terms mean? In this series of Step by Step, we unpack the definitions behind these words, and how eCommerce operators can utilize these terms to choose the correct software for their business needs. We partnered with Adobe Commerce to bring on experts from Whisker, Walmart Commerce Technologies, Blue Acorn iCi, Sugarfina, and KASHIYAMA to “de-mystify” some of these terms for you! Grab your headphones and hit the play button wherever you get your podcasts.
Millenni-olds vs Gen Z-ers
To put it lightly, there have been a lot of changes in the workforce in the past few years. Hybrid-working, the rise and fall of “hustle culture”, the introduction of Gen Z-ers, social media trends, and the AI explosion. Dive in as Ingrid and Orchid discuss how all these changes affect the modern workforce in the latest episode of Infinite Shelf.
— Phillip
P.S. We’ve only got a scant few tickets left to our VISIONS Summit in Chicago. Join us on June 15
New Feature Alert. Shopify has released a new Shop Cash rewards program for its Shop app. Rewards appear in users’ wallets and can be redeemed for future purchases. To promote the new feature, the company is hosting a Shop Day event and giving away over $1,000,000 in Shop Cash.
Super Fly. Frontier Airlines dropped a $299 “all you can fly” pass this week. The pass is good from September 2–February 29 of next year and includes over 85 destinations. I want to go to there.
More Sights & Sounds. Sonos has won a $32.5 million smart speaker patent infringement case against Google. French influencers are now at risk of facing jail time if they do not follow new regulations passed concerning what they can and cannot promote, including gambling, tobacco, and even cosmetic surgery.
Sweat Southwest. Southwest Airlines is inviting customers to fly in style with a $200 limited edition sweatsuit they have for sale. The attire also comes with $350 in fight credits… we’re listening.
I Won’t Be Missing You. Sean “Diddy” Combs is suing British beverage company, Diageo, for racial discrimination, claiming that the company has not given the same attention to his labels — Ciroc and DeLeon — as it has to its other brands such as Don Julio. Diddy is alleging that the company wanted to target “urban” consumers in marketing efforts and treated his labels as inferior “ethnic brands.”
What’s For Dinner? Instacart has released an AI-powered search tool called Ask Instacart to help users find inspiration on what meals to make and ideas for ingredient swaps and flavor pairings.
An Argument for Strangers. Many people are using Google Photos’ Magic Eraser tool now to get rid of unwanted people and things in the background of photos taken in public places. One writer thinks we should leave them in the background — that they give context and tell a more full story to look back on.
Humans Still Better Than Bots. The National Eating Disorder Association shut down its volunteer-run helpline in favor of hiring a chatbot named Tessa to field conversations and users looking for advice. The bot was suspended, however, after doling out advice suggesting weight loss to treat body image issues.
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