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The world is getting faster-paced. PwC Global states in its 2018 consumer behaviour survey that 88% of consumers are willing to pay more for same-day or faster delivery. Amazon is entering this race, and Zara has recently announced a system to ship online orders from shops nearby so that customers get speedy delivery and Zara gets in return a handle on their inventory.
Online buying with super-speedy delivery not only emulates the experience of physically buying in a shop, it also digs into the idea that whatever we want out there is just a click away.
Any question, any garment, any product, any service. Go online and find it.
Compare this to Marina Abramović’s performance at MoMA in New York in 2010, sitting for three months in front of her audience, seven and a half hours a day, just looking into the eyes of strangers, staring at them, being present.
People queued outside the building to sit down in front of her, just to be looked at, just to be seen, just to slow down. Some people said that they were transformed by the experience as much as she was.
It seems contradictory that we want both instant gratification but also to be seen at the same time. Speed and slowing down, efficient performance with a click and deep human contact at a slow pace.
It could be that some businesses will look for the most productive, cheapest, effective version of a service and others will thrive providing the deepest contact, engagement and human experience.
But it is also possible that there are businesses that will thrive doing both: speeding up with technology to enhance human connection. The only thing that’s certain is that cheaper, faster and more effective will be the easiest to replicate in a near future.
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