The future indeed is digital, and in that digital place would the marketplace of the future play out. Two cases:
Restaurants in US: I like TGI Fridayās but one by one, they have closed all their locations within miles where I live. But it is not just TGI; other restaurants are struggling. Red Lobster and Coastal Grill have recently filed for bankruptcy protection. What is going on? Inflation. You can also blame digital where some people now produce food, and wait for you to call, to be delivered something really terrible, but called food, to you. But that is winning many people because it seems cheaper. They call it a virtual kitchen business model, and it is delivery-only.
Pharmacies in US: Every year, more stores close around you. From CVS to RiteAid to Walgreens, it seems these companies are destined for the museums. I do not believe they have any chance to remain, and will likely go in the ways of Circuit City and Radio Shack of electronics. Why is this happening? Ecommerce e-pharmacies can ship to your door, making leaving your home unnecessary. As that redesign happens, the best days of physical pharmacies are gone.
Good People, everything is going digital if you are thinking of the long-term. While you still have to be relevant today in the meatspace, you must develop a playbook for the digital future. For Nigeria, a truly functioning national postal service like the extremely efficient one of old, will unlock huge opportunities for the nation, especially if we hope to connect the rural and urban communities in trade and commerce.
Of course, that digital future may not be self-evident, but if you are paying attention, you might not have visited a bank branch in the last 6 months. Everything is going digital and the people who are leading that will capture the value of the future. That is not to say that the meatspace is not viable today; the physical space remains a place to make tons of money in business. Why not, Nigeria invented a business model where you buy the currency (Naira) when you want to deposit or withdraw via the POS agency business model.
Yet, that will not last over time because the destination is digital. This is in line with Pythagoras postulation that the world is numbers, and in a world of numbers, digital helps you to better understand everything about your world, explaining the core reason why AI will deliver better competitive advantages to firms because with AI, you can more efficiently process your business world ofĀ numbers (yes, data) better. When that happens, a huge competitive positioning emerges. Simply, you will make money in the physical space today, but in the near future, the digital sphere is where the world of business will converge.
The ancestral Igbo noted that āuwa bu ahiaā [the world is a marketplace], and the bestĀ marketplaces of the future will be in the digital spheres.
#buildDigital
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