It is evident that the period of the covid19 pandemic of 2020-2022 has forced our local businesses to play catch up to many first-world trends. During the lockdown many ministries and businesses were forced to use more electronic platforms to make appointments, payments, place orders, tender and conduct meetings etc.

I recently went into a large supermarket chain and went through the self-checkout, the first of its kind in Trinidad and it worked well. While, as far as we know, this technology has been used in the US from as early as the 2000s, however, this has only been recently adopted here as much as two decades later. Retailers in the US have been utilising customer-friendly digital systems such as e-commerce, self-check out, self-scanning, q-commerce and frictionless retail as options available to customers to choose from in order to make their purchases. Many of these companies are now looking at ways for more business opportunities in the Metaverse.

These current advancements in different types of retail transactions also help to overcome the language barriers as most retail checkout systems have multiple language options. Also, it can be argued that a cashless system or one that reduces the need to carry cash, can act to reduce some levels of crime.

Amazon now has 25 frictionless retail outlets in the US and 17 in London. This not only reduces the need for floor or counter staff but probably more importantly, clearly requires new skill sets for employees retained in these retail outlets. So, instead of cashiers, packers, floor attendants and security officers, these business models now require new types of team members suitable for camera-surveillance monitoring, with advanced digital know-how and certification, with IT technology proficiency, artificial intelligence qualifications and online security systems expertise etc. The shift in business focus would now be more towards the prevention of hackers and ransomware infiltration and the monitoring of the AI technology. This is the future of retail and although we may have to wait another 25 years to get a fully self-scanning store to get there, we must.

With respect to the changes in staffing, Peter Drucker in Innovation and Entrepreneurship advised that, “The essence of economic activity is the commitment of present resources to future expectations, and that means to uncertainty and risks.” We therefore need to train, develop and prepare our human capital for the continued evolution of future businesses. And this effort must be on a nationwide scale. We would therefore need a national and committed outlook on future trends and prepare our nation for the evolving and systematic development and progress of innovation. A good example of this would be something like what India did in the 90s with their call centres and telemarketing industries.

[caption id="attachment_996615" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Arti Dwarika scans items using the self-checkout system at Massy Stores, Brentwood, Chaguanas on November 24, 2022. - ANGELO MARCELLE[/caption