Dan Wellers, Author at 51News Center Company & Customer Stories | Press Room Mon, 12 Aug 2024 21:12:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Capacity Capture: A New Approach to Discovering Business Value /2020/02/capacity-capture-midset-business-value/ Wed, 05 Feb 2020 12:15:46 +0000 /?p=168144 Untapped value is hiding in plain sight throughout every organization. The key is knowing how to find it.

The rooftop of a big-box store is:

  1. A flat expanse of hundreds of square feet exposed to the weather
  2. A great, if not perfect, way to protect what’s inside from that weather
  3. A power source for the building, and maybe for the neighbors, too

If you’re the Ingka Group, which owns IKEA, the answer is “all of the above.” As part of its commitment to use only renewable energy by 2020, the Ingka Group has installed 900,000 solar modules on the roofs of IKEA stores and warehouses around the world, turning what would otherwise be vacant space into a literal powerhouse. These solar installations generated 155 GWh of electricity in 2018, enough to supply nearly five percent of IKEA’s global energy needs. In fact, according to Karol Gobczyński, the Ingka Group’s head of climate and energy, some locations are generating enough solar power to sell some back to the local electrical grid.

How might it upend the big-box business model to turn surplus energy into a revenue source? And why can’t more companies come up with breakthroughs like this in a systematic, repeatable way? Only a failure of perspective.

Methodologies like Six Sigma and technologies like sharing platforms and AI-driven analytics are powerful tools to uncover new opportunities, but they are held back by outdated thinking. If they weren’t, digital transformations wouldn’t fail up to 80 percent of the time, and they’d meet or exceed expectations of the time. To be truly transformative – in other words, to get more than just incremental returns on investment – companies need to combine technology with a new way of thinking about what value is and where to find it.

Massive value is lying fallow in excess resources, like unused real estate, over-purchased software, and employees who aren’t being used to their full potential (people themselves are never excess). It’s concealed in underused resources, like vehicles that are on the road only a few hours a day, computing cycles that whir away pointlessly at night, and employees with untapped skills. It’s hiding in things that, according to current wisdom, have no value whatsoever, like production waste, “,” and people who move on to other employers.

But waiting for the hidden value in these resources to reveal itself practically guarantees that it will remain unseen. Companies need to adopt a new mindset for systematically seeking out resources so they can extract more value from existing investments and encourage the development of potential new products, services, and business models. In other words, they need a capacity capture mindset.

Broadening the Search for Value

The traditional business approach assumes that resources are too specialized to be reused or deployed in new ways. The capacity capture mindset, on the other hand, starts with the assumption that resources are ubiquitous and infinite, because anything can be a resource, and any resource has capacity for value beyond its primary or original purpose.

Capacity capture is about actively identifying resources that are underused, wasted, or discarded and coming up with ways to recapture, use, sell, or otherwise monetize them. Consider how much money real estate companies invest in building and maintaining parking lots in office parks, even though the parking spaces sit empty for 12 or more hours a day. In Europe, a technology platform that lets long-haul truck drivers reserve those spots overnight has created a new income stream for the office parks. At the same time, it gives drivers safer places to sleep than highway shoulders and on-ramps, which protects the drivers, their cargo, and everyone else on the road.

Capacity capture allows organizations to discover new areas of innovation that end up delivering bigger benefits than just resource efficiency. Imagine a factory that actively looks for ways to generate more heat during production because it can make more money by selling or repurposing that heat than it can save by minimizing it. In the Danish town of Kalundborg, for example, use an elaborate system of pipelines to exchange materials and energy. Sludge, steam, and fly ash that are waste for some become valuable input for others, lowering the cost of energy and raw materials for everyone while reducing the amount and expense of waste disposal.

Using the capacity capture mindset, companies can also find ways to make their products more effective by capturing and using what would otherwise be considered waste. For example, have invented a way to expand the capacity of rechargeable batteries by warming them while they’re first charging. A battery manufacturer could theoretically do this by capturing waste heat from the manufacturing process and then selling these higher-capacity batteries at a premium. Kohler, the tile company, is already doing something along these lines by from its tile manufacturing process, including broken tiles, cast iron slag, and leftover glazes, and using them to create a new line of designer tile.

The capacity capture mindset also encourages a deeper examination of experience as a resource. Just look at the Dutch city of Rotterdam, home to Europe’s largest industrial port and, like most of the Netherlands, below sea level. Rotterdam has tapped its underused wealth of institutional expertise in preventing and managing flooding to launch . In guiding other coastal cities on how to cope with rising sea waters and worsening storms in the face of climate change, the city collects extra funding for the city budget, which in turn supports further innovations in flood-resistant urban renewal.

Defining the Search Grid

The first step to capturing capacity is to understand what capacity is and where it might be found.

Types of assets

  • Physical assets are tangible objects of any kind, from facilities and heavy equipment to lighting and office supplies.
  • Digital assets include network infrastructure, software, data and metadata, and bandwidth.
  • Human assets are people and their behaviors.

Areas of untapped capacity

  • Unwanted assets are assets that are created or accumulated unintentionally or incidentally as a side effect or byproduct of another process.
  • Excess assets are produced or gathered intentionally but become surplus either because there are too many of them or because the process that produced or gathered them is no longer in use.
  • Underused assets are created intentionally and are in use but not to their full potential.

The following framework gives examples of these asset types and capacities and the questions a company might ask itself to discover them:

The boundaries between these different types of assets can be porous. For example, some physical assets also have characteristics of digital assets, as with autonomous vehicles. Some digital assets, such as servers and storage media, may be thought of as physical assets. What’s more, physical and digital assets often enhance human assets, a convergence that will accelerate as technologies evolve.

As a result, many assets will overlap several categories, and the process of considering where they might fit can generate further possibilities.

Categories of Capacity Capture in Action

Each square of the capacity capture grid represents myriad possibilities for finding or creating more value. The following examples describe just a few opportunities that companies in a range of industries have uncovered.

Physical assets

Unwanted
The UK’s is working with a nearby bioenergy plant to turn the waste whey from its world- famous cheese into enough renewable biogas to heat 4,000 homes in the Yorkshire Dales. The bioenergy plant, which also processes leftovers from a nearby ice cream factory, pumps the natural gas from food waste back into the gas grid. What remains becomes fertilizer for local farmland.

Excess
Several European utility companies are working with automakers Nissan and Mitsubishi to develop services that let people sell (EV) batteries back to the grid. Today, the return on the extra juice is limited, but as batteries continue their Moore’s Law–like improvement in cost and power, people who charge their EV batteries during off-peak times and sell power back to the grid during peak times could end up charging their cars for free – or even making a profit.

Underused
As early as 2012, Coca-Cola began partnering with pharmaceutical companies to deliver vaccines in developing countries using the existing that have made its products available around the world. By fitting medical perishables into the empty space in trucks that deliver soft drinks daily, the company reduced vaccine delivery times and increased the number of people getting vaccinated while boosting its brand reputation.

Digital assets

Unwanted
Companies of all types are offering data they collect that is incidental to their primary business models to other organizations who mine it for value. For example, health insurer UnitedHealth Group provides aggregated data from its to drug companies seeking insight into how their products are being used. This secondary income stream has been so successful that the resulting spinoff, Optum, has been more than UnitedHealth itself.

Excess
As more streetlights are fitted with LED bulbs to reduce costs and save energy, it turns out that they can do more than their centuries-old roles of guiding travelers and making pedestrians safer. Visible light communication, or , transmits data by switching individual LED bulbs on and off at nanosecond speeds, much faster than the human eye can detect, so that the lights can still do their primary jobs while transmitting data at rates than traditional Wi-Fi over short distances.

Underused
Amazon famously created a significant new business model, Amazon Web Services, by renting out unused capacity on its flexible computing infrastructure. It’s now captured that capacity for a second time by creating a where it charges a 12% service fee to customers who are reselling their reserved but unused cloud instances.

Human assets

When we talk about unwanted or excess human assets, we’re talking about roles, skills, and behaviors, not the people themselves. All people are valuable; indeed, they’re the only constant resource companies have, and digital and physical resources have no value without them. People can change their value throughout their lives through ongoing learning and development. It’s time to jettison the idea that someone stops being valuable when the workplace changes and instead to quantify their value based on what they’re capable of doing and what they’re willing to do to keep pace with change.

Unwanted
Just a few years ago, employees could be disciplined or even fired for using their smartphone at a corporate event. At best, it was considered rude, and at worst, it was viewed as a potential breach of company security. Today, organizations are actively encouraging employees to brandish their phones to promote conference panels and other events on social media in real time.

Excess
Many companies make decisions about whether to lay off high-salary employees to cut costs by looking at their roles in isolation, without considering how those employees enhance the value of the people they work for and with. Finding a way to capture and quantify the value of an employee’s contribution to the organization will encourage companies to consider whether letting someone go will cost the company more than it saves. Similarly, companies can reduce retirement-driven brain drain by inviting retiring employees to become “business angels” who coach new teams. They could even partner with similar companies in a consortium that captures the untapped value of people who just missed being hired by sharing these candidates with and recommending them to each other.

Underused
The Hilton Worldwide hotel chain keeps a record of every employee’s specific skills, such as language ability and local connections, even if those skills aren’t immediately relevant or used in the employee’s current role. That gives the company fast access to internal people when they are most needed. Examples include when Hilton is looking for someone with connections in a certain market where the company wants to open a new hotel or for someone who’s a native speaker of the language in that market.

Identifying Capacity

Capacity capture begins with a deliberate focus on expanding your thinking about where you might find value beyond increasing efficiency and reducing waste, as well as suspending any disbelief about what constitutes a resource or how resources can or should be used. As you use the above grid to identify possible resources, ask other people in your organization, in every department and at every level, to do the same. Insight can come from anyone, and the people who are closest to the resources are the ones most likely to recognize the value in them.

Once you’ve developed a list of potential resources, don’t get bogged down in trying to evaluate all of them at once or even in groups. Focus on each one individually with the presumption that it’s inherently valuable and that your job is to determine what that value is.

As you assess each potential resource, consider how you might extract the value.

  • Reuse: How could it benefit another part of your organization?
  • Extend and combine: What other things could you do with this resource, alone or combined with another resource?
  • Spin off: What could you do with this resource if you removed it from its current context to stand alone?
  • Maximize: How could you create and use even more of this resource?
  • Sell: Under what circumstances might someone else value this resource enough to buy it from your organization?
  • Recycle: How could another organization use this resource when you’re done with it?
  • Donate: Could you create non-monetary value, and save the cost of disposal, by giving this resource away?

It isn’t as odd as it may seem to take this approach to human assets as well as physical or digital assets. Your company already knows how to reuse people’s skills by shifting them to other departments and maximize them by providing more training. It could just as easily spin off a group of especially unconventional thinkers into a skunkworks or donate them by encouraging them to share their skills with volunteer organizations.

This process is intended to generate ideas through rapid iteration and participation from a variety of people across the organization. There are no wrong answers, only creative possibilities.

As with other transformations, it makes sense to begin experimenting with capacity capture in one small, distinct area as a proof of concept. Setting up new business models – especially outside of a company’s existing industry – used to be a huge hurdle, but emerging technologies and technology- enabled platforms (think Airbnb, Lyft, and Spotify) make it more affordable to experiment and test the market. A small- scale, iterative approach that keeps the cost of entry low lets you continually spin up new opportunities instead of passing on something promising because you lack the visibility and depth of understanding about its potential.

Capacity Capture as a Strategic Imperative

It’s critical to note that while technology enables capacity capture, it isn’t technology driven. Rather, it’s a mindset of looking for opportunities, like selling data gathered through tracking or creating platforms that connect customers with each other, and then choosing tools based on the opportunities that arise.

Another key aspect of the capacity capture mindset is that you aren’t trapped (or protected) by your existing business model or industry. If your explorations uncover a newfound opportunity that you don’t want to ignore but also don’t want to make your primary focus, you may decide to pursue it through a joint venture with an existing partner, a company you wouldn’t ordinarily have a reason to do business with, or even a competitor.

As business shifts to a capacity mindset, it could make sense to carve out a top management role – maybe even a chief capacity officer position – with ultimate responsibility for identifying capacity throughout the organization and driving innovative projects to capture it for business benefit.

This role would require a knowledge of where end-to-end processes are and what they need, credibility with colleagues across functions, and the ability to think creatively. A business leader with established ideas about the right way to run an organization may not be as good a fit for the role as someone with talent and enthusiasm for spotting unused or overlooked resources in their own, and other, departments.

A company fortunate to have multiple people with the necessary skills may decide to create a capacity capture team. A company that develops expertise in capacity capture may even develop or spin off a consultancy that helps other organizations shift their own thinking around resources, as the city of Rotterdam did with its water containment knowledge. That is itself an opportunity to capture underused human capacity.

Researchers at the Global Footprint network say the human race now consumes renewable resources at . Capacity capture provides an alternative to working within the limitations of what we perceive as our available resources. It lets us question our perceptions – and therefore our limitations – about what we have to work with in the first place.


Download the full report from 51Insights research center: “.”


Matthew Gorbet is director at Gorbet Design Inc.
Susan LK Gorbet is futures and design thinking strategist and educator at Gorbet Design Inc.
David Jonker is vice president and chief analyst at 51Insights research center.
Christopher Koch is editorial director at 51Insights research center.
Michael Rander is an analyst and global marketing and research director at 51Insights research center.
Dan Wellers is a senior analyst at 51Insights research center.

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Fashion: The Future Interface Between Mind, Body, and Planet https://insights.sap.com/fashion-the-future-interface-between-mind-body-and-planet/#new_tab Thu, 02 Jan 2020 14:45:00 +0000 /?p=167190 Withouthis impressive collection ofaccessories,Batmanwould just beaguywith anger issues.Without his AI-enhanced exoskeleton, Iron Manwouldjustbe anarrogant geniuswith a life-threatening heart condition.And without her talent for disguise, how would the fugitive spy known as the Black Widow survive at all?

We can’t all be superheroes, but fashion lets us become someone else, even if only a little bit. As our clothes and accessories demonstrate, fashion is visual and fun. But it’s also the interface between us and our world, protecting us while broadcasting who we are and who we want to be.

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51Digital Futures: Fashion: The Future Interface Between Mind, Body, and Planet

In the not-too-distant future, fashion will enhance much more than our appearance. It will monitor our physical and mental well-being and signal our needs in the moment. It will be more assistive, thinking and acting to help us improve our performance in a given environment. It will be more adaptive, made from advanced materials that change their appearance and function according to our requirements and desires. The extreme possibilities could genuinely make us more than we are – an exciting prospect for those of us who secretly dream of acquiring superpowers!

Before we can reach this future, though, the fashion industry has some urgent catching up to do. Its current businessmodeldoesn’twork fortoday’s consumers, whoare rebelling against fashion’stradition of pushingwhatever comes off the runway atthem.Instead, consumers wantwhattheir favorite social media influencers are wearing. And they wantit fast, with a personalized fit.Today’s consumers are also increasingly passionate about sustainability even as the fashion industryconfronts awaste problem of global proportions.

Facingthe urgent need to modernize its business model and solve its sustainability problem without sacrificing growth, an industry not known for leading the way in technology adoption is suddenly on the verge ofa massive technology makeover.

Advanced Technologies Are the Industry’s New Look

In its explorations of new technologies, the fashion industry is right on trend. Like virtually every other industry, it is looking at the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), centralized platforms, blockchain, and virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) – and it likes what it sees.

For example, manufacturers can’t afford to waste time and money creating products thatincreasingly rebelliousconsumers don’t want. Enter predictive AI, which uses image recognition and machine learning to break products down into collections of data points,such ascolor, pattern, material, and design detail,so manufacturers canquicklyand develop new offeringsfast.

Similarly, producing only enough product toallows manufacturers to reduce waste while appealing to customers’desire for customization, whether that means a tailored fit, a unique color combination, or nonstandard details.Robots and 3D printersare making it possible to manufacture anything from shirts to shoes on demand.

The industry is also trying onVRandARfor size, with mirrors and glasses that letcustomerscycle through multiple items and entire outfits inshopswithout removing their own clothes, as well asWebsites that let people“try on”clothing and accessories in their own homes before buying.

And the latest generation of, with their built-in speakers, video-recording ability, and integration with phones and digital assistants, are both useful and,well, we won’t go so far as to call themfashionable, but they’re nothideous.

Improving Accuracy in the Supply Chain

Companies are also starting to explore howtechnology can help them tackle their sourcing issues, from choosing vendorsthatcan meet both delivery schedules and ethical employment standards to using materials produced more safely, delivered more efficiently, and tracked more closely to prevent loss and theft. Usingspecialized, blockchain, RFID, and othernext-generationtechnology can help theindustrytrack products and their component parts.

Digital transparency into the supply chain improves inventory accuracy and availability, prevents counterfeiting, and–in a nod to consumers’increased interest in the broader societal impact of their purchasing decisions– createsgreater supply chain transparency. Some fashion companies are already givingtheir customersaboutevery step of a product’s journey,from the farm where wool for a sweater was sheared to the factory that spun it into yarnto the actual truck that delivered it to the warehouse or store.

Technology Makes Circularity Stylish in the Fashion Industry

Growth in the fashion industry generates a continuous stream of appealing new products – and, unfortunately, an equally continuous stream of.If the industry doesn’t change its practices, it will create an148 million tons of wasteby 2030, or 38.5 pounds(17.5 kilograms)of waste for every person on the planet.Yet this crisis could alsocreate a runway fornew opportunities to satisfy customer demand for both new looks and new ways of doing business.

Technology makes it easier for fashion to join the circular economy, which is based on reusing materials andendingwaste. This can take multiple forms:

  • To make, fashion manufacturersneedto source, track, and verify the content of recaptured materials and design products thattake advantage of the materials’best qualities.
  • To makeڰdz,manufacturersneedtoidentifyandsource used clothing, ensure that it can be recycled or upcycled, and design products that incorporate it.
  • մbarelyworn or unworn clothes, brandsneedto track both items and past customers in order to identify and recapture previously sold or never sold items for resale.
  • Brands can also participate insubscription/sharing models, in which consumersbeforesending it backfor something different.

Inall ofthese cases, success requires manufacturers to(what they are, what they’re made of, wheretheycome from, howtheycan be reused) so they can track the components, maximize their value, and continue to reuse them with minimal waste.

Fashion: the New Softwear

Farther down therunway,we may find ourselves thinkingof clothingaslesslikehardware – somethingtobuy once, wear until it’s worn out orobsolete, and then dispose of– and morelikesoftware, something thatchangesto meet our needs(and whims)and that we use for longer periods of time.Think of shoes withthat snap onto replaceable soles orwith the wearer.

We’re already seeing the emergence ofcontaining sensors that provide haptic feedback and offer assistive support to improve performance and prevent injury. The new, for example, contain sensors that pair with a companion app to adjust the shoe’s fit and advise the wearer on how to improve the way their foot hits the ground.

This personalization trend has plenty ofextraroom in theseams.In the future, wemaybe able toalter our clothing with“in-app purchases”and“upgrades”that keep an item fresh, interesting, and useful for longer while still generating revenue for the maker.

The concept of clothingitselfwill alsostretch.Instead of selling clothes and accessories, a manufacturer might sell designs and materials for customers to create and personalize with 3D printers in the store or at home.

Meanwhile, fabrics will adapt to meet newtechnology-powereddemands.We’ll see more materials developed to last longer,, recycle more easily, and/orResearchers are developingsmart fabricthatactually hassoft, flexible circuits embedded in the fibers. Smart fabricmight literally let us update our clothing digitally, with manufacturerspushingoutor the ability toin real time.

Or imagine being the first fashion retailer to offer clothing made of fabric that can fend off bacteria, foil surveillance, track data about the wearer’s actions, and generate energy from the wearer’s motions. How is that anything other than a superhero suit?

If the fashion industry wants tothriveand grow, itmustshiftfrom continuous consumption to responsible consumerismwhilecontinuingto satisfy the unquenchable human desire for something new. Itmight be the industry’s most epic challenge. Butbyusingtechnology,fashioncantransformitself– and maybeevenhelpsave the world.

Download the executive brief: .


Dan Wellers is the Digital Futures global lead and a senior analyst at 51Insights research center.
Fawn Fitter is a freelance writer specializing in business and technology.

Top image via Getty Images. Photographer kobrin_photo (image #1004052580).

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How Retail Can Lead the Wellness Economy https://insights.sap.com/how-retail-can-lead-the-wellness-economy/#new_tab Thu, 02 Jan 2020 14:15:22 +0000 /?p=167207 Wellness was once a niche concept. Now, it’s gone mainstream – we’re busy, stressed, and sleep deprived. Wellness, generally accepted to mean holistic physical and mental health and the lifestyle choices that support it, is now a global market.

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51Digital Futures: How Retail Can Lead the Wellness Economy

The rapid growth of wellnessisbeingfueled by health and environmental concerns,innovative ideasabout healthy aging, and better scientific understandingofthe connection between body and mind.Growth has also been driven bythe ability ofconsumers to self-educate about health concernsand access wellness productsonline, andbythe influence of social media. In the United Statesespecially, it also stems fromweaknessesin conventional medical carethatincluderising costsand lack of focus on preventive care.

But when consumerslook for answers about wellness products and services, they see a market that is deeplyfraught.Wellness ishighlyfragmentedandit’s hardfor consumers to verify thecredibility and viability ofthe things they’re being urged to buy.Consumers areseekingreliable sources of information and products that are trustworthy, verified,and safe andthatwork.

Retailershave the essentialexpertiseto becometrustedadvisorsin wellness.No other industrybetter understandsconsumerneedsorhas retail’sexpertise in marketing, personalization,and consumer technology,including early uses ofartificial intelligence (AI).Meanwhile, retailers havea history of combining seemingly dissimilar or unrelated experiences andbrands – thinkfancy restaurants withindepartment storesorcafe-barsin laundromats.

Retailers: Your Wellness Advisors

The retailers that will lead in the new wellness economy will use these skills togain market share, loyalty, andgrowth bycombiningwhat are currently highlyfragmented, episodic activities,such as shopping for food, seeking medical advice, socializing,andbeingphysicallyactive. They willcraftholistic wellness experiencesthat combine convenience and emotional satisfaction.

Technology will be the catalyst and enabler in this scenario.Emerging technologies,such asvirtual reality,augmented reality (AR),sensors,andAI,areenablingthe development ofnew wellness products and experiences.Switch onfor example,andsuddenly it’s aninteractive workout assistant synced to personal biometrics, withlive, expertvirtualinstruction;curatedsurround-soundaudio;andreal-time encouragement from an online community.

Meanwhile, advances ininfrastructure,such as 5G networks,and connective technologies,such astheInternet of Things,will create opportunities to linkwhat arenowhighly segmented wellness categoriestogether.Current effortsonly hint at the possibilities.

Retailers Connect Across Segments and Industries

For example, as electric carsbegin torender traditional gas stations irrelevant, retail brands are looking to convert them into integrated wellnessfacilitiespowered by new technology.havecreateda concept forrepurposing gas stationsascombinedwellness, fitness, and community centers that also generate powerfor electric vehicles.They envision three types of wellness stops: on interstate highways, on smaller commuter roads, and within communities, all accessible and designed to meet the needs of those three different environments.

Rather than picking up junk food, soda, or tobacco when they stop to fill up, consumers who stop to charge their electric vehicles could sneak in a workout, get a massage, and buy some running shorts.

To go with those shorts, consumers may consider connected running shoes, which they can get from fitness gear retailer UnderArmour.with the nutrition app MyFitnessPal and digital health trackerMapMyFitness. What’s more, consumers whohavea Samsung smartwatch and wireless JBL headphones can connect to UnderArmour’sThe goal is to help customers use their biometric measurements to improve their overall performance and health.

Forconsumerswho need medical services, a retailer might provide just the right treatment.U.S. retail chainCVSHealthhas ahead start in becoming a trustedmedicaladvisorbecause its customers regularly interact with its pharmacists.CVS’snewin-storetake medical advice further byhelpingpeople with chronic conditions,such asdiabetes, obesity, and high bloodpressure,stayhealthy.The hubs provide access to health and wellness apps, connected monitors and other smart devices, andtechnology-enhancedweightmanagement programs,while a human Care Conciergeeducates customers andassists innavigatingin-store servicesand products.The first fewHealthHUBswere so successful that CVS is now rolling out.CVS’sultimate goalmay be to guide the 22 million members ofinsurerAetna – now a CVSHealthsubsidiary – to thehubs wheretheinsurance giant’smassive amounts ofhealth and wellnessdata can be put to use.

Tech Supplies Exponential Speed

ٲ’s talent for connecting diverse segments and industries will get a turbo-boost fromnewdigital capabilitiesthatcontinuallyappearandadvanceat exponential speed.

As connectors in the wellness economy, retailers could capitalize onideas likethe following:

  • Sweat supervisor: A health professional might usetelemedicinetowrite a prescription for AR personal training sessions thatuse sensor-integratedathletic wear and workoutequipmentto track progress, offering opportunities forcurrently independent segments like fitness gyms and active wear retailers to converge.
  • Kitchen consultant: Today’s appliance retailers, perhaps in conjunction with manufacturers,couldoffer wellnessservices throughsmart kitchensthat help track andfacilitate recommendationsoffood, supplements,health education,and wellnessexpertisesuppliedondemand.
  • Mellow maker: Furniture retailers could offer productsthat monitor sleep, exercise, stress, and diet andthatofferAI-enhancedrecommendations to improve overall health, such as a class at a branded meditation center.

Retail’s Adaptability Will Redefine Wellness

Due to its many opportunities for technology-driven combinations, the wellness economy will push retailers to think on their feet and be constantly on the lookout for new angles from which they and their customers can benefit. This may sound like a heavy lift, but retailers are already grappling with a deep need to adapt to new technology-driven realities. While many have lost their footing, many more are thriving because of their ability to adapt to what consumers want. That characteristic will be the key to maximizing growth and opening up possibilities for integrated leadership in wellness.

Finally, as technology enablesconsumers to tune their fitness, nutrition, and healthcare more precisely,retailers will be able to deliver customized products atscale and ata moregranularlevel than demographic segmentshave historically allowed.By taking advantage of the opportunities enabled by technology and approaching themin the right way, retailers canbecome true partners in consumers’wellness journeysand becomea powerful presence in the wellness industry.

Download the executive brief .


Dan Wellers is the Digital Futures global lead and a senior analyst at 51Insights research center.
Danielle Beurteaux is a New York–based writer.

Top image via Getty Images. Photographer Henrik Sorensen (image #527920805).

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