The author | Brad Anderson
The translator | IT foreign gan
The original WeChat
In 2005, people would never have believed that social media platforms would revolutionize the way humans interact. Back in 2010, it would have been unthinkable that car-sharing apps would topple the taxi industry in just a few short years. By 2015, people had seen countless industries transformed by the Internet, and people were beginning to wonder whether cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin would ever become acceptable currencies for companies around the world.
Today, all of these things (and more) have become reality. “The Internet continues to change the way the world works, yet questions remain about the disruptive power of these platforms.” By now, the question should not be if the Internet will change an industry, but when.
“Modern consumers rely on online platforms to order food, work, watch movies, listen to music — and even sell their homes.” And with the rise of IoT technology and sensors, these online platforms are getting smoother. Smart home sensors will sound an alarm when they are out of eggs, and users will alert their spouse to buy more eggs by telling the kitchen speakers.
It’s not magic, it’s the power of the Internet, and it won’t be long before every aspect of human life is touched.
Why do online platforms make more sense?
People rely on platforms for two main reasons: functionality and data.
“Online platforms eliminate time and place constraints and make collaboration easier.” For example, office workers can use platforms like Google Drive to work together, edit spreadsheets and co-create documents. On a more practical level, online platforms give companies the ability to streamline their delivery operations, minimizing wasted effort and saving money.
Amazon’s shopping platform has familiarized consumers with personalization. Now, consumers in every industry, from tool sales to dentistry, expect businesses to cater to their preferences and remember their past activities. In addition, consumers have become more comfortable with forecasting recommendations, “which means that companies that can anticipate future demand can capture more of the market.”
Through the online platform, enterprises provide unprecedented customized services. Even industries that were thought to be immune to the web — such as food stores — are beginning to integrate with the new platforms. Now that Amazon owns Whole Foods and delivers food directly to customers’ doorsteps, no business is safe anymore.
Online platforms will change everything about the way people live and work. “For those who doubt the ability of these platforms to reach any untapped niches, that’s just too dangerous.”
Where will the Internet attack next?
People used to think that basic functions like food and medicine would never be changed by the Internet. Obviously, this is not the case. Each industry should be prepared for further disruption from the Internet, but these three industries should be prepared earlier, rather than waiting until they start to be hit.
Back then, financial advisers held the keys to the investment kingdom. Ordinary people have only a smatter-of-fact understanding of market fluctuations and trust a handshake financial adviser to make the right choices.
Today, online investment platforms like Robinhood and E* Trade make it easy for anyone to act as their own financial adviser. There are many blog posts recommending investment strategies for the layman, and message boards are full of people recommending index funds. Cryptocurrency wallets are giving ordinary people the ability to be part of the cryptocurrency revolution. Users pick and choose currencies they like, trade them using online trading platforms and hope to get rich, while most financial advisers would have dismissed digital currencies as a pipe dream just a few years ago.
Higher Education Long gone are the days of desperately cramming for final exams in the library. Today, online education is not limited to the unaccredited for-profit colleges advertised on television. Colleges and universities, including those in the Ivy League, offer both fully online and hybrid online/offline degree programs to meet the changing needs of modern students.
The concept of online schools is not new. “However, as the younger generation enters university age and more adult professionals seek further education, future students will start handing over more money to the schools with the best online platforms.” Before long, even the most prestigious schools may need to offer students full online degree programs, or find themselves losing their top talent to more online institutions.
3. Insurance Not all online platforms are strictly online platforms. Neos, a home insurance company, provides policyholders with multiple sensors and places them around their homes. These sensors can detect issues such as water leaks and potential fire hazards, report this information through the Neos platform, and allow customer service representatives to contact homeowners and discuss these potential hazards. This reduces the number of claims Neos has to process and keeps costs low.
Lemonade, another online insurance company, operates almost entirely through its APP and Maya, an AI assistant. The robot will walk potential policyholders through the process, helping them sort through items in their homes and identify things that might need additional coverage. Insurance agents are likely to stay on every street corner in America, but convenient platforms like this could force those numbers down sharply in the next few years.
Many people in niche industries think they will be immune to the Internet. These industries should be treated with caution: “The fresh industry never expected customers to start ordering eggs from Amazon, either.” These industries are already beginning to see dramatic change as a result of the rise of online platforms, and if history is any indication, they will be far from the last.
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