The Next Wave of Retail: Anticipating and Preparing for the Future of Shopping provides a glimpse into the retail world that may existin the near future, but this book is not just about the future but also aboutthe now and how you can stay relevant in a changed and transformed world. Thisis a book about options, an illustration of what is happening today and whatmay change in the future. It is about the consumer and their interactions withretail. I have spent the last 25 years of working with governments, global retail andfinancial institutions, and organizations building the digital foundation oftomorrow. However, the path to the future for me started in 2013, when I was inthe office of the late Tom Kaldec, Head of Technology at Tesco, the world's 2ndlargest retailer at the time, who later became a great friend and SVP ofTechnology at Target, an industry-leading retailer in the US. Tom said to me,"Ali, I want you to build the store of the future, but please do not focuson the technology but on our colleagues, customers, and values, create a visionthat is exciting but value-based and doesn’t come back to me asking for morebudget." At the time, I was working for Verizon, a US-based telecomcompany that only cared about the technology's functions and features and notthe outcomes. However, I was lucky enough to be part of a great team whosedata-driven vision of the future allowed me to tackle the biggest challenges inretail. Later in my career, I would meet Chris Luxford from the Aspire Group, adear friend and mentor who helped me understand that this was the only way toapproach transformation.Six monthslater, a group of Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups and I were QR-codechecking in our CEO and Tesco's then-legendary CIO, Mike McNamara (who went onto transform Target's approach and culture to technology) into a60,000-square-foot store just outside of London.What I didnot know then but know now, is that we had just built the world's firstfrictionless, touchless, cloud-based shopping experience. You could pick up amicro-located product scan and pay via a custom-built app. The digital identitysolution would form part of Verizon's federated digital identity ecosystem thatsupported the UK government's Verify solution. The BOPIS (Buy Online Pick UpInstore) solution's Click & Collect would evolve into Qudini, and a slew ofother technologies would become commonplace for retailers during the 2020 COVIDpandemic.TheCOVID-19 pandemic sped up transformation across all digital channels, highlightingsupply chain weaknesses worldwide. Unfortunately, the current inflationaryenvironment, as well as the upcoming currency, global interest rate, capital,and cost of living crises, will push most consumers to the verge of financialcollapse, along with the institutions that serve them. Capital and liquiditywill evaporate. Even beforethe pandemic, it was hard for many brick-and-mortar stores to stay open andkeep customers interested in their products and spaces. But will shopping andretailing return to normal as the financial crisis expands?Retailersmust reshape their organizations to generate value and leverage technology toenable tomorrow's "smart consumers." The currentperiod is one of exponential structural and financial change, in which eventsare occurring rapidly. As a result, businesses must be nimble enough to pivotphysically and digitally swiftly and successfully. Retailersand business leaders need to predict what customers want, what is likely to happen,and what is plausible. Then, put their retail businesses and brands to the testagainst all possible assumptions while driving innovation and delight intocustomer journeys and the path to purchase. Thecoronavirus shuttered many street stores and malls, and consumers flocked toonline shopping. H
