Shopping increasingly revolves around the word “now.” It is no longer the old pastime some people casually enjoy, and others hate. Many people do not deliberate over their purchases. They instantly order online with a time frame for delivery as close as possible to “now.”
This trend raises questions about the increasing pace of life. People must deal with the frenetic intemperance of making instant gratification more instant. Meanwhile, no one takes time to ponder the important questions about the meaning of life.
Looking for the New Now
The problem is now worse because things are speeding up. For a long time, “now” meant next-day service. People paid the extra money to get quicker gratification.
However, today “now” can mean getting something on the same day or in a few hours. This year, Amazon started offering its Prime members in certain areas the option of one-hour delivery windows. With the advent of drones, more select areas are promised delivery in 30 minutes or less.
With Amazon in the lead, other retailers are hurrying to catch up. Walmart and Target are fast on the heels of the new “now.” Next-day service is just too slow.
Turning Stores Into Warehouses
For a long time, the big retailers were losing the race for “now.” They had huge box stores that weighed down operations. Amazon had the advantage of its huge warehousing and fulfillment centers, which are custom-built to facilitate “now” delivery.
However, retailers are now finding ways to use their physical assets to their advantage. The strategy consists of turning their box stores into warehouses and mini-fulfillment centers. AI-driven systems can now locate products on the nearest shelves and find the best way to get them to consumers.
Suddenly, these retailers have found themselves with instant warehouses across the country, ready to serve large portions of the American population with “now” service. Indeed, Walmart claims it can deliver to 95% of U.S. households in three hours or less. Under thirty-minute options are also possible.
Home Depot delivers tools and supplies in as little as an hour. Target and Dollar Tree also find ways to use their networks to deliver “now.”
The Price of “Now”
Home delivery used to be the slower way of getting things right away. It was much easier to get into a car and go directly to the store if something was needed right away.
With the new delivery timetables, consumers can now get what they want instantly at their doors. Drones will deliver items overhead.
This new way of getting items will change the way people shop. It will be a further step in the dehumanization of the process. Through things like drive-thru windows and self-service, shoppers minimized their contact with retail employees. With drones, the shopping process will be entirely without human contact.
The new delivery options will lead to less foot traffic in stores. There will be fewer opportunities to meet friends and people in chance encounters in the aisle. There will be no opportunity to examine the products and foods or ask questions before buying. The human touch will be lost.
Hollowing Out Shopping
Thus, shopping will be hollowed out by this process, which discourages store visits. Shopping will be reduced to mechanical transactions. This new trend may keep the brick-and-mortar boxes open in a digital age. However, the sense of a store as a unique experience or as part of the neighborhood is lost.
All of this is done in the name of speed. It supposedly frees people to do other things, as they simultaneously have no time to do anything and do nothing with their time. Meanwhile, people increasingly lose opportunities to connect with others, preferring to isolate themselves inside their digital Facebook worlds and lonely lives.
The pursuit of “now” should not come at such a great cost. Life also needs those times to interact and socialize, and to ponder the meaning of life without the buzzing of delivery drones overhead.
Photo Credit: © Es sarawuth– stock.adobe.com