The internet is doing a number in existing industries. For the longest time, people have been doing things the same way – banking, shopping, and even eating the same, but the latest technological advances may mean an end to business as usual.
Over the last ten or so years, these industries have been going through revolution and they could even be in their deathbeds unless they conform.
1. The Hotel Industry
The advent of AirBnB could well mark the end of vacations as we knew them. Travel has been for the longest time costly, thanks to the cost of accommodation. Until about seven years ago, vacationers didn’t know of any other place to live but hotels – backpacker places if you could put up with those. Well, currently, the hotel industry is bleeding and unless things change, this is likely to be the future.
2. Shopping – Brick and Mortar
There is something nice about trying out clothes before you buy them, or even being in a clothing store. You feel the authenticity of the item on the shelf before you commit to taking it home the same way you want to have a one-on-one chat with a Danforth iPhone Repair expert before hiring them. Online shopping took the joy out of that and the future is looking bleaker by the day. On the other hand, we can sacrifice shopping therapy for the convenience if shopping from our couches, I guess.
3. Travel Agents
Who goes to a travel agent anymore when they can apply for a visa online, check and book flights via the same platform and even check-in online? Travel as we knew it has changed tremendously and the world has moved to e-packages. Sadly, travel agents have been totally replaced by Travelocity, Expedia, and other online sites. At the rate we are moving, there is no salvaging those jobs.
4. Tax Filling and Secretarial Jobs
Companies are now outsourcing departments that are not their core business. While financial accountants cannot be wished away, their tax counterparts mostly come in handy on quarterly basis. Tax filing is also quite easy as automation has made it so, and it can be done online without much help from an expert. Secretaries are finding themselves in a poor position as automated planners take their place rapidly.
5. The Communication Industry
Newspapers no longer have the same sentimental value they had years ago. People opt to have their news delivered to them online, which has led to many magazines and newspapers to neglect print. Think of the trees that are saved if you need to feel good about your choice.
Parting Shot
The banking industry has been going through a tough period where automation has rendered so many bankers jobless. Fintech advances are all the rage and it seems like this industry is just starting to feel the beating. Cryptocurrency is threatening to revolutionize banking as we knew it, though it may not really bring this centralized system down. It’s a long shot but a shot nonetheless. The only survivors are those ready to embrace disruption and be disruptors themselves.
