It has been another year impacted by the global meltdown and it looks like 2014 could be the
turning point, but don?t break out the champagne just yet. The effects of the downturn will linger on for a while and dictate the major trends for 2014. Here they are, compiled from a series of predictions made by experts in their field…
Business
* Companies will maintain a freeze on hiring except in cases of exceptional talent or areas like IT to expand their online presence.
* The future lies in information technology to attract customers, get feedback, promote products and services, sell those online and, basically, have a company that operates 24×7.
* Greater emphasis on contract employment and hiring of ?consultants? rather than full-time employees to reduce costs of providing benefits, etc.
* Expanding role of HR in forming in-house committees to ensure that ethical issues and charges of sexual harassment or discrimination are acted upon to preserve company image.
* Greater use of social media like Facebook, Twitter and similar applications to personalise key executives and give them a human face.
* Significant jump in acquisitions abroad, especially in regions like Africa and South America, but mostly in the area of natural resources or buyout of existing companies abroad, which offer an instant foothold into new markets.
* Collaborations that cut costs for both parties and offer greater profit sharing, as in Reliance Jio and Airtel.
* Longer working hours for key executives, sales and marketing, emphasis on bonuses and rewards for individuals rather than across-the-board incentive schemes. Less travel and more video conferencing, greater focus on brand ambassadors.
* The intersection of mobility, cloud and increasingly fast network speeds will shape communications in 2014, as businesses seek to better compete, integrate decentralised workforces and enhance client satisfaction. Advanced cloud technologies will become key enablers of business development.
* Big data will meet social. The five richest big data sources on the Web include social graph, intent graph, consumption graph, interest graph and mobile graph. Multiple systems will need to be tied together and mobile devices will have access to the data, supporting business decision-making.
Technology
* 3D printing was hot in 2013 and will increase significantly over the next 12 months, as HP, Samsung and Microsoft get set to release new 3D printers capable of producing an amazing array of products, including human tissue replacement.
* The cloud will be the centre of digital lives for apps, content and preferences. Sync across devices and such services will become more important.
* The end of anonymity. Technology is making it hard to remain unobserved and untracked by corporations and governments. Surveillance will only increase, as CCTV cameras become ubiquitous all over the world.
* Cities will get increasingly smart, as sensors and cloud-enabled apps connect transportation, metering, provide solar energy, lighting and environment data, and make it actionable.
* Mobile money is enabling banking and financing systems, especially in rural areas, which should continue to grow in Africa and Asia, as will the provision of data on better crop management, yield and weather via mobile phones.
* Wearable technology is the hot trend, with Google Glass, Samsung?s smartwatch and Apple?s iWatch and other smart wearable technologies coming out soon. 2014 will be a watershed year for wearables?but privacy will be an issue.
* Tablet computing is increasingly attractive and affordable in areas like education and is likely to soon take the place of desktop PCs and even laptops. In fact, mobile devices will pass PCs to become the most common Web access tools.
* Privacy will become a huge issue. Increasingly, social networks and almost any cellular provider, as well as Google, Apple and cellphone firms will have much more data than any individual government has ever collected. Privacy issues will cause huge tremors in our personal and professional lives.
Health & fitness
* Increased usage of health-related applications for mobile devices.
* Increased adoption of wearable fitness-related tech, a market that is expected to grow to 100 million units by the end of 2014.
* Virtual medical care, using technology to access hospitals and doctors for advice on ailments and treatment rather than personal visits. There is already Google Helpouts, a new site for getting personalised help from doctors over live video chat.
* Bio-sensing clothes to track daily health and wellness. Embedded sensors in the apparel monitor your heart rate, breathing and activity, which is displayed in real time on your mobile phone.
l Handheld devices, launching in 2014, will be able to track the calories you consume and the quality of your meals. It can detect nutrients, as they are broken down during and after your meals, or scan and analyse the chemical composition of any food.
l A slew of new devices that enable virtual care, including a device that is expected in 2014, which can turn your smartphone into a urine analysis reader that will test for pregnancy, glucose levels, etc.
l Increased efforts by local governments, NGOs and companies to reward
people for being healthy or participating in health-related activities.
l Maintaining your fitness routine when travelling. Whether you decide to download the Nike Training Club app, purchase a deck of cards
from FitDeck or pack a Fitkit with you, staying fit when you?re travelling will get easier.
Retail
A dominant trend will be a huge jump in online sales, as customers get more familiar with individual websites and loyalty programmes proliferate. Greater security measures by credit card companies mean greater consumer confidence in buying online, where items are cheaper and the variety greater than a physical store.
l An increasing use of location-based marketing by retailers. This makes use of GPS technology to deliver multimedia content tailored to the geographical location straight to a potential customer?s mobile device. This helps to cater more specifically to users? needs, and both marketers and consumers are expecting more of this
in 2014.
l Supermarkets will focus even more on health foods in the coming year. This will include a growing selection of healthy snacks, gluten-free items, organic foods and speciality items.
l Retail chain stores will downsize, moving to smaller stores, which are cheaper to rent, but will also add a more personalised shopping experience.
l Department stores will start to include coffee or tea bars, juice counters and flavoured yoghurt counters, as well as spas or foot massage parlours.
l Stores will come up with their own brand of food items and other products, including mobile applications to offer online shopping and delivery, as well as extras like in-house recipes.
l Supermarkets, stores and hypermarkets will offer more ?global flavours? and exotic food, as Indian tastes evolve, international food products become better-known and easier to import.
l Mobile phones will use applications to scan bar codes on products to get a list of ingredients and nutrients or the sell-by date.
Culinary world
l Asian flavours will dominate, from Korean, Thai, Filipino, Vietnam, even Turkish, and, of course, Indian. Chinese and Japanese cuisine dominate, but will increasingly
be tweaked.
l Exclusive, bespoke, haute dining will increasingly be on offer at around R50,000 per guest. For that, you get an elevated table, still visible to other diners, but clearly a VIP area and a personalised menu, white glove service, with a gold-leaf recipe scroll and photographs of you at the dinner table to take home.
l Greater emphasis on fresh food, farm to table.
l Gluten-free meals and those that cater to medical issues or allergies will be available in greater numbers in restaurants.
l Food trends include Greek yoghurt, grass-fed beef and organic drinks.
l Locally-sourced items will be the new mantra for meat, vegetables, salads and seafood.
l Restaurants will become mall anchors rather than branded stores.
l Tea will become increasingly popular as its health benefits and new speciality varieties give it an edge over coffee bars.
l More ?melting pot? foods, which means Indian or Asian cuisine, not fusion, but tweaked to local tastes.
l More sophisticated sweets and yoghurts.
l Brazilian food, as we get closer to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in
the country.
Travel
l Increasing use of smartphones or tablets for travel, from booking tickets to tracking flights, using travel-related apps for weather, maps, places to see, eat and shop, access special deals and compare hotel rates, translate local signs and language, among numerous others.
l A greater urge to visit more remote destinations and explore places, which add a sense of adventure and discovery rather than ?safe? trips to domestic destinations or traditional ones like America or Europe.
l Top destinations to visit in 2014 are Brazil, Antarctica, Scotland, Sweden and, surprisingly, Sikkim to see the future of eco-tourism.
l Trend towards extending a business trip into a personal vacation to save time and money, with most companies agreeable to such an arrangement.
l Greater amount of time spent on work while travelling than at the office. Companies are placing greater scrutiny on result-oriented business travel, so executives are working harder than ever before.
l In-flight services like Wi-Fi and use of cellular phones while in air will be introduced in 2014, and it remains to be seen how intrusive and irritating this is for other passengers.
l Rising airfares and other costs mean business travellers are becoming more tuned to looking for cheaper hotels and low-frill airlines or those with attractive frequent flyer programmes. Loyalty programmes are increasingly dictating airline choices.
l Increased use of room-service meals, as opposed to eating at expensive high-end restaurants on company accounts.
Automobiles
l Hybrid engine technology is now seen as the way of the future, as opposed to fully battery-electric vehicles.
l Down-sizing and improving internal combustion engines are another trend for 2014 and beyond.
l Light-weight technology is on the rise, with increasing use of space-age materials to reduce weight and improve performance.
l Safety-related driver assistance systems are key to the design of future cars, from cameras to automatic braking.
l Connectivity, or e-mobility, which means greater use of technology and driving aids with ability to access networks and the Internet.
l Greater burglar-proof devices, like hand, thumb or face recognition software.
l Better use of infotainment systems, audio streaming from perso-
nal devices.
l Less use of ornamental and decorative elements like LED fireworks and gaudy grille treatments, and more of quiet, understated elegance and luxury.
l Car brands to watch out for are Cadillac, Volvo, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia.
l Move towards big luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, making smaller, cheaper models and compact crossovers.
