The benefits of technological advancement are undeniable and plentiful, however, while technology can enable us to work and live more easily, the risks are becoming more and more evident.
Cybercrime has already been identified as one of the most damaging challenges facing most industries, and that is not the only concern. The risks of negative qualities such as impatience and laziness developing are easily put down to ‘fearmongering’ by technophobes, however, their concerns are not entirely unjustified.
New technology means what we have faster access than ever before and our expectations of quick accessibility are getting too high. As next-day delivery comes more commonplace, a 3 to 5-day wait to receive your item seems absurd, and after catching up on your favourite programme online, waiting a whole 7 days to watch the next episode seems unbearable.
On a larger scale, while businesses can work more efficiently with technologies facilitating day-to-day activities, higher expectations can mar a company’s reputation and potentially decrease revenue. Nordstrom recently announced that they saw an 11% drop in online sales after visitors to their site experienced a slower response time of 0.5 seconds. This is damning for companies that are wanting to make use of new features requiring complex algorithms, such as 360-degree photos and improved user interfaces.
Our desire for fast service means that 50% of us will abandon a sale entirely if the web page takes longer than 3 seconds to load – this is compared to the 10-second wait it took for the same amount of people to leave the site just 3 years ago. In the multi-billion pound industries that make the most use of online shopping, the revenue lost from these sales is staggering.
The media industry, too, is hit hard by the need for immediacy. Illegal streaming of film and music is largely put down to the increasing costs of visiting the cinema and buying or renting films. However, even programmes that are on TV for free (provided you have a TV license) at a much higher quality than copies found online are being illegally streamed at significant rates. This is particularly true of US programmes that are typically released months before in America than in other countries. People would rather watch a poorer quality copy of a programme as soon as it is released than wait a month or two to watch it with good quality video and audio. This realisation could be the reason for companies such as Netflix releasing an entire series of Orange is the New Black at midnight, rather than keeping the usual TV format of releasing a new episode each week. Similarly, the fact that illegal downloading of Game of Thrones episodes increased by 45% in 2015 has been credited as the reason the Series 5 and 6 were simulcast across 170 countries.
On a more positive note, a comparison could be made to smartphones, TVs and computers – the desired size of these devices seemingly takes turns between large and small. As technology advances, a larger device is required before companies work out how to get the same technology into a smaller area. Before long, new technology comes about, taking up more room in the device requiring bigger gadgets and so on. The same could be said about online markets – new technology requires complex algorithms which in turn means longer load times for web pages. In the last year, the average page load time has increased by 7% across the globe, with Australian consumers waiting for almost 52% longer than they did in 2015. Soon, we will be seeing new ways to make the same technology simpler and quicker to load.
Understanding the dynamics in consumer expectations is vital for any company, and appreciating the cycle of innovation followed by speed can enable companies better prepare for the slower periods.
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