BUSINESS NEWS - In January this year Amazon opened a new store in Seattle in the USA. Called Amazon Go, the store has no checkout counters and no cashiers.
Customers simply scan their phones, pick what they would like off the shelf, and walk out.
This is the future of physical retail. Technology is making cashiers redundant.
This replacement of humans is happening across all kinds of sectors, particular in areas like toll booths and fast-food service.
However, higher skilled jobs are also not exempt.
Computers can process and analyse all kinds of data far quicker and more accurately than humans can, so many clerical functions can be automated.
This is happening in financial services too, where the potential for using artificial intelligence and machine learning is extensive.
In the world of financial advice, robo-advisors are also gaining popularity. They allow people to access advice on their own terms, when they want it, and without feeling that they are exposing themselves and their financial situation to someone else, which is often a real barrier to approaching an advisor.
It is inevitable that this changing environment will change the way that financial advisors operate.
But will they, like cashiers, become redundant altogether?
Albert Cucco, the chief client solution officer at fintech provider Objectway, believes that the entire financial services world is facing this challenge.
Faced with new entrants offering digital solutions, traditional players have to respond.
He doesn’t however believe that the human element will disappear.
Ultimately, there must be a meeting of these two worlds because both will have to adapt to be sustainable.
“Digital players cannot serve online only clients if they want to increase their share of wallet,” says Cucco.
“At the same time, if traditional players remain where they are, they will not easily gain new customers.”
The majority of robo-advice platforms are discovering that it is extremely difficult to be profitable offering only this service.
They are therefore understanding the need to expand their product offering.
Many traditional players are also appreciating that to grow their market share they have to digitise their businesses, and make far greater use of technology.
“This is the argument for a hybrid approach, where the digital only experience and face-to-face experience will meet in a service that will address the needs of the customer in depth but still with the advisor as the central point in the service,” says Cucco.
