We all love Christmas, but who can stand the manic panic of last minute shopping? Sneaky shopping trolley attacks that leaves you with a permanent limp (I saw you old lady). Lines that snake out the store. Fights over ice cream specials (I said I was sorry about that!). Merry Christmas to all!

But while we might despair of teleportation ever striking us this side of the 21st century, we see some seriously amazing improvements being made by Santa and his little helpers to deliver your packages on time this silly season.

Here’s what you can look forward to in the future:

  1. Drone delivery

This tried and tested mode of delivery is under serious consideration as a commercial delivery option in the US. In 2015, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was considering a 30-minute delivery time for online shoppers – via drone. Domino’s Pizza chain experimented with a “Domicopter” delivery drone to deliver hot pizzas right to your door. And while these modes of delivery aren’t easily available as yet, it would seem like we have loads to look forward to when it comes to improved delivery times.

Amazon Prime Air

Caption: Question, who rings the bell?

Source: Amazon.com

While we’re still waiting for a launch date for this service, this drone delivery system promises to successfully deliver your package within 30 minutes by selecting the Prime Air delivery option. It is still unclear whether Federal regulation in America will allow this sort of drone deliveries and whether the service will be available across the whole of America, all eyes are on Amazon to see if they will go the distance.

Oppikoppi Drone Beer delivery

Caption: Heads Up!

Source: Darkwing Aerials

Local music festival Oppikoppi wowed festival goers with beer delivery via drone in 2013. The delivery required users to share their GPS coordinates and soon their beer was delivered to the exact spot, using a little parachute to protect your head on the way down.

‘Anti-Drone’ Fashion

Interestingly enough this new style of drone delivery has spawned another fantastical idea of “Stealth Wear”, a self-proclaimed ‘Anti-Drone’ fashion line that renders the wearer invisible to thermal imaging and face detection. Even more gripping is that the majority of this fashion range has been sold out. These hoodies and burqas will protect your privacy and your waistline as those pizzas will never find you with this getup.

stealth-wear-burqa-anim1

Caption: Can you spot the wearer? Yeah, neither can the drones.

Source: ahprojects.com/projects/stealth-wear/

  1. Digital keys and delivery to your car

Volvo launched an interesting concept in Sweden last year which involved an In-Car delivery service, which allows users to purchase products online to be delivered to their car – without them being present. This delivery will find your car, open your trunk, and place the packages inside, lockup and leave. In fact this service was so successful that H&M announced a roll-out of the service to all EU countries where they have stores located. The service will also be available to Volkswagen, Renault and Peugeot owners who have models that were released since 2010. Sadly South Africans will need to wait a while longer for this service.

drone

Caption: Christmas shopping delivery to your car. Now all you have to do is drive to that Christmas lunch – no sweat (until your Mother asks about your relationship status).

Source: ewatlas.com/volvo-in-car-delivery

Technology will always strive for new and unique ways of improving our lives but for now we’ll probably need to be satisfied with same day delivery – and doing our Christmas shopping early.

Want to know what else the future of digital marketing holds? Have a look out for our predictions for Email marketing in 2020 (link to Nikki’s article) or contact us (link to contact page) for a consultation on how we can help you embrace (and avoid) the latest trends on the horizon.

Source links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGZnouOGc5A

http://www.fluxtrends.com/attack-of-the-drones-or-just-another-pizza-delivery/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98BIu9dpwHU

https://ahprojects.com/projects/stealth-wear/

http://newatlas.com/peggy-smart-connected-clothes-peg/42854/

http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/26/technology/dominos-drone-new-zealand/

http://newatlas.com/volvo-in-car-delivery/40568/#p377243

http://www.futureworld.org/PublicZone/MindBullets/MindBulletsDetails.aspx?MindBulletID=811&AddYourComment=true

https://www.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011