A New Digital Opportunity

"A post-industrial society is based on services (...), what counts is not brute force or energy, but information." Daniel Bell (1973)

E-commerce has undoubtedly helped thousands of companies to put themselves on the map of their consumers. It is difficult to believe that until a few years ago, the main strategy for doing business or advertising a product, was focused mostly on the point of sale. Before we talked about retail strategies, about dressing a store with the colors of our brand and launching it to the market, while the digital element was marginalized. Of course, we were focused on a different audience.

Today, we can say that both physical and e-commerce are more than isolated strategies. On the contrary, they are totally complementary and have their own objectives. While online we seek to get closer to distant customers, it is through traditional commerce that we convince them, by touching their senses. Although e-commerce will not yet surpass its physical equivalent, it can function as a brand extension if it is well exploited.

Some companies are oriented toward a type of trade that is established according to their needs and by the world context. We could say that at this time, those who have the vision to bet on an online store may have greater chances of success, since can equal or exceed the number of sales but with less budget. This is possible thanks to a simple investment: specialized personnel.

When we talked about good job opportunities before, we focused on the brick-and-mortar sector, but with the evolution of commerce, the workforce is starting to shift toward the online world through specialized positions such as computer engineering, UX or UI design.

The clearest example of this change is digital marketing. While some did not see a future for it, others were pioneers of this practice, and such is its usefulness that digital platforms are already part of the communication strategy of many companies. This has given rise to the creation of jobs that were previously unknown, such as digital content creators, community managers and planners.

Great strides have also been made in web development. Today, we can talk about user experience, investing in site architecture, improving shopping flows and even putting special applications at our customers' fingertips. All of this is thanks to the evolution of commerce, or rather the hybridization of commerce. 

It is possible that many people who have not yet migrated from the offline world view this as an obstacle in their careers, but one of the advantages of digitalization is that it is easier to get training without requiring a specific education. Through courses and certifications, the same communication platforms open opportunities for all. Rather than seeing digitalization as an obstacle, they should consider it as an opportunity for growth and expansion of knowledge.  

The use of digital resources also does not have to be deployed exclusively for the company's advertising; it can also be useful for choosing your collaborators, allowing you to develop a more accurate approach in relation to their values, habits, tastes and, most importantly, their way of thinking. 

If you are looking for new positions focused on development or this branch of digital platforms, but your company is not tech-savvy, find out more, look for experts who can help you understand different tools. To get good results from your team you must first know how to interpret and learn how the elements you want to implement in your company actually work. Get to know the leading brands, your competitors, the various categories — learn everything you need to know and then start searching for the right person.  

Both the labor and commercial markets are still evolving and we do not know how they will function in the future, whether key positions will remain the same or whether they will be replaced by their digital equivalents. What we can be sure of is that investment in human capital must be among the most important objectives of companies and with it also the development of their technological skills.