Beyond Digital Study: A Fifth of UK Businesses to Trade in Digital Currencies by 2020

Since its introduction in 2009, Bitcoin has grown exponentially. Now, however, it seems as though its rise in popularity is due to continue in the the United Kingdom after a new report found that a fifth of U.K. employees believe that their organizations will be accepting Bitcoin and similar digital currencies as payment by 2020.

The study, Beyond Digital, by Infomentum looked at the feedback from 1,000 office workers examining how they believe office technology is set to evolve over the next few years. According to the report, during the past five years digital transformation and technological change have seen companies rethink the way they do business, whether on or offline.

In 2014, Infomentum produced a report titled Generating Success with Generation C, enabling businesses to understand the expectations of the connected customer and how those expectations were making their way into the workplace. In 2015, a report called Talking Transformation was released, looking at how CEOs could restructure their organizations before the market disrupted them.

This latest report is aimed at helping businesses look beyond digital transformation as it focuses on what else Generation C ‒ made up of young, tech savvy consumers ‒ wants over the next few years, enabling businesses to prepare their organizations for 2020 based on the analysis and views from leading experts.

According to the report, 91 percent of employees don’t believe that their employer will remain competitive in 2020 in their current form, with 50 percent believing that their employers need to invest in new IT equipment to remain competitive.

In addition, 14 percent of employees would like to see drone deliveries introduced by 2020 while 16 percent of office workers are hopeful that 3D printed “product downloads” will be possible by 2020. Contactless mobile payment is predicted to become the principal payment method in the next few years.

It’s interesting to note how much of an impact Bitcoin is having on the digital world as more companies consider its attributes and how it can make a positive difference for countless companies in the years ahead. Considering that 1 in 5 people would like to see digital currencies introduced by 2020 it demonstrates how office workers and the companies they work for believe what the future of digital transformation and technology will look like.

“As this report highlights, the next five years will see dramatic changes in the current buyer journey,” said Vikram Setia, partner and chief commercial officer at Informentum. “As new technology alters the marketing, sales and delivery process, retailers must be open to innovation and willing to completely rethink their approach.

“By 2020, products may be previewed in AR (augmented reality), paid for in Bitcoin, created to order through 3D printing, and delivered by drone to a customer’s door. All while being monitored and managed through the real-time feedback of social media,” Setia said. 

“While this array of new technologies may seem daunting for many businesses, retailers must be prepared to think about how such tools are likely to impact their businesses at a long-term strategic level,” he said. “Those that fail to develop the necessary technology roadmap, will have already fallen behind.”

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