𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝 **#19** - Temporal Commerce: "The future of commerce isn't about selling products, but selling time. The winners will deliver value before it's requested." - Futurist Jim Carroll
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(Futurist Jim Carroll is writing a series on 30 Megatrends, which he first outlined in his book Dancing in the Rain: How Bold Leaders Grow Stronger in Stormy Times. The trends were shared in the book as a way of demonstrating that, despite any period of economic volatility, there is always long-term opportunity to be found. The book is now in print - learn more at dancing.jimcarroll.com)
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Time is becoming the scarcest resource. Business models built around time efficiency, anticipatory delivery, and frictionless transactions create premium opportunities in virtually every sector.
Let's call it The Time Economy: Navigating the Disruptive Rise of Temporal Commerce. The full PDF report is right here.
https://pdf.jimcarroll.com/Megatrend19-TimeEconomy.pdf
Consider this reality: In the 21st-century economy, a profound shift is underway. For decades, capital and then information were the most prized and contested resources. Today, a new asset has emerged as the ultimate measure of value: time.
The finite, non-renewable, and constantly depleting nature of time for every individual and organization is elevating it to the status of the scarcest resource. And from this fundamental scarcity, a new economic paradigm is materializing: temporal commerce (or time-based commerce).
What's behind it? There are several key ideas at work:
Frictionless Ecosystems. The elimination of transactional pauses through technologies like seamless digital payments, biometric authentication, and integrated ‘super-apps’ drastically reduces the cognitive and temporal cost of purchasing.
Anticipatory Logistics. The shift from a reactive to a proactive supply chain, using predictive analytics and AI to forecast demand and pre-position goods closer to the consumer, collapsing delivery times from days to minutes.
Autonomous Execution. The deployment of robotic systems—including aerial drones and ground vehicles—to execute the final leg of the supply chain with a speed and efficiency unattainable by human labor.
This trend often seems crazy to most people, but keep in mind that Amazon, as expected, is at the forefront of these trends and innovates at a furious pace. We already have much of the technology, have become used to the idea of a change in how we shop - and are now seeing the arrival of a lot of bold ideas.
#Time #Commerce #Frictionless #Anticipatory #Autonomous #Innovation #Efficiency #Technology #Delivery #Future
Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2025/07/decoding-tomorrow-30-megatrends-19-temporal-commerce-the-future-of-commerce-isnt-about-selling-products-but-selling-time-the-winners-will-deliver-value-before-its-requested/
