TikTok as a travel resource? It's happening. "Type #travel in the search box and you can watch waterfalls gush in Iceland, elk amble across Wyoming, sunsets unfold in South Tyrol or hungry turtles on the prowl in Zanzibar," writes Nina Molina. "Many of the videos are goofy vacation snippets, but in the past few years, TikTokers have matured a bit. Now some are eager to show off their hometowns, which lets armchair travelers dig deeper into destinations and get a personal perspective on a place."
Even though it's grown far beyond the demographic, TikTok was initially a Gen Z phenomenon. So what's next for that trendsetting age group? Pinterest takes a look. "Turns out, Gen Z loves novelty. They switch jobs more than any other generation. They'd much rather chat via emoji than—yawn!—a voice call. And we've learned in our latest research, they're also far more likely than other generations to try new products."
The pandemic has shaken things up in the retail world considerably. But the end result could be something more stable, according to new data from consulting firm Deloitte. "The next 12 months offer opportunities to restructure outmoded supply chains, rightsize inventory management, review pricing, recalibrate promotional cadences, and reinvent the physical store for the digital age," Deloutte reports. "This will likely require entirely new ways of thinking and long-term commitments from retailers, but these efforts could forever shift the way retailers conduct business. That future begins today, by addressing near-term retail challenges with an eye to the future."
There will be more changes in the retail world—possibly changes for the better. On Fast Company, Elizabeth Segran writes: "Consider how much time you spend waiting in line to check out—Americans spend a collective 37 billion hours waiting in line annually—or how many repetitive minutes you spend filling out payment details when you shop on a new website. Fortunately, technology companies are solving these problems as we speak."