Coinciding with the store launch, Amazon commissions the Shop the Future report with predictions from leading independent futurists on the consumer products set to redefine our future

Find out what Rover really wants: “electronic translators” will allow you to understand your pets’ emotions and communicate with them better

Self-refilling fridges: your refrigerator will stock itself, forever redefining the weekly shop

Personality projectors: digital “virtual shelves” will be must-haves at home to display your digital books, film and music collections

LUXEMBOURG, 20 July 2017: From smart cushions and button-sized subwoofers to augmented reality glasses and self-watering planters, Amazon.co.uk’s new Shop the Future store is full of the latest cutting-edge electronics, home, health and beauty as well as food and drink products set to become mainstay must-haves of the future.

The store’s introduction is informed by two world-leading futurists, Anne Lise Kjaer, of Kjaer Global, and William Higham, from Next Big Thing, who were commissioned to help select products for the store’s launch as well as publish an independent report entitled Shop the Future. The report is full of predictions on the innovative products that could be set to redefine how we live, work and play in the future. It reveals the products of the future that will be focused on making people’s lives easier and more efficient as they navigate an increasingly busy world.

“The pace of innovation has never been faster and we’re seeing exciting new products that improve our health, beautify our homes, save us time and make entertainment more enthralling than ever – from wherever,” said Kjaer.

“Pet translator devices may help us get to know our dogs and cats better, and you may soon be able to buy ‘smart conveniences’, such as fridges that know when they’re getting low on certain foods and reorder the groceries themselves, as well as space-saving technology like ‘modular walls’ that can be reshaped into chairs, shelves or tables depending on what you need,” said Higham.

“Over the coming decades we’re set to see numerous innovations that will enhance our health and environment,” Higham continues. “We’ll save time and trouble, bringing us closer to our friends, family and community, via products and services that will delight us with their revolutionary originality. New products like virtual shelves will let us display our personality by showing off our collections of digital films, music and books on any wall in our home. When it comes to entertainment, people will be able to get their hands on OLED screens so thin they can roll up and take them on the move, while autonomous cars will allow them to watch films and do their shopping on the go, enjoying the driver’s seat in the same way they would an armchair.”

The global futurists have forecast the innovations that could soon become the norm in our lives, from home and lifestyle to entertainment and leisure, health and wellbeing and services to help both children and older people.  

Key consumer product predictions from the report include:

• The development of ‘pet translators’ that listen to your pet’s bark or miaow and tell you what they want, along with voice-led translators that will make communicating with people in different languages easier than ever.
• The emergence of ‘simplexity’ - a drive to remove complexity and have more meaningful services and products - with voice activation, subscription services and artificial intelligence becoming normal characteristics of the way we shop.
• Children’s education inextricably linked to entertainment through the use of apps that work in tandem with their toys.
• Virtual reality could make it even easier to share vivid experiences with our friends and family, with cameras creating 3D images that you can actually ‘walk around’, while augmented reality will allow people the chance to indulge in “the joy of hedonism without the subsequent guilt”.
• Monitoring health and wellbeing that is even easier, with trackers implanted into our bodies.
• Personalised diets based on our individual bodies and, in some cases, DNA, may become the norm. Insects could become an ordinary part of people’s diets, featuring in ready meals, while hangover free drinks may also become the norm.
• The report also predicts a new breed of forward-thinking, independent consumers, who will devote more time to producing their own high-quality products from their homes with the help of the latest technologically advanced tools, such as 3D printers.

“From connected cycling kit with at-a-glance navigation and tracking to cushions that allow you to immerse yourself in your favourite music through hearing and feeling sound waves, start-ups are constantly producing some of the world’s most exciting products. We’re delighted to support these start-ups so that customers around the world can discover their innovative products,” said Francois Saugier, Vice President, EU Seller Services, Amazon. 

“At Amazon.co.uk, we already offer over 250 million products that our customers want now and which they might want in the future, from household goods and fashion to technology, the latest music and entertainment and food and drink," said Jamie Heywood, Director, Electronics, Amazon.co.uk. "The Shop the Future store helps our customers stay on the cutting edge, using futurists’ predictions to continue to offer the best products and services to meet their evolving needs.”

The Shop the Future store (www.amazon.co.uk/shopthefuture) is the place to go for the latest lifestyle necessities, with a selection of products including smart home technology, such as the tado° Smart Thermostat Starter Kit and entertainment such as the Epson Moverio BT-300 Augmented Reality Glasses to health and beauty must-haves of the future like the Nokia Heart Health & Body Composition Wi-Fi Scale, children’s toys, such as Learning Resources Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set and more, with new products being added regularly, giving access to all the latest innovation and technology in one place.

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For further information, interviews, or product imagery please contact:
Iyesha Warner | Paul Brannon
T: 020 7845 7800 | 07908 841 934
E: StF@thisismission.com

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