New technologies have changed the way we live in such a way that even the most emblematic traditions have been swept away by the current. That's why, it is not strange at this point to see a Santa Claus in the midst of a Digital Transformation process. (with robotic reindeer or an automatic sleigh) or the Three Wise Men being guided by a GPS through the desert.
Parents, who are in charge of keeping that illusion alive in the little ones, have it easier every day to find the rarest gifts that their children ask for. In fact, sales over the Internet have grown so much in recent years (179% more in the last quarter of 2015 compared to the last quarter of 2010, According to CSIC data), many have already begun to internalize that the Three Wise Men are the online distribution centers of many companies. So much so, that there have already been documented cases in which some parents, when trying to explain to their more curious children who the Three Wise Men really are, have ended up saying something like: “you see, they are people who are behind the computer and when you send them the letter through a shopping cart they send it quickly to your home.”. The child, looking astonished and not understanding how his letter could reach the Three Wise Men through a shopping basket or something on a computer, leaves more confused than before. The father, proud of his subtle answer, believes he has found the key to keep his son's illusion alive for a few more years - although we all know that, as García Márquez would say, this is the “chronicle of a death foretold”.
Amazon, AliExpress, Inditex and all the virtual stores that have opened many of the stores that until now were only accessible in physical stores have revolutionized Christmas. Smartphones, smartcities and payment facilities created by the technological revolution that we are living make it easier every day to find that perfect gift that we are looking for. And best of all, you can get it with just a credit card - sometimes even paying with virtual currency. So filmmakers had better forget about making movies like the one Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in a few years ago, called “A father in distress”. Fights between parents and endless queues are a thing of the past!
Goodbye to queues, goodbye to the stress of not finding the desired gift, and even goodbye to the lack of time. The technological revolution has even changed the way we see the Three Wise Men.
Amazon, the undisputed leader of the tech Christmas season
The Amazon sales portal arrived 5 years ago in Spain. Since then, its growth has been close to 25% per annum, The website is one of the most visited in Spain - behind only Google.es, Google.com, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. To get an idea of this excessive volume of sales, the company has even declared that “if all the boxes of the items sold during these years were lined up in a row, the distance between Madrid and Auckland, New Zealand could be covered”. This distance is approximately 20,000 kilometers, and is an undoubted sign of the strength of this type of e-commerce. And all this has been possible thanks to the undoubted progress of Digital Transformation., The company has been changing the way of life of most people for a few years now and, little by little, it is also changing the industry in Spain.
Some curious facts about the new Three Wise Men are as follows:
- On July 12, 2016, Amazon's sales record was reached, with more than 570,000 products sold in 24 hours.
- The fastest order that the company's courier services delivered took 16 minutes.
- The best-selling sneakers are Converse All Star sneakers in white and the best-selling book is “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
- Sant Cugat del Vallès is the leading city in the purchase of sneakers, unlike Esparraguera, the city where most wine is purchased.
- During 2015, travel agencies and tour operators accounted for the largest number of sales (20.8% of total turnover), followed by air transport (13%) and garments (which account for a 5,6%).
In short, new technologies are changing the way we understand our reality. Christmas, of course, has also evolved considerably due to the arrival of smartphones and smart devices in our daily lives.
The Three Wise Men are no longer the parents.The Three Wise Men are stores like Amazon!