Gartner predicts coming AR boom, app abandonment by brands

Dive Brief:

Gartner analysts at Symposium/ITxpo 2016 forecasted the next six years of digital interaction, with an emphasis on everything from augmented reality to how consumers and brands will interact.
The consultancy expects 100 million consumers will shop in augmented reality by 2020, and that 30% of web browsing sessions will happen without a screen in the same year.
Other predictions include: 20% of brands will abandon their mobile apps by 2019; all activities an individual engages in will involve at least one of the top-seven digital giants by 2021; and a blockchain-based business will be worth $10 billion by 2022.

Dive Insight:

Gartner's predictions about AR becoming a major part of the shopping experience are unsurprising, but the scale of adoption and how soon it might arrive in the mainstream means digital marketers need to be begin adjusting for the technology at a faster pace.

While other forecasts like the abandonment of mobile apps by a fifth of brands might sound dramatic, the development makes sense given how platforms like Facebook Messenger are quickly building themselves up to be one-stop marketplaces for branded bots, which can provide users with customer care and in-app purchases — a trend that also plays into the growing dominance of just a handful of digital giants. The growing role of digital giants in connected engagements suggests marketers need to focus on how to reach consumers on these platforms.

Gartner's prediction regarding the rise of blockchain technology points to how marketers need to stay on top of the latest trends.

"At the core of future outcomes is the notion of digital disruption, which has moved from an infrequent inconvenience to a consistent stream of change that is redefining markets and entire industries," said Daryl Plummer, managing vice president and chief of research at Gartner, in a press release.

Gartner also joins Forrester in seeing a rise in the Internet of Things, with IoT potentially saving consumers and businesses $1 trillion a year in maintenance, services and consumables by 2022, while increasing data storage center demand by less than 3% through 2020.