Thanksgiving is here. And while many people regard Turkey Day as one of the most traditional times of the year, there is actually a lot that’s changed since the first thanksgiving in 1621. And much of it has to do with software…so let’s take a look at how software has changed the fourth Thursday in November.

Sharing Receipts for Rewards

Apps like Fetch encourage consumers to take pictures of their receipts. Over 13 million Fetch users are snapping pictures of their receipts and have collected over $340 million in gift cards. If you’re wondering what anyone else gets out of it, the answer lies in consumer data; Fetch partners with retailers to help track consumer spending patterns. So while you’ll get points for purchasing turkey and trimmings, the places you shopped at will see which brand of trimmings you chose to pick out. This will help them make more informed and optimized decisions regarding which products to put on the shelves, down to very nuanced regional levels.

Bringing Turkey to Your Table

The supply chain is more complex than it has ever been, and that means traditional ways of managing it are no longer sufficient. Solutions provided by the likes of SAP, Oracle, and Blue Yonder are using machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize routes and ultimately connect suppliers to consumers in the most efficient way possible. While SCM solutions are paramount in the retail space, they are arguably even more important in food and agriculture, where the nature of some products is perishable. Consider the fact that the turkey, bread stuffing, cornbread, yams, marshmallows, and pumpkin pie at your table could have arrived from dozens of different places, all thanks to SCM software.

Making Shopping Easier

Black Friday is famous (or infamous) for being one of the most popular days to shop for holiday gifts. With the advent of ecommerce, Cyber Monday has become paired up with it for an extended weekend of discounts and deals. Additionally, with more and more consumers doing their holiday shopping from home, there has been an increase in opportunities for fintech companies to insert themselves into the checkout interaction. Companies like Paypal, Klarna, and Affirm allow consumers to split up a purchase into smaller payments, competing with traditional creditors like banks and credit card companies. Klarna, for instance, has already hit 2 million transactions per day and works with 450,000 plus retailers.

Changing Migration Patterns

According to AAA, more than 54 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles to be with family or friends on Thanksgiving. And according to some surveys, the average number of guests at the Thanksgiving table is ten. Remember the days when the entire family used to squeeze into one house? This may have yielded some fond memories…or recurring nightmares. Apps in the hospitality space have changed the way we travel, and the way families can get together. AirBnB, for instance, makes it possible to rent a larger property and gather the entire family there. In addition to leveraging P2P possibilities, there are also booking apps Expedia and Priceline that can match travelers and their budgets up with airfare and hotel reservations.

Sharing the Memories…or Remixing Them

There’s no doubt that social media has changed the way we think about life. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others allow us to post our memories to a timeline and share them with others. But the shift towards video posting has created new opportunities for certain trends like dances, skits, and voiceovers sourced from movies and television. While the traditional way of retaining Thanksgiving memories might have been a camera, new ways involve leveraging toolboxes provided by social media platforms—like music-related remixes. User-sourced content may also shape the way you remember Turkey Day, as trends gather steam through shares, likes, hashtags, and recommendations built on AI analysis.

Exciting changes in software all year

These are just a few of the ways that technology has shaped the way we celebrate Thanksgiving. And the driving forces behind these growing opportunities are equally exciting, like software sales. Supply chain, retail, entertainment, and finance are a few of the industries where software is changing the landscape, resulting in incredible changes to everyday life for consumers. Big profits are awaiting the companies that can carve out market share, which of course means additional sales revenue.

Does any of this sound exciting for you in 2023? Thanksgiving is just a month away from the New Year, after all. As 2022 winds down to a close, you may be considering a new direction after January 1st. With over three decades of experience in the software sales industry, I am a software sales recruiter poised to help you make that next move. Alternatively, if you are a software sales manager I have a large pool of pre-vetted talent that may contain your next all star. Whether you’re a job seeker or seeking job seekers, send an email to mike@michaelblair.com and let’s connect.