The 8 Biggest Retail Trends Every Retailer Needs To Be Ready For

Every Retailer Needs To
Be Ready For
The 8 Biggest Retail Trends

© 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
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Introduction
Introduction
To continue to connect with customers, retailers need to be ready to adapt to
the latest worldwide shopping shifts. Here are eight trends retailers should
watch.
The 8 Biggest Retail Trends Every Retailer Needs To
Be Ready For

Like every sector, retail is going through a transformation and must respond to
the forces of the fourth industrial revolution and major societal shifts. Retailer’s
ability to connect with consumers is more critical than ever as shopping habits
continue to shift in the midst of the worldwide economic disruption brought on
by the pandemic.
Keep reading to find out what retailers need to know so they can adapt and
succeed in 2021 and beyond.

1. Retail Is Now Omnichannel
We live in a hybrid world where online and offline are merging. New channels are emerging,
such as voice (think Alexa and Google Home) and other smart devices.
With these changes, machines will increasingly become customers for retailers. For example,
appliances like refrigerators could decide it’s time to reorder food. Our cars could look for
services or pay for parking automatically.
The Internet of Things and sensors enable companies to collect data and metrics across all
these different channels, and they need to get a holistic view of their customers.
Companies like Burberry have made a lot of progress towards an omnichannel world. If a
customer walks into a Burberry store, the store's computer system can identify the items that
the customer has looked at online, and even look at their previous purchase history.
Bringing these channels together is a key trend for retailers in the future.

2. Creating smarter services with AI is critical
Retailers can now build on the data they have and use it to create more intelligent and
AI-enabled services. Customers will expect sophisticated levels of personalization from
retailers, so recommendation engines are becoming increasingly important.
I've recently written about Vivino, the wine app that has a “Match for You” feature. You
can scan any bottle of wine with your phone, and Vivino’s recommendation engine will
tell you how likely it is that you will enjoy it.
Machine vision is also making retail more intelligent. Amazon Go, the physical retail
stores by Amazon, use machine vision to track what customers are looking at, what
are putting into their baskets, and then will automatically get charged. Customers can
walk straight out the door instead of standing in line to check out.

3. We Live in an Experience Economy
Retailers now need to provide added value to customers, to get them to come into
physical stores or onto their websites. We now live in an experience economy, where
creating immersive experiences will no longer be optional – it will be crucial for retailers
who want to thrive in a post-pandemic world.
Gucci’s flagship store in Italy is a great example of enticing in customers by a mixture of
cafe, museum, art gallery, and shop. Talk about added value!
Retail stores can also consider using augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) to
more information to the customer about products in stores and online. TOMs Shoes
helps consumers see the impact of their one-for-one giving campaign with a VR
experience that virtually transports people to Peru.

4. Making it easy to buy
I refer to this one as “See it, like it, buy it.” When we see a product on TV, in
video games, or on YouTube, we want to be able to purchase that product
away if we like it. That buying experience needs to be frictionless.
This is already possible, in certain circumstances. When we hear a song on
radio or when we’re in a cafe, we can identify it using the Shazam app on our
phones, and the app will prompt us to buy it. In the future, we will have this
ability on YouTube and other places online – so the ability to buy something
straight away is an important trend for retailers to be aware of.

5. Subscription models cut out the middleman
Many organizations are now going directly to customers, realizing that this allows them
to build much deeper relationships. It also gives them access to valuable customer
Companies like Dollar Shave Club and Black Socks are pioneering this approach with
subscription-based services for razors and socks, delivered on a monthly or quarterly
basis. BarkBox is also using this direct-to-consumer approach to sell customized dog
on a subscription basis.
This is a hugely important trend for retailers to be aware of right now. Organizations
need to find the right balance between retailer sales and selling through their own
channels.

6. Retailers are exploring autonomous delivery and fulfilment
Many retailers are looking at ways to automate their supply chain and
methods. Companies like Ocado, the technology company that develops
software and automation systems for retailers, is doing this very well. They
retailers create highly automated warehouses with large hives of robots that
work together to create different shopping baskets for customers.
On the delivery side, we are also starting to see things like autonomous
and ships that deliver goods. I live about 50 miles northwest of London, and
here we have Starship Robots that deliver my local grocery shopping.
should expect to see more and more automation in the future.

7. Supply chain transparency is increasingly important
Supply chain transparency enables companies to not only understand
at a more detailed level – and therefore make predictions about what
consumers actually want – but also use IoT devices and sensors to track
across their supply chain.
Increasingly, organizations are using blockchain technology to make supply
chains more transparent. For example, companies like De Beers Jewelers, can
now track their diamonds back to the sources where they are mined,
and cut, so customers understand exactly where their jewelry is coming from.

8. People are becoming increasingly conscious consumers
This eighth trend ties in closely with the previous one. Consumers want transparency
when they’re buying from retailers. They care about sustainability and are becoming
increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of the products they’re buying.
In the future, we’ll have more labeling of products that include sustainability
such as carbon labels, food mile labels, or sourcing information. Retailers need to be
thinking ahead about how they’re going to stock their shelves and be prepared to
customer questions about the sustainability of their products.
Retailers that want to compete in the future successfully need to address all of these
trends. For more on future tech and business trends, subscribe to my YouTube channel
visit my website, BernardMarr.com.

Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2020 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

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The 8 Biggest Retail Trends Every Retailer Needs To Be Ready For

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