What lies beyond in this ever-changing landscape as we look to the now and beyond?
We see physical stores becoming critical touchpoints. Some pandemic shopping behaviours are here to stay, with consumers turning to less traditional shopping platforms such as Instagram and TikTok while commerce companies are exploring the metaverse.
Together, in the opinion of
www.mytotalretail.com, these new ways of doing things will offer consumers far more satisfying ways to shop while providing opportunities for traders to convert shoppers into customers.
Globally, overwhelmed supply chains, supply-demand imbalances and commodity-driven cost pressures as Russia invaded Ukraine, pushed inflation up and put further pressure on businesses and consumers alike.
Despite this, and according to a recent Shopify article (June 2022), economists and the National Retail Federation in the United States project, United States retail sales are set to rise between 6% and 8% in 2022.
To stay competitive the retail trade, we will once again have to adapt and be mindful of the expected growth predictions, price hikes and inflationary concerns with the following trend considerations under the spotlight from now into next year:
- Emerging technologies like social commerce will offer the industry new ways to integrate shopping carts using Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
- Partnering recommendations from influencers, friends and family leads to increased sales.
- An increase in buy online, pick-up in-store services, QR codes that allow shoppers to connect instantly, mobile point-of-sale systems to allow sales anywhere inside a store and a range of contactless payment options will have data winning the day.
- Customer centricity will remain king going into 2023, with it being essential to allow for synchronicity between marketing, products, supply chain and e-commerce or brick and mortar to present offerings.
- By 2030, the top 18 cities in Africa could have a combined spending power of USD$1.3-trillion. Businesses at the coal face are already looking to invest in these markets in order to reap the potential they may have ten or even 20 years down the line.
- Key digital marketing trends for the South African retail industry to be aware of include prioritising the omnichannel customer experience, which has not necessarily come to full fruition yet.
Seizing new opportunities for innovative growth is undoubtedly part of every retail or commerce strategy and trends certainly bring a fresh perspective. There is no innovation without curiosity.
We say it as we look for new perspectives to old problems, but do we really make space for curiosity as a conscious daily practice? It should become a habitual tool for retailers, brands and organisations to help undercover what innovative buttons they need to push.
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