4 Essential Trends for Retail Brands in 2020

Retailers in 2019 continue to search for ways to counter the explosion of eCommerce.

As consumer preferences shift from brick and mortar, they have explored a variety of ways to stay relevant in the digital business landscape. But despite the doom and gloom headlines proclaiming the death of the high street, it’s a fact that retail is merely evolving.

There is no retail apocalypse, and smart retail brands are leveraging their place in an always-challenging environment. Technology, the disruptor of traditional retail, is also proving to be the solution. Here are the retail trends that will continue to matter in 2020.

Experiences over Products

More than ever, consumers are looking for experiences rather than products.

 Material possessions are becoming the least valued expense for modern-day consumers, and retail brands are proving fast to adapt to this shift in priorities. Smart retail outlets now offer personalized shopping experiences, virtual activities, social media-focused engagement zones and even bespoke real-world experiences.

This shift means the future of retail looks set to be positive. Let your customers create their story under your umbrella and they will come back to spend more.

The IoT and Convenience

The Internet of Things (IoT) is proving slow to have an impact on retail, but the change is certainly coming.

Brands that fail to account for device connectivity are only going to fall further behind. The IoT connects billions of devices owned by your audience, and that means access to a lot of data about their habits and needs.

From personalized marketing messages to speedier product delivery, the IoT is not something that retailers can ignore.

Data and Analysis

There’s little doubting that data has transformed the modern world. For retailers, data-gathering and analysis should be a priority. That’s because data can help you to remove the guesswork from your business processes.

If you are still making business decisions based on gut instinct and ‘how things used to be,’ then you are unnecessarily hindering your potential success. The Six Sigma approach to Root Cause Analysis is a valuable option to consider when it comes to the training and development of your retail team, as it will give you the skill sets to manage and analyze your data and business processes more proactively and precisely.