The global impact of the pandemic on retail cannot be ignored. As Covid continues to impact production and supply chains around the world, and as new variants emerge and disappear, it will likely continue to change the face of retail. Advice on tackling these new challenges is more welcome than ever.
Market analysis firm Edited, which specializes in retail, has identified four trends in both the physical and digital landscapes that will define the coming year.
Omnichannel and data-driven strategies
It seems that digital innovation and pandemic have gone hand in hand in the last two years, fundamentally changing the role of brick-and-mortar retail. Edited’s report primarily urges retailers to rethink their storefronts by offering experiential shopping to customers or expanding their sphere of influence into the digital world to enable alternative online activations such as livestream shopping.
It also urges retailers to offer more flexible payment options and use artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more personalized experience for customers. These additions offer shoppers more ways to approach the brand and retailers the opportunity to learn more about their shopping behavior.
The Metaverse is getting closer
At least since the announcement that Facebook is now becoming Meta, a Metaverse-first company, it has been clear that the virtual world is coming at us faster and faster. In response, retail has increasingly embraced elements of the digital sphere, with NFTs, gaming and cryptocurrencies becoming the norm across the industry. According to Edited, the use of digital fashion has become more evident as commerce “uses it to reduce the number of physical goods” while the rise of NFTs and cryptocurrencies add to the transparency and authentication of goods.
Cryptocurrencies have increasingly become an accepted means of payment during the pandemic. 5G technology also found its way into people’s living environments. All of this is supported by Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) applications as well as in-store and online customer services.
The return of the supply chain
As Edited noted, supply chain issues are “a plague for the industry.” Effective management of logistics is a must for retailers this year. The platform has made a number of proposals to solve this problem, such as click and collect to reduce shipping costs and return rates, and a new sizing technology that uses AI tools to help online shoppers choose the right clothing size . Both offer many advantages and are designed to help avoid over-ordering and ensure a positive shopping experience.
Another suggestion is the pre-order model, already adopted by Telfar and Kitri. At the core of the business model is production to order, preventing overproduction and minimizing waste. Another recommendation is local manufacturing, a method that ensures more control over the supply chain through shorter lead times.
Local shopping streets
A trend that has been largely fueled by people’s lifestyle changes related to the pandemic. So the shopping street could make a much-needed comeback this year. According to the data platform, 63 percent of participants said they will shop more locally, prompting many retailers to plan to move to local high streets and out of city centers. Some have also begun to continue to consider the new lifestyle of working from home, with some supporting the development of local offerings just for that purpose.
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.uk. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ.