Why retailers who were dabbling with "digital transformation" before 2020 are picking up the pace

Let’s face it, many retail strategies that worked in 2019 stopped working in 2020 when merchants found themselves in the unthinkable position of telling customers not to come into stores. Without showrooms, sales staff, or in-store displays, it became next-to-impossible to demonstrate new products or sell anything at all.  

The year of buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS)

At the beginning of the year, when we made our predictions for retail trends to follow in 2020, we had no idea how accurate some of them would turn out to be.

Consumers won't be "COVID shopping" forever. Make sure your delivery options continue to meet their needs.

Only 21% of consumers in a recent survey said they expect to keep shopping online as much after the pandemic as they do now, but a different study concludes many people will stick with e-commerce because it’s safe and convenient. The truth is, no one knows exactly how buyer behavior will change in a world with COVID because the last time we lived through something like this, computers and cell phones and the Internet didn’t exist.

Holiday Shopping in the Time of COVID

Who would have thought we’d still be having this conversation about COVID-19 in September, let alone planning for the first holiday-shopping-during-a-pandemic season in living memory? And yet, here we are — and smart retailers are already thinking about December. They’re hard at work adapting sales and marketing strategies to deliver a merry gift-giving season at the end of a stressful year unlike any other. 

Unless you sell tractors and lawnmowers or back-yard trampolines, the chances are good that your customers come from all walks of life and live in all types of homes. From rural countrysides where the nearest shopping center is miles away, to suburban towns where neighbors know neighbors, the last mile of delivery for their e-commerce purchases is relatively straightforward. 

Benefits of Pop-Up Retail

Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts from mid-September to mid-October, celebrates the history and culture of Americans whose ancestors come from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, and Central America. The tribute started over 50 years ago when President Lyndon Johnson established a week-long national observance of the many ways Hispanic citizens contribute to U.S. culture and commerce.

Soon customers won’t distinguish between shopping on their phones, online or in your store. Big data can help you prepare.

Americans are obsessed with smartphones. We use them morning, noon and night to manage our daily activities, follow the news, and stay in touch with friends and family. A new study by Asurion says we check them almost 80 times a day!

We also use mobile devices to shop. Mobile, or “m-commerce,” is growing 3x faster than traditional e-commerce, a phenomenon directly correlated to the explosive growth of smartphones. In 2017:

Here are 6 ways retail is using big data to keep operation costs low, increase customer satisfication, and increase profits.

When it comes to retail, the smallest gains can count the most. With such small margins, every bit helps to keep the bottom line in the black. This goes into keeping track of overhead as well as delivery costs. Now analysts are able to use data to keep operation costs low, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. So how are retailers using big data to bolster their sales and marketing efforts?

How well do you know millennial shoppers?

By now most retailers should be familiar with the millennial shopper:

• 80 million U.S. consumers born between 1980 and 2000
• The first truly digital generation, they are “more wired, more community conscious, and more skeptical of traditional business practices” than previous generations.
• They spend $600 billion annually on goods and services.
• They are savvy value shoppers, relying on peer recommendations, online reviews and “show-rooming” to get the best prices.
• They prefer to spend money on experiences, not “stuff;” many don’t see themselves ever buying a car or a TV.