During 2020 different consumer behaviours have led to the development of new channels in the retail sector. The digitalisation of retail has accelerated and affected the new trends in the sector.
Technology, the new ally to survive.
Who would have thought that in a matter of months something so common as going shopping to your favorite shopping center would be a luxury? Due to the global pandemic, the retail sector has faced new challenges and has been forced to come up with new concepts since selling in big supermarkets, shopping centres and stores is no longer possible. One of the effects of this Post-covid situation is the increase in the demand of e-commerce shopping. E-commerce has grown 55% since the pandemic started and every day, more companies are creating their webshop strategy in order to adapt to the new normality and survive. Inorder to be competitive in this fast changing environment, the retail sector has the mission to get to know and retain its clients. Many companies from the sector are currently analyzing in which way they can improve the online user experience so it can be as complete as the physical experience of a shop. In this sense, technology plays a very important role this year: for retail it will be important to invest in technology to optimize and automatise internal and external processes of businesses as well as to ensure an optimal customer experience through interaction.
Furthermore, investing in technology to control and analyse better internal selling and storage processes will enable companies to be more efficient and create more effective strategies through data.
2021 retail requires the use of innovation processes that benefit the user experience at selling points through applications such as intelligent fitting rooms , digital screens, interactive shopping points. The key aspect to generate engagement with customers will be to create a 360 experience that englobes product, physical spaces and virtual.
On the other hand, e-commerce will be an increasing trend that will demand retailers digitalisation in their processes to be competitive in the current market.
How is e-commerce growing this 2021?
In 2020, when COVID-19 revolutionized the global economy, companies that were able to adapt faster to the market challenges and even grow during the crisis were digital ones, since consumers have modified their behavior and shopped more online. At the same time, the majority of companies have responded faster to the markets demands and have started to invest in new technologies in order to digitize their processes and attend the needs of customers. In this sense, one of the most common practises has been the establishment of a digital channel to sell products. For this reason, it has become important to take into account which actions can promote traffic to webshops. For instance, social e-commerce or the idea that brands and small retailers create buying experiences through social media has been established during lockdown months.
Another e-commerce trend is the marketing shopper, that is to say, those strategies that are focused on segmentation and understanding consumers and their necessities in order to define the different strategies to capture customers.
One of the main retail priorities is to achieve the customers’ loyalty. Loyalty programs have become a key aspect in order to retain customers. For instance, the consumer values point of selling that transmit security and a calm environment. We can’t forget that technology will play a key role: many retailers are already using augmented reality and virtual reality aswell as creating customized experiences through intelligent data. The aim is that in a future, Retailers develop data driven strategies to create promotions and special offers that can even predict the customers’ needs.
Understanding the new customer behaviour
Leader companies are still trying to find the best strategy to understand customer behaviour to offer different ways to satisfy them in every touching point.
In this new context, brands will have to be prepared to assist every one of consumers’ necessities in retail: speed, commodity, less time, omnichannel, commitment, proximity and experience.
In order to achieve this goal, companies will have to invest in digital experience through the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to be able to agilze the customers journey and capture faster their attention. In this sense, the future of small retailers will be focused on taking advantage of intelligent data to anticipate and answer easily to shopping solutions.
These new digital solutions will enable retailers to satisfy the increasing customers’ demands and expectations and slowly disappear the conventional way of buying. There is no doubt that Post-Covid shops will offer another type of experiences that are thought to be focused on connecting online customers with the shop assistants generating an added value through customer loyalty.
Online shopping wil be the best ally of businesses and as a matter of a fact, those brands that don’t invest now, will not survive the pandemic and are less likely that they return as conventional retailers. Shops that progress will have to support innovation and transform it into their key partner to grow. Furthermore, brands need to embrace the new customer values: brands with a value proposition that search for human connection, sustainability and support the social and human environment.
