It’s the time of the year that the retail industry has been waiting for – the holiday season. With many retail stores setting off their black Friday sales and offers, the retail sector has already kick-started the festive season. But all is not merry the retail industry, the recent years have shown a deep dip in sales even during the sale and festive seasons. Though retailers are working towards increasing their sales margins by any means possible, only time will tell how they are going to withstand the increasing pressure from various forces. As the new year is all set to unfold, here are five trends that are all poised to dominate the retail industry.
Closures and Consolidations are on the Cards
With sales going downhill even for many big retailers like Marcy’s and Sears, retail stores are slowly resorting to downsizing of staff and shutting down of non-profitable stores to curtail losses. This is also paving the way for some major acquisitions of underperforming companies by slightly prosperous ones.
Contact our analytics experts to know more about the latest trends in retail stores and the retail industry.
E-Commerce will Continue to Expand
Players in the retail industry are looking beyond retail stores to deliver goods efficiently to customers. It looks like e-commerce will continue making the world a smaller place in the years to come. E-commerce juggernauts like Alibaba, are making cross-border shopping for customers across the globe more accessible and pocket-friendly.
Voice-Activated Shopping is Trending
Technology is making people lazier by the day; e-commerce and retail industry giants are slowly taking advantage of this trend and introducing customers to technologies such as “Alexa”. How does this work? Alexa is a voice-activated device introduced by Amazon, which assists the customers in shopping. It keeps track of the regularly purchased items on the customer’s shopping list and prompts the customer to add these items to the shopping cart every time they make a purchase. Such technology not only makes things easier for the customers but also helps companies to increase their sales.
Mutation of Malls
Struggles that retail stores face no only affect its employees but also takes a toll on the profits of the shopping malls that these retailers operate in. As mentioned earlier, the closure of retail stores is soon going to be a common sight in the retail industry; another store cannot be expected to fill the void created. So what next for shopping malls? Today, shopping malls are slowly transforming into mixed-use properties with facilities such as hospitals, apartments, healthcare centers, etc. being gradually incorporated into malls.