Retail Trends for 2016

Posted on: 2016-02-19 11:53 AM

In 2014, we saw more merchants venture into omnichannel retailing and try in-store marketing solutions such as beacons to enrich the shopping experience. Next year, we anticipate stores to double down on these strategies and continue to find ways to bridge the gap between offline and digital channels.
 
In addition, we expect platforms such as social media and mobile to play bigger roles in people's shopping experiences.
 
Many retailers leveraged social to engage users and influence their merchandising decisions this year, but in 2015, we’re anticipating companies to go beyond that and use social not just to showcase products, but to actually sell them.
 
The same goes for mobile. Companies won’t just use the small screen to “get in front” of customers (i.e. through geo-fencing and mobile-enabled sites). In 2015, retailers will step up their efforts by incorporating mobile into other parts of the customer journey, including order fulfillment, payments, and loyalty.
 
What we see for 2015 is that retailers will adopt and experiment with technology innovations and figure out how they can use them to improve the shopping experience.
We’ll likely see more of the following in the coming year:
 
POS Technology
 
Initiatives to make the cash register extinct will continue to go strong in 2015. Cloud-based point of sale systems have proven that they can outperform old-fashioned registers in all aspects (performance, functionality, looks) and an increasing number of retailers will recognize this and make the switch.
 
Will you be one of the savvy merchants upgrading to a cloud-based POS system next year? Try Vend for free and see how it can help you transform your business in 2015.
 
Beacons
 
Beacons will make their way into even more stores in the coming year. The technology, which provides in-store analytics and marketing solutions for brick-and-mortar retailers, has already generated results for several merchants, which is why we’re confident that beacon adoption will continue to grow in 2015.
 
Wearables
 
Research by Acquity Group has shown that about seven percent of consumers currently own wearable gadgets such as smart watches, glasses, and fitness monitors. However, this figure is expected to double in 2015. This will likely prod companies to experiment with how they can use wearable technology to market or serve customers.
 
According to Retail TouchPoints, Barneys New York is “is venturing into the wearable tech world through a collaboration with Opening Ceremony, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Intel.” Meanwhile, Kenneth Cole reportedly unveiled a Google Glass app in 2014 to market its new cologne.
 
We probably won’t see every consumer wearing a smart device by next year (not yet, anyway), but this won’t stop forward-thinking retailers from experimenting with the technology.
 
Augmented reality
 
We’ve already seen plenty of AR-centric efforts in retail. From virtual fitting rooms to interactive window displays, merchants are continuously finding ways to use augmented reality to draw attention and improve experiences. Walgreens, for instance, is testing Google’s Project Tango 3D to create AR-enabled mobile maps and navigation for its customers.
 
Customer Experience Management -CXM
 
We’ve all been asked to complete on-line survey’s after we’ve checked out at the grocery store, but how many of us actually do it. The numbers are pretty dismal and findings are that the small percentage of us completing the survey’s typically reflect a small segment of the customer base. Marketing and customer service departments are starting to challenge the results. Specifically they are worried about making changes or responding to CXM results that reflect only a segment of their customers and that any changes might not be reflective of their customer base in general. In other words the vocal minority may change the experience to the detriment of the silent majority.

Stores are starting to experiment with Customer Experience Kiosks in store where they can hopefully see results in real time. Some Kiosk systems are even smart enough to alert a manager or customer service personnel about a bad review so that they can respond to it while the customer is still in store. 
Another benefit of in store CXM is the real time tracking of something called the Net Promoter score. By monitoring from from a central location the results can be linked to specific promotions to provide real time results and better responsiveness and insights.