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10 TRENDS SHAPING THE FUTURE OF RETAIL September 25, 2012 (0 comments)

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Boston, MA—Retailing is undergoing a major transformation and what we’ve seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg, says a new report from Boston Consulting Group.

According to the BCG Retail 2020 Report, these ten trends are profoundly changing the retail industry:

Empowered, discriminating consumers. Consumers have access to a wide range of information, price comparisons, and user reviews, and because they also can share their experiences and complaints widely, it raises the bar for retailers. Consumers generally want one of three things: the best value, the best service, or the best experience. They’re not necessarily expecting all three from one company, but if you don’t excel at one, why shop with you? In terms of value, consumers want the lowest price or the best quality for the money (or both.) Retailers charging more for the same product are quickly unmasked.

Ubiquitous connectivity. With the Internet available virtually anywhere, consumers will become full-time shoppers. More than a billion Internet users already have gone mobile and smart phone ownership is predicted to be well in the billions within a decade.

Local and green. Shoppers want to consumer in a responsible, sustainable way, including buying organic and shopping locally. But it remains to be seen if they’re willing to pay a higher price to do so.

Explosion of available data. Almost everything consumers do is tracked, whether at point of purchase or via tracking URL’s, but few retailers are able to mine the data to its fullest extent yet. Currently, data accumulates faster than the ability to process it. Targeted marketing. At some point the ability to process data will catch up with the volume of it, allowing retailers to target their marketing based on consumer online behavior and purchasing patterns.

Scientific retailing. By applying algorithms and data-driven analytics, retailers will be able to refine not only marketing but also inventory levels, pricing, staffing, and more.

Growing retailer power. Mega-stores always have more clout with suppliers, but the increased power may tilt toward online-only retailers as their growth outpaces brick-and-mortar.

Better technology. Maturing retail technologies will help brick-and-mortar stores increase back-room efficiencies, offsetting higher labor costs.

Blurred boundaries. With drugstores selling food, supermarkets housing banks, and bookstores featuring cafes, consumers no longer need to think in terms of retail channels—they can simply fulfill any need they have whenever they need to.

Changing store economics. If online shopping is eroding store traffic, retailers will need to re-think costly real estate assets and merchandising formats. These dynamics will of course play out very differently for different categories. Some companies already are beginning to view their storefronts as learning centers or product showrooms, while others, such as Dwell home furnishings in the United Kingdom, already view their brick-and-mortar locations as a way to accumulate data from customers who visit, not necessarily sell product. Dwell store managers are rewarded according to how many email addresses they gather, not how much product they sell.

Read the executive summary of BCG’s report here. Read the full report here.

 

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