Thirteen Retail trends that will shape 2022 and beyond.

Now that 2021 is behind us, it’s time to take a few minutes to gaze into our crystal ball. Despite social and economic turbulence related to the pandemic, consumers are continuing to buy everything from necessities to luxury goods. So sit back and review our best guesses for the retail trends of 2022 and beyond.

Ongoing success for many retailers.

No doubt, COVID-19 changed numerous aspects of consumer behavior. Notably, many people chose to forego traveling in favor of focusing on home improvement and the pursuit of hobbies. This was particularly true during the first few months of 2020.

As the year went on, however, the Food Service and Hospitality industries began to come out of hibernation. People began eating out, flying, and staying at hotels and rental homes. It seems likely that these trends will remain in effect in spite of rising COVID-19 numbers.

Continued store closures.

Although there appears to be a buying frenzy for many products and services, not all businesses are basking in profits. In keeping with a trend that began long before the pandemic, numerous sellers, both local and nationally known, are permanently closing their physical locations. The exception is discount and dollar stores, a sector that has not stopped expanding.

A rise in online shopping.

When people no longer felt safe shopping in physical stores, they quickly shifted to online options, a tendency that given its convenience, shows no signs of fading in the years to come. Because secure Retail payment processing systems inspire confidence that digital data will not be compromised, buyers are loving the advantages offered by ecommerce. After all, they can first search for the best bargains and then make their purchases securely at any time. Within a matter of days or even hours, their purchase either arrives at their door or is available for pickup at the store.

In answer to this change in shopping behaviors, retailers are now focusing more on their internet presence. Instead of pouring their energy into their brick-and-mortar store, they are primarily investing in their ecommerce platform, their website, and the technology necessary to provide the most secure and immersive shopping experience possible.

New ways to process payments.

Whether they are making purchases or choosing the best way to pay for them, shoppers are increasingly demanding a wide array of choices. The pandemic only exacerbated this phenomenon, directly leading to the widespread adoption of touchless transactions. Even small sellers are incorporating the now ubiquitous smart terminal and contactless card reader into their point of sale systems.

These types of readers are outfitted with near-frequency communication (NFC) technology capable of exchanging information with a customer’s smartphone or wearable device. Through the use of a digital wallet already loaded with the buyer’s payment details, identity can be verified and payments securely processed within a matter of seconds. Best of all, absolutely no physical contact ever takes place between buyer and seller, a fact that is particularly relevant in these health-conscious times.

Preference for free shipping.

Statistics show that consumers are significantly more likely to purchase from a vendor who is willing to waive shipping and delivery charges. Additionally, buyers accustomed to services such as Amazon Prime expect their products to arrive within a day or two. Although disruptions in the supply chain have significantly delayed delivery times for months now, there is reason to believe that this situation will soon be resolved.

Buyers who want the convenience of ecommerce but who are unwilling to contend with prolonged shipping times are making use of the burgeoning buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS) services being offered by retailers. For many consumers, this represents the best of both worlds, offering fast access to products, a safe hand-off, and even in-person help from a sales associate if desired.

Continued changes to physical store layout.

When the pandemic came into full force, those retailers who were able to keep their brick-and-mortar stores open soon recognized the importance of protecting the health and safety of their staff and customers. They demonstrated their commitment by reconfiguring store and checkout aisles, separating cashiers from customers via Perspex screens, limiting capacity, offering touchless payment options, and instituting increased hygiene protocols.

Since it appears that COVID-19 will be with us in some form for the foreseeable future, sellers will need to keep promoting customer health and well-being to some extent. Only time will tell which precautions become the new normal and which are ultimately dropped.

Use of self-checkouts.

In addition to contactless payments at standard registers, merchants are also giving customers the option to cash out without assistance from staff. Although not everyone has a favorable reaction to this method of payment, it can help to shorten and spread out the lines at your traditional registers.

Stores that are shifting their focus to self-checkout are also learning that the process is prone to errors and confusion. As a result, merchants are frequently placing staff members in close proximity to the self-checkout registers to troubleshoot and make sure that everything continues to move smoothly.

Adoption of artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence (AI) may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but it is already widely used by retailers. It takes numerous forms: inventory management, guided product discovery based on quizzes and buying history, customer support, and more.

Perhaps the most often experienced use of AI occurs via chatbots. No doubt, you have interacted with one recently, either in the form of a virtual switchboard operator or a website’s live chat function. This technology augments the customer’s shopping experience with enhanced product information and customer care. By the same token, merchants can use it to triage the services they provide to buyers, ensuring that uncomplicated situations are addressed right away by the bot and more complex concerns are directed toward human experts.

Greater use of voice search.

Whether it is with their mobile phones or using a personal assistant such as Amazon Alexa or Apple’s Siri, consumers are embracing the convenience of voice commands. This technology provides them with an easy way to search for products and even purchase them without needing to physically type anything.

A continued surge in social media use.

Old-school sites like Facebook are being supplanted by TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and many others to provide not only entertainment but product information and demonstrations. Retailers wishing to connect with their customers are missing out on a goldmine of free advertising if they fail to establish a dynamic presence on their customers’ social media sites of choice.

Retailers are increasingly tapping into these sites to show off their latest promotions and demonstrate the key qualities of their innovative products. Additionally, they are engaging in ongoing conversations with their regular customers that result in loyalty and a tendency to spread the positive buzz. These days, merchants are even able to sell their products directly from their social media pages.

Greater acceptance of private label products.

At one time, buyers were willing to pay more for a premium brand. However, these difficult economic times have caused consumers to rethink this choice. These days, more and more people prefer generic items that perform the same functions but at a reduced cost.

Consumers are not the only ones who benefit from private label products. Retailers can make significantly higher profits of anywhere from 25 to 30% on generics as opposed to name-brand items.

Creating a rich shopping experience.

Buyers are no longer content to simply make a product purchase. Instead, they want an immersive buying experience that recognizes their uniqueness. Retailers are listening to these demands and are pulling out all the stops.

Their methods are as varied as the shops themselves. Just a few include offering customer loyalty rewards, featuring smaller niche stores within stores to meet specific needs, and finding ways to build close-knit communities. In the years to come, sellers will focus even more on using analytics tools to personalize the buying experience so that they can provide shoppers with the curated buying relationship they are coming to expect.

Emphasis on sustainability.

Now more than ever, buyers want to know where their products came from, how they were made, and what will happen to them when they are no longer useful. They are also much more aware of the impact of packaging and value merchants’ attempts to limit their carbon footprint.

Sellers will continue to take environmental conscientiousness seriously for decades to come. They will concentrate on creating, selling, and delivering goods in an earth-friendly way, a priority that will even extend to minimizing the use of paper and instituting energy conservation measures in their stores. Additionally, they will make sure to inform customers of the steps they are taking.

We live in a world where change is constant and inevitable. Nowhere is that more obvious than in the Retail sector. In spite of the uncertainty with which we live, one thing seems clear: Retail is alive and well. Although its complexion might morph with the times, customers will continue to seek products and services, and sellers will compete fiercely for the privilege of providing them.