Where Retail Is Headed: What Can We Expect In The Roaring 2020s?
Written by Neil Stern
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Greg Foran, the former CEO of Walmart U.S. said that “Retail will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 50 years.” If he is even remotely correct, expect to see a rapidly shifting retail landscape as we enter a new decade on top of what has been a tumultuous prior ten years.
As the holiday season of 2019 winds to an end, I am going to use this time to look back and to look ahead. The 2010s were a transformative decade for retail. While Retailmageddon didn’t exactly come to pass, we saw a significant slowdown in physical brick-and-mortar retail growth and an unprecedented number of retail store closures…
I asked our team to weigh in on what they thought the next ten years will look like. So here goes:
1. Extreme retailing will define winners and losers.
We have defined extreme retailing as the following:
- Extreme value: Retailers who deliver outstanding value to the customer will continue to gain share. Value can be defined as low prices (of course), accomplished through private label and augmented by a treasure hunt experience.
- Extreme convenience: Retailers who remove pain points from the customer looking for and ultimately buying and using products.
- Extreme experience: Retailers who energize the experience through great displays, provide reasons for customers to show up, change often and amplify product categories.
- Extreme engagement: Retailers who establish direct relationships with their consumers and encourage the ability to customize and personalize products, promotions and the overall experience.
To read more, go to Forbes.com
