The retail industry is constantly evolving. Everything from the way brands market themselves to how they accept payments is under constant change, evolving to better reach and serve those customers and thus increase brand loyalty.
Today, customer service goes farther than ever, and having an online presence is an absolute must for any successful retailer. Here are five retail trends that will grow in 2019 and beyond.
- E-commerce
E-commerce is working its way up to becoming the most widely-used avenue for purchasing among consumers. In fact, the e-commerce industry grew 15% in 2018 in the USA, and it’s still climbing. Customers appreciate the ease and convenience of ordering from home and having their favorite items delivered to them.
With this ever-growing industry comes increased competition and companies going further than ever to set themselves apart from the competition. Take Amazon, for example. Did you know the company has actually been experimenting with drone delivery for its packages? Talk about putting yourself ahead of the game!
E-commerce is a platform that puts businesses into the digital world, making it necessary to focus resources on growing and maintaining a proper online presence. This can mean updating and overhauling social media, your e-commerce site, and more.
Make no mistake; e-commerce will continue to skyrocket in the near future. If you’re not already on board with a site of your own, your retail store could already be falling behind the curve. Invest time and resources to your online presence and you’ll put yourself ahead of the competition.
- Subscription Boxes
Have you ever purchased a subscription box? Maybe you’ve seen them advertised somewhere? The concept is simple; you sign up for a monthly subscription, and you receive a box each month with specific items inside based on the theme of the box. There are boxes for every interest, from reading to self-care to movie and television memorabilia.
Subscription boxes have experienced a significant growth spike in recent years, and are expected to continue their growth in the coming years. These subscription boxes are one of the fastest-growing retail trends to date and can be an excellent option for businesses looking to branch out to new customers.
Whether you offer discounted or full-price items in your box, collectibles or necessities, what matters is that your box provides something your customers want. Take a look at your highest-grossing items, or gather customer feedback via survey or questionnaire.
Once you’ve got a good idea of what customers would want from your subscription box, you can begin to put together a sample box and get a better idea of how it should look, what it should cost, and how you’re going to ship it. Will you charge customers shipping or ship for free? How often will you ship your boxes?
- POS Systems are Taking the Lead
POS systems have evolved into much more than simple payment processing tools; in fact, a good POS system can actually serve to grow your business, identify sales trends, and drive customer loyalty. How can a simple payment processing tool do all of this?
With analytics tools, sales tracking tools, customer profiles, inventory tracking tools, and much more, the modern POS system is your central hub for growing your business and reaching new customers. You’ll be able to track your inventory and reduce dead stock and over-ordering, which means greater profits by reducing those expenses.
You can also track employee time cards and performance with your POS system. Everyone will log in at a terminal, so you can see everyone’s time card directly within the software. Go here to learn more about a POS system for growing businesses.
- Loyalty Becomes More Important
Loyalty accounts have become almost a standard for retailers everywhere. Ensuring that their customers remain loyal to that particular brand means the difference between good and bad sales numbers.
Generating loyalty means a few things. For one, it means your customer is more likely to choose your business over the competition; even if the competition has better prices. Yes, brand loyalty is that impactful!
It also means that you’re holding yourself to an entirely different standard of customer service than your competitors. You’re focusing on the customer and rewarding them in the form of coupons, promotions, or other rewards for shopping at your store.
Fostering loyalty among your customers can be a long road, but one well worth the journey. Provide excellent customer service, incredible products, clear return policies, and an overall sense of responsibility, and you’ll find your customer base is more loyal to your brand than others.
- Technology is Forever Changing
From mobile shopping apps to e-commerce stores, to touchless payments, technology is constantly changing the way we purchase (and pay for) our favorite items. Chatbots and voice-activated methods like Amazon’s Alexa are just some of the new ways consumers can shop.
The rise of unmanned checkouts is also a trend to watch for this year and next. Larger retailers such as Target and Wal Mart have already introduced these automated systems in their stores, cutting down on wait times and labor costs and making the shift to a more automated shopping experience
Conclusion
In the forever shifting industry that is retail, we can expect to see major changes every few years. From technological advances to payment processing changes, there are always new ways to pay, shop, and experience your favorite retailers.
