In consumers’ retail experience, digital is not an option anymore, but a requirement.
Vitamin Consulting recently published its Trends & Inspiration report giving us access to a macro and industry trends view for Digital Retail in 2020.
According to Roxane Baché, “phigital” experience will spread to all sectors. Ethics will play an important part as well, as consumers are more and more ready to pay for products/services that are in line with their values. Indeed “emotion” and “love brands” are essential pillars of the consumer experience that will prevail over the traditional transactional aspect of people coming into stores. Finally, one of the main trends that will settle in 2020 is hyper-personalization turning into an era of exclusivity.
And all those evolutions will have an impact on the means of payment. Indeed, according to Roxane Baché and Vitamin Consulting, there is a new wave of concepts based on trusting the consumer and giving him more autonomy.
For instance, Dirty Lemon (a healthy juice company) has opened a store in Manhattan where the customer can come in, take a juice and send a text saying what drink they chose and pay via mobile. No salesperson, no cashier. Only trust between a brand and its clients.
Amazon led the way by opening Amazon Go, the first store where there is no actual physical check out process. Then followed numerous concept stores, for instance: the ‘Make-Up Market’ by Espoir in Korea.
Thus, we can wonder if this new type of retail will replace traditional retail. Vitamin Consulting and Roxane Baché do not agree. They explain that nothing can replace personalized advice allowed by human contact.
Besides the introduction of many technologies at the point of sale, consumers show a growing desire for authenticity and ethics. This explains that customers would rather consume products from local/independent shops rather than from multinational companies.
Transparency is key and some companies take it even further by justifying the price of a product by detailing the price of every step of the production process.
According to Vitamin Consulting, another trend that will appear during 2020, is the second-hand market gaining momentum.
Indeed, the circular economy increases 24 times faster than regular retail (CNCB data) and can be explained by the eco-friendly trend or the will to save money. This market has also been deeply disrupted by digital and numerous online thrift stores, such as DePop or Vinted, which have a huge success.
Social Media will also continue to have a huge impact.
Having a cool and shareable experience at the point of sale is now a must-have. Marketers need to invent fun concepts that we’ll be shared on social media by customers and make other potential customers want to come and see by themselves. Another interesting social-media-related trend has also been gaining momentum: social-liking.
Companies are now creating corners in their stores composed of the most liked product. For instance, Amazon has developed a concept called the ‘4-star’ store which welcomes shoppers with their top-selling, customer-reviewed products in New York. This kind of concept takes customer reviews and social media even further by being the ultimate example of customer-centricity.
Other trends are said to be huge in 2020, Daniel Newman — CMO Network — has identified 5: Augmented reality, quick service, easy access, social shopping, reality & virtual on the spatial web.
In the year to come, thanks to augmented reality, customers will have the confidence to buy a product without having to physically see, feel, or test it. For instance, Toyota has implemented a new AR solution allowing potential customers to test one of their cars (available on 10 models) without having to go to one of their car dealerships. AR solutions have been even proven to reduce the number of returns since consumers are exactly aware of what they are buying.
Everything is getting quicker and quicker and people are getting more and more impatient.
Amazon Prime has proven to us that people are not willing to wait more than two days to receive their products anymore. Consumers are becoming more and more demanding and regarding delivery times. According to PWC, 88% of consumers are willing to pay for same-day or faster delivery. Thus, companies must meet customers’ expectations and be able to send out their products quickly to customers that see everything evolving at the speed of light around them and that want everything to come to them right away.
UberEats is the perfect example: making it possible to eat whatever you want, whenever. Or even more fascinating, Amazon Prime Air, promising a 30-minute or less delivery.
Furthermore, customers want to have information about what they want to buy, quickly and easily. They want to be able to compare all information they can gather and identify where they can get the best deal. Thanks to AI solutions, this savvy behavior could then be translated into data that can be used by companies to create a truly personalized retail experience.
Social shopping is also said to be one of the biggest trends of the year to come. Taking a picture of a piece of clothing and being able to buy it directly on your mobile or buy a purse you like on an influencer’s post is announced to be the next big thing.
2020 will also be the year of a mix between virtual and reality in the point of sale taking virtual changing rooms a step further. Customers will be able to try on their favorite clothes but in the context of their choice. “For instance, a newly engaged woman may try on her wedding gown virtually, and see herself walking through one of many possible wedding locations,” says Daniel Newman.
These trends can be a way for smaller stores to challenge the biggest players on the market. Strategies can be developed efficiently, incorporating these new trends and technologies to create the best experience possible for demanding customers.
