Every year I try to take some time to step back and be truly thoughtful about the year ahead. The full article is on Perch’s Retail Marketing Blog, 2021 Retail And Retail Technology Predictions and includes graphs, 3rd party research, quotes from retail leaders and in-depth original perspective. Here are the top predictions in summary format, but you should read the article to get the color commentary.
Retail spending will beat consensus estimates for 2021. $1.3 trillion in extra savings post-pandemic. December stimulus. New stimulus. 21 state minimum wage increases. And faster return to retail than restaurants and events. All will drive a record year.
5G Gets Real And Accelerates IoT Adoption By Order Of Magnitude. 5G is here with Walgreen’s implementing it across 9,000 stores this year. This and a variety of other factors will lead to a 10x adoption of IoT including retail smart shelves in the next 4 years.
The “New Normal” Means A Faster Pace Of Retail Technology Rollout. Covid forced a rapid acceleration of technology progress with a can do attitude. Now that the ROIs are rolling in, there is no going back to the old pace.
Retail Technology Finally Empowers The Retail Sales Associate Customers Deserve. Tablets. Voice activated microphones. Better CRM. Better product data and omnichannel availability. All at the fingertips of super sales associates.
Local Stores Will Become Broadcasters And Narrowcasters. With retailers looking for new ways to leverage real estate space, and social media morphing into social shopping, local stores will find new ways to stream content online, both nationally and locally.
Major Retailers Will Start Providing Payment Services Directly. With the rise of loyalty programs, low cost processing, new financial microservices, buy now pay later services and even cryptocurrencies, retailers now have the infrastructure they need to capture new margins and offer differentiated financial offerings that boost spending.
Amazon Will Make A Big Move In Brick-And-Mortar. What Will It Be? Amazon lost eCommerce share to physical retail, despite posting a great year. And their physical retail lost share as well. They need to make a bigger investment to maintain growth rates in 2021. I have some ideas on what it might be…
A New Model Of Restaurant Group Snatches Up Empty Storefronts At Scale. The pandemic drove a death knell to the restaurant industry, but consumers will be coming back. Faced with a sudden graveyard of restaurants, a new form of restaurant super group will emerge and get to scale rapidly.
Read the full article on my 2021 Retail And Technology Predictions here. I hope you enjoy them!
And FYI I posted my 2022 Retail Predictions here.