Last week, Retail TouchPoints published a piece spotlighting the top 15 articles of the year (so far). This is our time to reflect on the year thus far, and make educated predictions about which trends will remain top-of-mind through the rest of 2015.
Needless to say, we’ve covered a broad range of topics thus far, touching on everything from personalization, to social media, fulfillment best practices and the Internet of Things (IoT).
But which trends will make the most headway through the rest of 2015? The RTP editorial team shares their predictions:
Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief: The article titled: “Data-Driven Personalization Drives Advanced Pricing Strategies” hones in on one of the key strategies retailers must embrace to be successful moving into 2016. Some retail executives may consider pricing to be a lower priority these days, because they know they can no longer compete on price alone. But effective pricing will help push businesses ahead of their competitors. The headline provides the high-level mandate: initiative effective pricing using the available data across channels; and target shoppers with personalized communications.
Advertisement
Alicia Fiorletta, Senior Editor: Personally, I think social media and specifically social commerce is going to reach a tipping point through the end of 2015. That is resources like our Social Media Maven Awards are extremely important. It’s our chance to reach out to the retail community, and ask them to share their strategies (or their peers’ success stories). So not only can we spotlight the innovators and forward-thinkers, we can provide great inspiration to the rest of our followers! I was extremely pleased with the variety of retailers we featured, such as Kohl’s, Jamba Juice and Claire’s, and the variety of topics and best practices we highlighted, such as embracing user-generated content and multichannel campaigns. And with Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook all stepping up their advertising models, I think retailers will be paying more attention to – and investing more dollars in – their social strategies.
Rob Fee, Managing Editor: Although the Internet of Things (IoT) is still more of a cool concept than it is a strategy, products like Amazon Echo and the Nest thermostat are making made it more familiar to consumers. This, in turn, creates more excitement for the technology. Gary Schwartz’s article, “The Retail Internet Of Things (IOT): Turning Your Store Into An App,” takes an interesting slant on IoT’s impact on retail. Connecting in-store technology to shopper’s mobile devices has the potential to stream a two-way stream of information. This means that stores could deliver targeted, personalized messages or offers to shoppers while they browse a store’s aisles. Both groups would benefit from this approach, and I’m curious to how many retailers begin exploring IoT in the coming months.
Glenn Taylor, Associate Editor: The article, “Retailers Embrace Omnichannel Fulfillment Strategies To Exceed Customer Expectations,” outlines some of the newer delivery and fulfillment trends retailers are embracing. As the 2015 holiday season gains closer, I believe we will see more retailers looking to adopt and optimize trends such as buy online, pickup in-store to give consumers the opportunity to get products on their own time. As services such as Amazon Prime continue to offer free, fast shipping to their consumers for a flat yearly price, while third parties continue to think of creative ways to boost retail delivery methods, retailers have to be proactive in implementing and offering new delivery options in 2015.
Brian Anderson, Associate Editor: When it comes down to it, the customer has to be happy with your goods and services to maximize the boost brand loyalty and promote future sales. In the article “Getting Back To Customer Service Basics In A Digitally Connected Era,” the fact that the customer journey has become more complex has led to retailers having to adapt to provide excellent services through all the channels their target customers use. Understanding these new channels, and offering a consistent brand experience throughout these channels, is crucial to retail success, and I believe it will continue to be an important topic of discussion.
Which trends do you think will lead the charge through back-to-school and the holiday season? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
