THE 2019 TREND ISSUE
Here are 5 Retail Trends to Watch in 2019
Interestingly, four of the five trends have a physical retail component, including the blurring of the lines between online and in-store shopping, and an increase in investment in employees. The latter, BizJournals suggests, will see “retail associates evolve from being ‘salespeople’ to consultants and experts” and some companies like “Starbucks and Best Buy have upped their employee benefits to help recruit and retain employees in a competitive job market.” On the former, the blurred lines see Amazon and Whole Foods teaming up for a real-world online experience, and Walmart’s recent purchase of Art.com and Jet.com demonstrate the retailers effort to boost its online presence.
Here are 7 Retail Technology Trends to Watch in 2019
Much of retail’s success rises and falls with the technology that is used, whether internally or with consumers. Justin Honaman, managing director for digital technology for Accenture, a management consulting and professional services firm, lists his top seven retail technology trends to watch in 2019. Some of these you may have already implemented, on others you may be saying, “What?!?” You’ve heard of cyber security, analytics, and artificial intelligence, and maybe you’ve dabbled in those things as well, but “blockchain” might be the new, shiny thing in the room that you should start thinking about. Pop-up stores, which “allow a shopper to see and feel a product in person before purchasing it – one of the biggest negatives of e-commerce – especially for new products” also make the list. You can read the complete list on the Retail Info Systems website.
A Supportive Perspective from Fashion: Three 2019 Retail Trends
The trends mentioned above come from the business and technology worlds. Fashion, a major component of retail, or at least one marketing representative therein, supports those trends in a top three list of trends for fashion publication, WWD. Shannon Andrick, vice president of marketing advancement at Alliance Data, a provider of loyalty and marketing services, listed Artificial Intelligence and what she called, “Bridging the Gap,” the link between online and real-world shopping challenges. Her third retail trend she called, Actionable Simplicity: forward-thinking brands developing solutions that work smarter to make life easier. For example, “Waggit, a wearable collar that tracks pets’ health, learning the pet’s habits, alerting owners of unusual activity levels, and sending reports directly to the veterinarian’s office.”
In Other News…
Retail legend Lord & Taylor has closed its 104-year-old New York City Fifth Avenue flagship. Forty-five other L&T locations remain. The brand is owned by Hudson’s Bay Co.
Nordstrom co-president, Blake Nordstrom, 58, died after a battle with lymphoma. His brothers, Pete and Erik Nordstrom, will continue as co-presidents of the company. Their great-grandfather, Swedish immigrant John Nordstrom, founded the company in 1901. Our deepest condolences to the entire Nordstrom family.
What are You Watching (and What Should We Watch) for in 2019?
We hear from prognosticators and experts all the time (some choice examples below) about what they think will happen in the retail world and why it will happen or (later) why it didn’t. Now that we’ve turned the calendar to 2019, we’d like to hear from you. What are the big topics going to be this year? What does retail have to do to improve? What new technologies could help that haven’t been explored deeply enough yet? Let us know what you think! Tell us via Twitter or on our “Contact” page.
DMM e-News - Issue #149
