Bluedot, a customer arrival platform that empowers brands to provide real-time interactions and pickup solutions, revealed retail industry predictions they expect to emerge in 2022.
“In the coming year, in order to hedge bets against shifting environmental factors, including the potential for another wave of the pandemic, retailers will be prepared to execute at a high level across multiple delivery and pickup channels. Brands will have the systems in place to provide a frictionless customer experience end-to-end, no matter how customers choose to interact with the brand,” said Emil Davityan, Bluedot co-founder and CEO. “To retain market share and build loyalty, having a future-proof stack of technology solutions is especially important given the array of additional pressures facing the industry including staffing, supply chain issues and inflation.”
Trends and predictions for next year include:
- Supply chain shortages will be addressed with more digitalization. Consumers are keenly aware of supply chain shortages and pricing increases. In fact, eight in 10 (82%) consumers expressed concern over merchandise shortages according to the recent Holiday Habits report. Brands will start leveraging their mobile apps to keep customers updated on inventory in real time. Items that aren’t available can be removed rapidly and at the local level because supply chain shortages in the southwest can be very different than shortages in the northwest. Digitalization also offers brands the opportunity to preemptively communicate with customers, offer alternative items, or even compensate them for any inconvenience.
- Brands will migrate customers from online ordering to mobile apps. As retailers integrate curbside and BOPIS into online ordering, brands will migrate customers to mobile apps in order to provide a seamless pickup and arrival experience, making web strategies a key focus for retailers. Mobile apps will provide an opportunity for brands to deliver more deals and offers to their customers, boost loyalty memberships, and ultimately increase the lifetime value of their customers.
- Retailers will utilize troves of physical journey data to strengthen brand loyalty. The surge in retail app usage means retail brands have access to data they didn’t have prior to COVID. This wealth of information will allow brands to make data-driven operational and marketing decisions based on quantitative consumer buying behavior with a focus on the customers’ physical journey, including when they visited, for how long, and if an order was picked up in the store or at curbside.
- Retailers will commit to ongoing investments in automation, especially with in-store and curbside pickups. The unexpected labor shortage has cemented the need for ongoing investment in automation. According to the latest Holiday Habits report, two in three consumers plan to utilize curbside pickups while 79% plan to buy online and pickup in store (BOPIS) this holiday season. To complement existing processes, we’ll see automation evolve with apps, orchestrated messaging, and self checkout kiosks that offer easy and more convenient ways to join loyalty programs, redeem rewards, find deals, and other brand interactions that traditionally required staff.
- Mall operators will push for a more collaborative strategy among stores at the mall-level. As operators look to compete with online shopping and the likes of Amazon, retailers will band together to create a single end-to-end omnichannel solution to merge online and offline. Operators will invest in technology that enables a one-stop pickup solution for curbside and BOPIS. Through the mall’s mobile app, website, or text, consumers can shop the mall and pick up their order at a centralized pickup location.
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