In the first two decades of the 21st Century, the retail business has been suffering the most radical transformation of the last 50 years and this has only been the “warm up” for the challenges that lie ahead for 2020.
Obviously, to remain at the forefront of our retail stores by then, we must adapt to change by introducing new management tools and policies.
Different studies have shown certain degrees of dissatisfaction from customers on the services that the US retail is currently offering in terms of physical stores.
This is mainly due to the fact that consumers are rapidly changing in their purchasing habits towards the increasingly busy online market.
A 53% of “millennial” consumers are considered more connected and updated than the traditional retailers that have not evolved to the online era, which is an extremely important fact, if we agree that “millennials” are the engines of the current change and that we will need them to continue leading our companies.
The merger between physical stores and online can no longer wait.
We have practically consumed the first two decades of the 21st Century. Eight out of ten retail operators consider the connection between sales channels with combined services, such as home delivery or the collection of physical purchases in the stores, vital.
This last service should already be implemented in 100% of all retail stores in the United States.
Our clients always want to know what they’re buying and what the real origin of the products are so that they can make a more responsible consumption.
Several supermarket chains already offer this information, including alternative recipes for the use of their products in the grocery segment.
Any retail business that wants to arrive with equal competitive conditions by 2020 must be working with “big data,” its tools of capture and analysis.
In this way, it will be possible to advance the consumer’s knowledge in both channels (physical and online), achieving more efficiency in all departments.
In regard to physical stores, we will be experiencing the phenomenon of the customer’s personal identification, so when you enter any retail store with this technology, the customer service associates will have access to your customer file’s history in order to give you a much more personalized service and offer immediate solutions to your questions or demands.
In this approaching decade, although it still seems distant, the “flash” or definite time offers for food and beverage supermarkets will disappear, as the client will look for a regular pricing policy throughout the year. Above all, the customer will be asking for a variety of assortment and reliability in their brands and again, easy and flexible service.