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Top retail trends to tap into in 2023

Are you ready for the latest retail trends likely to impact your retail business in 2023?  If you are a retailer and want to expand your market share next year, here are eight trends you should take notice of.

Key retail trends in 2023

1. Rise in ecommerce sales

Ecommerce sales continue to rise. Salesforce reported $65.3 billion USD in global Black Friday ecommerce sales in 2022. The comprehensive online sales increased 2% to reach $281 billion USD in 2022 as compared to the previous year.

Nowadays, if you don’t take your business online, your progress will be hindered. Typically, you can take your business online by creating a seller account on different ecommerce marketplaces, like Amazon, Etsy, or eBay, if you are starting as an online seller. Other options for selling online include creating your own website and selling on social media channels. A retailer can choose to sell products on multiple channels to increase market share. A Harvard Business Review survey indicates that 73% of retail consumers preferred multiple channels to shop.

Cin7 Core offers a specialized ecommerce feature for managing your inventory when you sell on multiple channels.

2. Continuing need to secure consumer data

According to a Thales 2022 survey, 21% of consumers stopped using a company after it faced a data breach. Moreover, 42% of them requested these companies to delete their data. This indicates how much consumers value data privacy.

Data is an asset – whether it is your suppliers’ or customers’ data. When you sell online, you have to store the data of your customers. Sometimes cybercriminals tap into that database and use the collected data maliciously. Various governments have framed privacy laws to protect consumer information. Moreover, these laws hold companies liable for losing their customer data to criminals. Therefore, it is crucial to implement data security of the highest standards.

Cin7 Core’s inventory management software offers consumer and supplier data security by limiting access. You can set passwords to allow access only to authorized people.

3. Considerable upgrades in physical shopping experience

If you concentrate merely on your ecommerce activities and ignore the in-person experience of your customers, your reputation will suffer. To increase your sales, you must introduce elevated in-person shopping experiences, including:

Self-checkouts

The global self-checkout systems’ market size was valued at $3.44 billion USD in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.3% from 2022 to 2030 (Grand View Research).

Many consumers prefer less communication while shopping. They want minimum contact with others for personal reasons. The self-checkout option is one of the most preferred options for such customers. In addition to providing customers with convenience, self-checkouts require only a single person to support customers when they face an issue.

Faster processing

86% of customers avoid stores with longer queues. When customers frequently see long queues in the payments section or in any other sections, they can lose patience and take their business elsewhere. Nobody likes to wait. If you have more customer foot traffic, you should increase the staffing at your checkout counters to reduce the queues.

Shopping assistance

80% of consumers are likely to buy from companies that provide personalized shopping experiences. While some customers look for privacy during shopping, some prefer assistance. Employ customer relationship specialists to support your customers. Assisted shopping can help customers who want help during shopping. Some high-end retailers also close down their stores for all other customers for a single shopper. Customers can pre-book their time slot and have privacy for shopping. However, this is possible only in luxury brands. Thus, depending on what you sell, you can introduce assistance for your customers.

Buy online pick-up in-store (BOPIS)

67% of shoppers in the United States have used Buy Online Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) in the past six months and it is predicted that 10% of all sales will be fulfilled by Click and Collect by 2025 (Invespcro).

BOPIS is the trend that gained traction during the Covid-19 pandemic when people tried to reduce human contact. Due to the convenience offered by this system, it still continues. This method allows customers to book their products online and pick them up from the store. It reduces shopping time considerably and doesn’t require a delivery person.

4. Continued need for high quality customer support

Kayako reported that 95% of customers value thorough, high-quality customer support more than speed. Customer support is crucial when your customers are spread over a wide geographical area. When they shop in person, your shopping assistants can help them, but if they are shopping online, they will need support. Most companies have a phone and chat support systems. Your customers can easily communicate if your phone lines are open 24/7 and support multiple languages. Some companies employ artificial intelligence (AI) supported phone lines for swifter support systems. AI can also be used in chatbots, one of the latest trends in retail business management. Chatbots are automated communication robots designed to act like humans to solve consumer queries.

5. Rewards (still) work

Yotpo’s brand loyalty survey for 2022 revealed that 68% of consumers are more willing to share personal information in exchange for more personalized loyalty experience and rewards. 83% of the respondents said that belonging to a loyalty program influences their decision to buy again from a brand.

To draw in more repeat customers, retailers can introduce a reward system. They can earn points based on their purchases and redeem them in different ways. They can use the points for future purchases or exchange them for gifts. Reward systems can boost sales to existing customers. The customers also feel good that they are recognized and appreciated for their purchases.

Cin7 Core can let customers pay with gift cards earned by rewards or otherwise.

6. Online transactions – and deliveries – continue to increase

If you sell online, you must provide shipping to distant customers. Whether you have your own shipping department or you use a shipping partner, allow your customers to track their orders. It helps them stay connected to their purchase and improves engagement. Offer expedited deliveries for an additional fee. You can attract more customers by offering free delivery. You can also encourage customers to buy more if you offer free delivery above a specific purchase amount.

Cin7 Core provides integrations with various shipping software, including Easyship, Shipstation, Shippit, and Starshipit.

7. Product bundles are on the rise

Product bundling is one way to sell more. Two or more items can be bundled together, and the price of the bundle should be discounted as compared to the total of all the products sold together. Let’s understand product bundles with an example: if a customer is interested in buying skin care products, the retailer can sell a whole set of skin care products at a discounted rate, including moisturizer, soap, night cream, cleanser, eye cream, and a face mask. If the customer buys all these items separately, it will cost them more. Product bundles are often used in gifting during holidays and in corporate events.

The chart shows a considerable spike in the number of times the word “bundle” has been searched for in Google in the last few months. Sellers are increasingly leveraging this option to increase their sales and clear their inventories quickly.

8. Going green not just an option anymore

In 2021, about 50% of new products were sustainable, up 20 percentage points from 2017. Additionally, 93% of consumers have either increased their purchases of sustainable products or maintained their sustainable purchase habits over the past year.

More customers are drawn towards sustainability due to increased awareness about global warming. Provide sustainable products to your customers not only to attain sales targets but also to help the environment. Reduce the use of single-use plastics and non-degradable items. Keep your cooling or heating systems at an optimum level to reduce greenhouse gasses. These little things can make a huge difference in the future.

Cin7 Core’s purchase analytics help you to consider different supplier options to help you compare sustainable and non-sustainable products.

 

Winding up

If you are a retailer, 2023 might be a very exciting year for your business. You can expand your business by taking advantage of these important trends and the opportunities they offer.

Make inventory management one of your priorities. Book a call with our experts to learn more about Cin7 Core’s inventory management software.

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