Retail trade faces new consumption trends, many of them linked to new technologies, which will determine how to attract customers and with what means to satisfy an increasingly demanding demand in aspects such as sustainability or responsible consumption.
Aspects that the Covid-19 confinement period has accelerated and consolidated for shopping experiences, both physical and online, and that have been highlighted in the XIX Retail Conference, organized by Comertia, to analyze the transformation that the retail sector is experiencing.
The meeting has emphasized the recovery of consumption after the pandemic and the uncertainties that still hover over the direction that the retail sector should follow so as not to lose the battle against a customer who, with high savings rates in the last year and a half, wants to spend differently because they have modified their social conscience.
Technology and digitalization will mark the way retail businesses adapt in all their segments of activity, according to Miguel Zorraquino, director of the strategic and digital consulting agency Zorraquino. In his speech at the XIX Retail Conference, Miguel Zorraquino insisted that consumers have already embraced digitalization and have increased their environmental and social sensitivity, although he distinguished between those buyers who believe it is time to consume and those who still see too much uncertainty in the short and medium term about the recovery.
Consumers have already embraced digitalization and have increased their environmental and social sensitivityHowever, there are trends that are already seen as established in the future and that will betools that retail must use if it wants to meet consumer desires. This is how Iñaki Lecue, business and research consultant at Zorraquino consultancy, expressed himself, presenting a decalogue of future trends that will mark the course of the retail.
Lecue has highlighted how dark stores, those functional spaces that act as small supermarkets, and that are destined to satisfy online purchases in the minimum possible time, are gaining weight, "because there is a growing demand for order deliveries to be as fast as possible," he mentioned and cited the example of Gorillas' business model, an online supermarket with deliveries in ten minutes.
It is also important to surround oneself with local suppliers because consumers want to make more responsible purchases and use more ecological and even reusable materials, "in fact, especially in the food sector, payment for utensils that can be washed and reused is being promoted," Lecue explained.
In his decalogue of trends, it is also important to highlight the offer of services that extend the useful life of articles, because there is a part of consumers who demand greater durability of them. This would be the case of experiences such as that of the Levi's brand with its proposal Buy better. Wear longer to repair and personalize used jeans.
In this same vein, there are manufacturers, especially in the textile segment, who are opting for the advance reservation of garments, "as an alternative to better plan production processes and avoid excessive stock and favor short series", which contributes to reducing their carbon footprint.
Gamification and retailtainment are positioned as a commercial strategy for brands, also in physical shoppingRegarding physical shopping, Iñaki Lecue has emphasized the improvement of shopping experiences with the use of new sales formulas to build customer loyalty, introducing gamification in brands' commercial strategy(convert the purchase into a game to attract and motivate the consumer) andboosting retailtainment, understanding the shopping experience as a moment of leisure and enjoyment for customers.
According to the managers of the Zorraquino consultancy, when it comes to reinventing businesses, opening new sales channels, building customer loyalty or attracting new consumers to a brand, this decalogue of options "is between the possible and the probable."
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