Preparing for the future of retail: blending online and offline
Consumers are very much in the driving seat. Their supercharged expectations are pushing retailers to find more ways to enable them to shop in the way they want to. But, when it comes to offering choice, and designing the shopping experience of the future, where do you start?
Well, according to Natalie Berg, retail analyst and founder of NBK Retail, the future of the retail space will become increasingly blended. “There is a growing disparity between the winners and the losers,” says Natalie. “Those who are agile and receptive to change, and those that have been complacent. I think in the future we will see a greater blurring of the lines between retail, hospitality and leisure, and the successful brands will be those that can adapt and remain relevant to consumers.”
Uniquely positioned to answer questions on the future of retail and help you understand where you should be focusing efforts, we sat down with Natalie to get top tips for retailers on creating a future-ready store. Watch our video above or read the transcript below.
Transcript
“More and more retailers are recognising they have to go beyond just shifting product and offer a really compelling experience for shoppers that they couldn’t find online. So, I think in the future, stores won’t just be a place to buy, but also a place to eat, to play, to work, to learn and discover, and even to borrow stuff.”
“So, the store of the future has to be frictionless, it has to be experiential, and it has to be repositioned as a hub for fulfilment. My advice for retailers today is first and foremost, re-evaluate your store portfolios because as we are spending more online, naturally we need fewer stores.”
“Retailers need to recognise that they can no longer go it alone, and increasingly they will need to collaborate in order to cater to today’s consumers’ supercharged expectations.”
“I think the future of retail in one word, is blended. Both in the sense that we will see an acceleration in the convergence of offline and online, but also in the sense that retail space will be less about retail. We will see a greater blurring between retail, hospitality and leisure.”
