As the Covid-restrictions are loosening worldwide, people are going back to normal, but after 2-years of living through the pandemic, everyone should get ready for the new normal! 2022 will be the year in which retailers should put their customers first. Here are the top 4 retail trends you should focus on to find success in 2022!
1. Customers return to physical stores
Although e-commerce and mobile shopping gained huge acceleration with the pandemic, the researches show physical stores are still highly relevant with huge sales proportion. New York Times reveals that the Covid pandemic not only accelerated online shopping but also increased the shopping overall. In 2021, physical shopping beat the online shopping and in 2022, more comeback is expected to physical stores. So, we can say that the customers are returning to physical stores in the post-Covid world but with new expectations. According to Deloitte, customers’ need for interacting with products in stores remains the same, but now almost 90% of consumers seek a digitally enhanced shopping journey in-store. They want a more refined and personalized, engaging experience and new ways to connect with brands when shopping in-store.
This trend will accelerate the need for technology integration to the shopping journey and adding digitalized in-store experiences. Thus, experiential retail will play a key role for retailers to succeed in 2022 and beyond.
Contactless payment, self-checkout and mobile phone integration into online shopping journey help brick-and-mortar retailers incorporate more technology to become more experiential. They enhance customer experience by putting the shopper in the driver’s seat of their shopping experience. Moreover, it reduces friction points that are usually experienced at the physical point of sales.
2. Omnichannel is becoming a norm
Customers embraced online shopping benefits during the pandemic and shopper behavior has evolved. Today, in the post-Covid life, it is impossible to think the traditional and digital retail separately. Forbes considers omnichannel as a key initiative for the retail customer experience in 2022. As digitalization accelerates more than ever, omnichannel is becoming a norm and integrated solutions that merge multiple channels and efficient systems to deal with the demand are becoming crucial for retail success.
Retailers need to take a hybrid approach and enable consistent customer experience at any time. Investing in and integrating omnichannel tools for creating meaningful shopping experiences are becoming a necessity. Digitalizing stores and shopping journeys, experiences that engage shoppers in digital conversations, and fast & convenient checkout systems are meaningful tools to enable omnichannel that will become a must from 2022.
Some of the best omnichannel strategies implemented by brick-and-mortar retailers include ultra-fast smart checkout methods and self-checkout systems. Self-checkout systems eliminate the friction in at purchase point and enable a convenient experience for customers. Retailers are expected to expand their self-checkout systems. According to Global Market Insights, 13% a CAGR growth rate is expected from self-checkout systems until 2027.
3. Shop & Go: Convenience scales up more than ever
While implementing an omnichannel strategy, convenience stands out as the most important benefit to unlock. Research show convenience has become much more valuable to customers after the pandemic. In Nielsen’s words: “COVID-19 elevated convenience to a new level, and that’s how it will stay”. Shoppers want it all and they want it now. In 2022, they seek the convenience of online shopping in physical stores and want frictionless shopping experience more than ever. They do not have tolerance for waiting long queues anymore!
Source: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consulting/articles/future-of-retail-stores.html
As customers want frictionless and generally contactless retail experience, retail operations must adapt new tools and systems to make the shopping journey as convenient as possible. Every barrier in the purchasing journey must be removed. In offline shopping, one-click contactless payment methods are becoming a necessity to keep up with this trend. Offering self-checkout options are one of the best ways to make frictionless purchase possible and RFID tags for self-checkout can be one of the best options.
4. Utilizing customer data to create more customized experience
As digitalization gets more involved in shopping journeys, customer analytics that enable shopper insights are also becoming an increasingly important in 2022. In the last 2-years of pandemic circumstances, retailers increased their performances by making more data-backed decisions. In 2022, it is almost impossible to rethink retail without it. All these trends go hand in hand; collecting and using data is crucial for providing the best personal experience that customers demand in 2022.
Not only in online shopping, retailers focus more on tools and systems that enable data collection and usage in physical stores to generate insights on creating amazing customer experience, channel efficiency and store optimization.
Now, implement these retail trends to be successful in 2022 and beyond
Bring convenience with 1-click buying in store:
rapitag IoT-based smart sensor tags remove the need to wait in line at the counter, reduce long queues, and speed up the shopping process in different retail sectors: Fashion, Adult Beverages, Electronics etc.
Rapitag smart sensor tags do not need a check-out terminal or cashiers. Customers can enjoy the convenience of 1-click buying with their mobile app and can remove the anti-theft tags anywhere in the store.
Increase your business outcomes through omnichannel marketing:
Rapitag smart sensor tags and mobile app transform your stores to omnichannel platforms. Shoppers can connect their mobile phones to Rapitag’s anti-theft sensor tags and pay mobile within the rapitag app in the store.
Digitalize your physical retail store to offer phygital customer experience:
Rapitag merges digital and physical retail and offers a personalized, engaging customer journey that customers want in 2022. Rapitag’s self-checkout system offers the customer experience in the era of omnichannel shopping. With the rapitag’s smart sensor tags and the mobile app, customers can digitalize their purchase experiences in physical stores.
Learn more: In-Store Customer Experience: 6 Ways how rapitag can boost your customer experience
Get to know your customers through in-store analytics:
Rapitag leverages offline data for retail success by enabling customer data collection in physical stores. As the customers interact with the products with rapitag sensor tags and the app, rapitag is able to collect data and offer insights about offline shopping behavior to increase relevance and brand touchpoints to engage with customers.