Page 29 - February 2022

in the pandemic. There is no better moment than now to reinvent what partnerships, and where, will deliver the most value.
supply chains in the industry. With the way people shop set to be different for the foreseeable
It is now more important than ever for brands to understand future, digital retail experts Tiendeo have released their ‘Retail
the purpose of the store, as two decades of e-commerce Marketing Hot Trends 2022’ study and through this Cec Busby,
growth and years of declines of malls and the department stores Managing Editor of Kochie’s Business Builders (KBB) and Flying
that anchor them have led retailers to drastically reduce their Solo has highlighted the major retail trends that will shape the
store portfolios recently. In 2019, US retailers forged plans to way we shop this year in the article ‘The Five Trends That Will
permanently close more than 9,000 stores. In an effort to make Revolutionise Retail’:
existing stores count, many retailers are rethinking store formats 1. Omni-channel experiences grow - Tiendeo’s findings
and switching locations. reveal that digital channels have become the preferred medium for
As for striking the balance of wholesale and DTC, traditional marketers to connect with consumers. Investment in traditional
retailers like Nike and Adidas are increasingly shifting business media (TV, radio or outdoor advertising) has also shifted to digital
models to account for a higher mix of DTC sales. While this can media.
lead to higher margins, it doesn’t necessarily make sense for all 2. The experiential store and the demise of the
retailers to pursue. According to analysts, a shift towards the shopping centre - Remember when the shopping centre was
middle is likely to continue, with brands attempting to strike the a destination, a meeting place to hang with friends? According to
right balance between DTC and wholesale channels in the year the survey, those days are gone. Welcome to a world where the
ahead, and for the next 2-3 years. experience rules and the experiential store is king.
Retail is an ever-changing landscape, and 2022 will be no 3. Technology as a catalyst for change - 2022 is the year
different, an opinion from Oliver Shaw, CEO at Kalibrate in his marketers predict technology and AI will come to the fore, from
piece ‘2022 Will Bring Continued Volatility and Uncertainty: mobile sales support solutions to interactive kiosks, checkout-
Global Businesses Will Need a Robust Data Strategy to Adapt free shops and intelligent self-serve stores. Customers will soon
and Thrive’ suggests that retailers will invest in collaborations be able to shop and pay without the need for customer service
to beat the competition. Elaborating, he goes on to say that or even a checkout.
to grow in 2022, retailers will need to keep reinventing their 4. Zero-waste and the circular economy - Environmental
businesses and finding new ways to add value for increasingly concerns are driving consumer behaviour more than ever before,
demanding consumers. Navigating such a turbulent landscape which has a knock-on effect on retailers. Consumers’ demand for
will be a significant uphill battle for retailers, and they’ll need to businesses to take a more sustainable approach to doing business
tap into the right data sets, such as mobility, location viability, in- has led to a rise in zero-waste companies and an uptick in the sale
store footfall, and competitor analysis, to know where exactly to of second-hand goods.
focus to succeed. His opinion piece goes on to say that an area 5. Social shopping is here to stay - Although social
many retailers are likely to explore in 2022 is partnerships with shopping is already a well-established trend, Eva Martin Co-
complementary brands. Much like when Starbucks opened a site Founder and CEO of Tiendeo says that in 2022, we will see more
inside an Amazon Go store late last year, there are almost endless and more brands and retailers using this medium to complement
ways for brands to partner up to deliver value for consumers, and e-commerce, where social selling will rely mainly on influencers and
themselves. But it’s about having the right data to show exactly brand ambassadors.

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