Trends in Retail

eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman discusses the current wave of retail store closures, the seismic shift to online shopping and what retailers should be thinking about during this time. He then talks about why payments firm Square is opening a bank, how you can help your local restaurants and where to watch live streamed music concerts from home.

by Martin Reeves, Lars Faeste, and Kevin Whitaker

eMarketer principal analyst Karin von Abrams and senior analyst Bill Fisher discuss Europe's response to the COVID-19 outbreak. How have governments reacted? Will this affect Brexit? They then talk about the UK's imminent digital tax, whether the Brits are ready for Disney+ and how not to do social media marketing.

With the exception of grocery stores and drugstores?which remain open?practically all other brick-and-mortar retail has seen a seismic drop in foot traffic before temporarily closing down their locations for the foreseeable future as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in the US. This is resulting in huge drops in revenue.

It?s little surprise that Amazon once again ranks as the No. 1 US ecommerce retailer?and by a huge margin. ?What?s surprising is that despite accounting for nearly four in 10 ecommerce dollars, the company continues to gain market share and extend its lead,? said Andrew Lipsman, eMarketer principal analyst and author of our latest report, "Top 10 US Ecommerce Companies 2020: Walmart and Target Climb Rankings on Click-and-Collect Gains."

The upsurge of self-checkout and unmanned stores like Amazon Go is freeing shoppers from one of the things they detest most?long checkout lines.

Following protocols and updates suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most restaurants across the US are adjusting their services to offer takeout and delivery only?relying on services like Caviar, DoorDash and Seamless to help get meals to consumers at home.

Across many countries where the newest strain of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has made an impact, isolation and social-distancing measures have been put in place. Workers in some infected countries have been asked to work from home, cities have been placed under lockdown and schools have been shut down. People in those countries have also begun avoiding public, crowded places.

After launching its mobile ordering app in 2009, Pizza Hut has made strides in the mcommerce space, constantly listening to customer feedback and adapting accordingly.

As uncertainty over coronavirus continues to grow, consumers are becoming more cautious about shopping in public places and are utilizing online shopping as a means of getting necessities.

SustainAbility?s annual trends report, in which we explore global sustainability issues and trends that will shape the business agenda in 2020.

At a life stage that entails lots of buying, millennials are combining digital and in-store shopping in ways that work best for them.

Le monde change rapidement. Pour rester compétitifs, les retailers doivent s'adapter. Dans ce livre blanc, Stuart Wood décrypte les 5 changements clefs qui secouent le monde du commerce, leurs causes, et comment s'y adapter.

Marketers that advertise on Amazon are continuing to pour more money into paid media on the ecommerce marketplace, according to Q4 2019 reporting from technology providers and performance advertising agencies.

Friction points in the customer journey can lead to immediate site abandonment. Learn how to optimize the digital customer experience to improve CX and conversion.

The future of e-commerce is being forged by three trends: the reinvention of brick and mortar, the rise of headless commerce, and an omnichannel strategy.

IKEA Dubai is running a promotion that lets customers spend their time as money, according to Forbes. Shoppers can show associates their Google Maps timeline at checkout to be credited for the amount of time they spent traveling to IKEA stores, with the discount pegged to the average Dubai salary. The ?Buy With Your Time? ?

The subscription economy has been making waves since 2010, when Birchbox debuted a subscription box that quickly gained popularity. Now, the space holds fierce competition, with hundreds of companies vying for customers across a wide range of industry verticals, from clothing to beauty to meal kits. No matter the vertical, it?s clear that the retail ?

Digital installment plans are growing in popularity, particularly among more budget-conscious, younger consumers. In the past year, adoption of digital interest-free payment programs grew from 24% in Q1 2019 to 30% in Q3, per data from CivicScience.

German supermarket chains such as Edeka and Rewe have achieved stronger growth figures in 2019 than hard discounters Aldi and Lidl. Which lessons are there to learn from this remarkable feat?

Soon the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, the fourth largest in the world, will open its first physical store in the Benelux. That first store will be in Rotterdam, according to published job offers.

Retailers are well aware of consumers' desire to shop in the most effortless ways possible, but several in-store pain points continue to hinder such experiences, according to an October 2019 survey from Capgemini.

As the realities of Brexit finally hit, will the purse strings tighten?

Retail Store Tours has named the winners of its 2020 Consumer Experience Awards, which include retailers such as Sephora, Nordstrom, Starbucks and b8ta. Winners are named in seven categories, based on individual factors that promote consumer engagement and drive retail shopping growth. An eighth category was added this year for Excellence in Shopping Center Experience. ?

Just imagine: you are walking past a music store in the mall as your phone pings you with a notification on a personal discount for the ukulele you?ve been eyeing for some time on the shop?s online web site. Tempted, you enter the store and receive another notification on the location of the item in ?

Joe Harris, partner and chief revenue officer at Wheroware, shares the top five elements in e-commerce retailers need to know and explains why retailers must focus wholly on the customer.

After NRF 2020 wrapped up, two Hughes SMEs, Jeff Bradbury and Tim Tang, sat down to talk about the new developments in the retail industry.

Future of Retail 2019 Report

Consumers have become more socially conscious in the ways they shop. At the same time, the notoriously unsustainable practice of fast fashion is thriving.

<p><em><strong>Learn five tactical strategies for fostering connections with customers, with real-life examples of loyalty programmes employing these strategies and statistics to support why they are resonating with customers.</strong></em></p> <p>In order to drive the type of loyalty that is ...

Advertisers are starting to see the appeal of brand awareness advertising on Amazon.com. That's a switch from a prior focus on the platform's search advertising capabilities.

While some US consumers are warming to the idea of making voice-based purchases via smart speakers, the number of those doing so is smaller than initially estimated. In our latest forecast on smart speaker users, we lowered our outlook for the number of smart speaker buyers (people making a purchase via a smart speaker) as well as the number of smart speaker users (people who use smart speakers for any purpose).

Elisabeth Zornes, chief customer officer at Zendesk, explains why competing on price alone will not work anymore for the retailer. You've got to design the conditions for brand loyalty and companies are rising to the top by differentiating with customer experience.

Jean Belanger, co-founder and CEO of Cerebri AI, zeroes in on how artificial intelligence and a data-driven approach can help brands understand customer engagement and, at the same time, optimize financial success.

Online reviews are an unavoidable part of doing business online. Here are 15 stats that prove the importance of online reviews today.

81% of companies expect to focus more on CX, but half say they aren't sure where to start. Learn how to create a customer experience strategy in three phases.

2020 technology trends to watch: cryptocurrencies, edge computing, brain-to-computer interfaces, AI-driven development, and autonomous delivery.

The US has been relatively late in introducing contactless cards, which are credit or debit cards that include a near field communication (NFC) chip that can complete a transaction simply by tapping on a reader. But those cards are starting to arrive in the US now that most point-of-sale (POS) systems have the NFC capabilities to accept them.

Reviews play a central role in the path to purchase, and many consumers don?t just skim them before purchasing?or passing on?a product. Some will spend anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour to make sure they?re making the right choice.

Most consumers want a product delivered the second they order it, and Amazon is betting on that behavior to drive more sales by offering free one-day shipping on Prime-eligible products. An October 2019 CivicScience survey found that a plurality of US internet users would rather order a low-cost item (less than $5) via Amazon than buy it in-store.

What will 2020 bring for the retail sector? Growing tensions between retailers and their suppliers, fears EuroCommerce director-general Christian Verschueren. He hopes that the new European Commission will put a strong stop to increasing protectionism.

Ikea has taken a minority stake in Optoro, an American start-up that develops software aimed at making returns more efficient. The investment fits in with the objective of the Swedish retailer to be a circular company by 2030.

Black Friday has a new spin-off: ?Make up your mind Monday', the day which sees the most returns from bargain hunters who regret their decisions. It signals a major problem, as returns in the holiday season cost retailers several billions.

Winning in retail used to be about offering the right product at the right price. But now it?s more complex ? with features like whether you offer easy returns and free and fast shipping . This article explores the new demands facing retailers; how you can respond; and if your own site measures up.

Exploring the most significant digital transformation trends that will impact business and our lives in 2020

eMarketer senior forecasting analyst Cindy Liu explores our latest US retail ecommerce figures and the winning impact of click-and-collect for brick-and-mortars.

Social networks like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok have ramped up their social commerce efforts in the past year, shifting toward an ecosystem where users can discover, shop and purchase products one place. Initially, these social commerce features were only offered to brands, but now social networks are experimenting by bringing the same tools to influencers.

It's hard to imagine the flogging of cut-price merch paving the way to a happy future for retailers.

Just 2 percent of websites are designed for accessibility. Learn how to incorporate inclusive design principles for a more accessible shopping experience.

We asked marketing professionals to tell us the top marketing challenges they expect to face in 2020. This is what they said...

More women are turning to resale sites, including The RealReal and Poshmark, as they continue to compare deals and make more of an effort to spend less.

This chart shows cash payments as a share of all payments in selected countries (2018).

This chart shows the estimated number of digital wallet users worldwide (in millions).

In 2019, we estimate that 577.4 million people in China made a purchase via proximity mobile payment within a six-month period. Those users account for 49.6% of the country?s population. Next year, more than half of the population will utilize this payment method, with that figure rising to 60.5% in 2023.

In the future, will your wearable device recommend what to add to your grocery list? Will you be able to order a new chair from a mobile 3D printer that can deliver it to you in the next hour? When you reach for your favorite brand on the shelf, will it automatically communicate to the manufacturer...

Retailers are understanding the importance of enabling these fulfillment options to eliminate the pains of shipping and processing, but how can a sound BOPIS and BORIS strategy ensure that they deliver a seamless purchase and return experience that actually drives customer loyalty and improves the bottom line?

Following the launch of our Future of Beauty report, we brought together a global panel of industry experts to discuss the key trends shaping the beauty sector.

When it comes to individualization vs personalization, there's a big difference - especially when it comes to the customer experience.

Maintaining relevance and responding rapidly to consumer demand has helped Microsoft, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Disney retain their spot in Interbrand's top 10 after 20 years.

Adidas admits that a focus on efficiency rather than effectiveness led it to over-focus on ROI and over-invest in performance and digital at the expense of brand building.

Discounts and low prices are historic holiday asks. But this year, sustainability is also top of mind. According to a recent survey, shoppers are more mindful of who they do business with, especially as it pertains to the environment.

Snapchat has launched a new ad offering which will optimize your campaign based on uploaded product listings.

Tencent will use AI & computer vision to insert ads in existing movies and TV shows

An e-Commerce site is a delicate balancing act. Inventory, pricing, content, CRM, search, recommendations, cart, payments and many other components ne...

E-Commerce may have achieved many of the hallmarks of maturity, but in a lot of ways it still behaves like an adolescent: mercurial, intense and desig...

While cashierless stores aren?t quite mainstream, they are gaining a foothold: 14% of retailers responding to the 2019 Retail TouchPoints Store Operat...

We recently sat down with retailers, including Natori, Article and Enjoy Life Foods, to discuss their current marketing efforts and how they define digital transformation. Previously, we dug into the marketing channels they rely on most, whether they?ve acquired enough first-party data and what a unified customer view looks like. In today?s ?Industry Voices: A Focus on Retail? video, we look at how whether they?ve undergone a digital transformation and what that looks like.

Email is still at the center of marketers? digital programs. No surprise there; it offers several benefits: It?s an owned communications channel, it?s permissioned?meaning consumers have opted in and indicated interest?and it?s a traditional marketing channel that most marketers are thoroughly experienced with.

We recently sat down with retailers, including Enjoy Life Foods, Natori and Knix, to discuss their current marketing efforts and how they define digital transformation. Previously, we dug into the marketing channels they rely on most, challenges they face with measurement and whether they've acquired enough first-party data. In today?s ?Industry Voices: A Focus on Retail? video, we look at how they incorporate all the data they've collected to create a more unified customer view.

For our upcoming report on the future of the CMO, we spoke to Brandt about making the Chipotle brand more visible and relevant to its customers through telling stories about the company's fresh-food values.

At a recent Tong Digital breakfast briefing, the future of Chinese luxury was discussed, and some surprising points were made.

Mintel analysts from across the world highlight one brand in their country that's revolutionising the beauty sector through tech. Read more.

Dick's Sporting Goods is also partnering on "Baseball's Next Level" to let gamers buy limited-edition cleats displayed in retro graphics.

Amazon continues to lead product searches, but its influence is declining, according to the report.

Our 3D digital world just took massive leaps forward. Here's how to make it work for your brand.

Everything on Pinterest should be shoppable: with that in mind, the platform is adding shopping pages, where retailers and brands can inspire customers and encourage them to shop at the same time.

Social media has become a hub of influence on many consumers? shopping. Boomers, though, have been wary of this, whether via ads, postings by fellow consumers or the cajolery of ?influencers.?

eMarketer executive editor Rimma Kats and principal analyst Andrew Lipsman explain how grocery stores will evolve, how many people could replace in-store shopping with voice commerce, a partnership between Alphabet?s drone arm Wing, FedEx and Walgreens and more.

Sports brand Puma and Amazon have launched a joint leisurewear label called 'Care Of', which will be exclusively for sale through Amazon's marketplace.

Consumers are often creatures of habit. They know the products and the brands they like?and getting them to try something entirely new can be a challenge.

Data silos are real. Here?s how Samsonite broke them down ? and optimised their digital advertising

As surveillance technology pervades public spaces, evading Big Brother has become a wearable art