Five retail trends for 2020 — Retail Technology Innovation Hub

Those looking to continue business and safeguard themselves from the ever-changing landscape of retail need to keep up with the latest trends. Failure to do so will risk you losing out to the increasingly dominant e-commerce industry and failure for brick and mortar businesses is far too easy these days.

Discover the five retail trends we can expect to see this year and act accordingly.

1. More human touch

One of the huge downsides to sites like Amazon is the complete lack of emotion or feeling behind it. Amazon is a highly successful but truly soulless retail site.

This is where other retailers can jump in and take a piece of the cake for themselves. Adding a more human touch can work for both e-commerce and bricks and mortar businesses.

E-commerce owners should look to create a story behind their business or brand. Open the door for your customers to discover who you are, why you do what you do and allow them to create a relationship with your company.

Those with bricks and mortar businesses should focus on creating unique experiences. Allow visitors to touch and feel your products, play around with them and get immersed in the experience.

2. Take your online business offline

Photo from Wikipedia — **Photo from** **Wikipedia**

If your company is purely online then it’s imperative that you get out there and show your product to the world in real-life. Brands that are successful organise pop-up experiences in major cities where they can show off their product, allow people to see their product and start to create that customer relationship.

Whether you are selling cosmetics or a practical and branded gift, if you’re not regularly out on the street showing your product off you are holding your business back.

3. Flexible payments

Photo from Wikipedia Commons — **Photo from** **Wikipedia Commons**

Any retail company operating in 2020 should already have or be implementing digital wallet technology. Soon, psychical cards may cease to exist with everything being paid through mobile phones and wearable tech like smartwatches.

Digital wallet technology also opens the door for integrated customer loyalty programmes which helps to further connect your business to your customers and nurture the relationship between the two.

4. Recession prices

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash — **Photo by** **Sharon McCutcheon** on **Unsplash**

There is a lot of talk and worry about a new economic recession that is looming. It’s thought that it may hit towards the end of 2020 but whether it does or not, consumers will be spending less and thinking about purchases with a lot more thought anyway.

It’s worth spending the time to consider whether your prices suit an economic landscape that may soon implode. If the recession does hit, you will want to make as many sales up until that point as possible to safeguard your company’s future.

5. Using AI

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash — **Photo by** **Markus Spiske** on **Unsplash**

When we think about AI we tend to get lost in the thought of Will Smith jumping around shooting at super-intelligent robots. However, basic AI technology will play a huge role in the future of retail in ways you might not have expected and that you will want to stay ahead the game with.

Fashion retailers are using now using AI to help people see what their clothes look like on their own digital body up on the screen as they decide to buy. AI is also being introduced by retailers for inventory forecasting, allocation and restocking.

While there are literally billions of potential uses for AI in retail, the latest trend seems to be to focus any AI technology on mundane data processes that free up your store staff to improve their customer service game. Don’t get left behind.