Retail has expanded beyond the walls of brick-and-mortar shops. It’s all about offering an omnichannel experience to modern customers.
The retail sector requires you to effectively manage day-to-day operations, such as inventories, helping customers checkout, and scheduling staff shifts. Many retailers use retail management software to manage these operations. It helps streamline the process and delivers a single source of truth, allowing different departments to collaborate easily.
Let’s discuss the state of retail more closely and prepare for potential opportunities in the foreseeable future.
Global retail is projected to trend upward in the next three years. Europe’s retail growth was negative for several months, while some US retailers filed for bankruptcy. However, the retail market in the U.K. and Canada region is showing positive growth.
Many U.S. retailers have started adopting AI, and self-checkouts are becoming a popular option. These statistics help us understand the state of retail worldwide.
global retail businesses are expected to grow 8.5% in 2023, following a 5.2% increase in 2022.
Source: Deloitte
Retail sales increased year over year in 2023; however, some categories, like furniture, electronics, and appliances, saw sales drop. Retail shrink, which encompasses inventory loss due to theft, fraud, or damages, contributed significantly to these losses.
Losses due to theft increase as the rate of organized retail crimes increases considerably. Let these stats show you the real picture.
~ approximately, of all returns in North America are fraudulent, costing about $25 billion annually.
Source: POS
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some retail customers shifted to e-commerce, increasing the e-commerce share of total retail sales. Still, global brick-and-mortar sales are substantially more than e-commerce sales as of 2023.
Let us explore more about how these two modes of retail actually compare.
of companies surveyed by NRF reported increased e-commerce fraud in 2022.
Source: Talk Business & Politics
From an employment perspective, the retail industry in the US has been growing steadily since 2018. Since 2020, the demand for retail jobs has quadrupled. However, hiring and retention are still challenges in this sector. Issues related to labor shortage and retention have been a significant concern after COVID-19.
Ad spending in retail has increased significantly since 2020. Many retailers rely on both inbound and outbound phone calls as a channel to capture and convert retail leads. Moreover, retailers are expected to run both digital and conventional advertisements to attract people in brick-and-mortar shops as well as their online stores.
of brands find unifying online and in-store operations and data their biggest challenge next year.
Source: Forbes
Retailers face a few challenges when aligning with shoppers’ preferences. Modern shoppers are more inclined toward sustainable products and packaging, encouraging retailers to find sustainable alternatives and innovate to make them cheaper. There’s a rising need to integrate online and in-store experiences and connect all marketing channels at the same time.
Let these statistics show you the different challenges a retailer faces on the market.
These trends suggest that the retail market is on an upward trajectory. Based on the category of product you operate on, find the channel that will best suit you for retail sales and double down on it. Brick-and-mortar stores are catching up after COVID-19, and Gen-Zs are more inclined toward it to find the latest products.
Interested in delivering an omnichannel shopping experience? Discover the omnichannel commerce software that will help you diversify experiences across multiple channels.
Edited by Monishka Agrawal
Sagar Joshi is a former content marketing specialist at G2 in India. He is an engineer with a keen interest in data analytics and cybersecurity. He writes about topics related to them. You can find him reading books, learning a new language, or playing pool in his free time.
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Chatbots work 24/7, tirelessly striving to solve your stakeholders’ problems.
Modern computers are learning to see much like how humans do and image recognition technology...