Global consumer retail leader and private brand pioneer, Daymon, has released the four key areas that it says are essential for retailers and manufacturers to focus on in 2017.
“There’s no denying that the fundamental rules of retail are being rewritten,” said Daymon CEO Jim Holbrook. “To stay relevant and successful next year, retailers and manufacturers must focus on these areas as they evolve to the new way of retailing.”
The four forces shaping retail next year are:
Shopper participation
Thanks to the digital revolution, shoppers feel empowered to take things into their own hands. Increasingly, they desire to influence not only their own choices, but also broader positive change. To address this shift, retailers and manufacturers must move beyond traditional shopper segmentation and address commonalities in consumer need states that transcend demographics. They should work to tap into the new “participatory shopper” by providing opportunities for consumers to co-create and act as brand marketers.
Destination retailing
In the landscape of ever-evolving physical and digital store formats, retailers must create attractive destinations to drive in-store traffic. Traditional definitions of categories can no longer dictate the journey through the store. Shoppers want tailored solutions that lead to experiences—not just transactions. Retailers should continue to focus on creating branded destinations with products and services that establish authority in high-volume areas of the store while also finding innovative ways to deliver differentiated solutions and shareable experiences.
Precision wellness
Thanks to sophisticated wearable activity trackers, personalized DNA profiling, and other new wellness services, consumer self-knowledge is expanding dramatically. Consumers can now track daily lifestyle and dietary habits, scan their DNA for genetic markers of disease or dietary intolerance, and more. This trend is only set to grow, providing new opportunities for retailers to create personalized offerings for the self-aware shopper and to position themselves as partners in their customer’s wellness journey.
Redefinition of convenience
In the increasingly digitized and urbanized world, the definition of “convenience” is rapidly changing. Much of this change is and will continue to be driven by new technology. To stay relevant, retailers and manufacturers must work to identify and begin investing in innovations that will help them commercialize the store of the future, giving customers what they want, when they want it.
Over the course of 2017, Daymon says it will explore each of these forces in greater detail, sharing recommendations and best practices for retailers and manufactures to follow.
