The holiday season looked different last year—families gathered around dimly-lit computer monitors to partake in Zoom calls and the traditional revenue-driving season for brick-and-mortar saw much less foot traffic. Shopping habits shifted bringing new light to retail tech trends that are sure to continue this year and beyond.
Here are three of the top retail tech trends we will continue to see this year.
Leveraging social to connect with consumers
The halt of in-store experiences in 2020 meant retailers had to get creative in order to give consumers the content they craved. Allon Caidar, the co-founder and CEO of TVPage, said the shutdowns “illuminated the need to have a virtual seller.” Macy’s opened up its Style Crew ambassador program allowing social media influencers to apply and once approved, influencers had the ability to promote affiliate links or post about available products. Tapping social media influencers is a trend that proved to be highly effective in 2020 and will certainly continue to be a top channel for consumer brands.
Advertising to consumers in new ways
As consumer shopping needs changed, so did the mediums advertisers used to connect with prospective buyers. This was especially true for marketers in the consumer-good space who benefited from increased needs driven by the pandemic putting ad dollars where consumers were shopping. In fact, Amazon is now the largest global advertiser with net sales surging to $281 billion in 2020. This is a trend that we will continue to see in 2021 especially as more mergers and acquisitions are expected to take place this year in the retail vertical.
Increasing mobile traffic
As we continue to navigate an unknown year for retail tech, there are lessons learned from last year that will help pave the way for meeting consumers where they are.
- Kyle Murray, Senior Account Executive