Due to the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic, the world is facing an intense transformation process. This has been a major driver for the adoption and use of new resources in most sectors. As a result of this, there is a growing increase in the use of electronic commerce and technology. What used to be a complement is now essential for the development and survival of businesses as well as consumers.
As consumers around the world continue to feel the impact of covid19, it is expected that there will be a tremendous change in the shopping trend for 2021. This is because of a drastic reduction in the consumers’ spending and that of purchasing pattern, as more consumer shopping is recently internet-driven. To this effect, researchers have shown that consumers around the world are likely to change habits and mostly adopt digital channels for their needed products and services in all categories.
To help retail sellers prepare themselves against these coming trends, Vipestores.com has decided to make a list of possible shopping trends for 2021. Some of these trends include:
AI Customer Sourcing: Due to the present scenario the world is in, technology is no longer a complement; instead, it has become a necessity. Today, the entire retail chain depends on it as never before. The technological world has come to change the patterns of behavior, as well as the new opportunities offered. And that is how new commands like artificial intelligence and intelligent algorithms take over the business and promise only to rise. AI is going to help find your potential customers for you, while intelligent algorithms will analyse current trends around your products, sales channels, customers, and buyer behaviour to help you identify the best channels, time, and price to list your products.
Cooperative and collaborative Marketing: Retailers who deliver a good quality product and can guarantee service promptly and at a fair price, further win over those on the other side. All of this is only possible if it is done in a collaborative and organized way. In this sense, platforms that invest in collaborative initiatives - including among competitors - to face the dynamics of changes that are reconfiguring retail are calling attention. This is the time when selfish thoughts were left in the past and "we are together" is the key to success. The partnership between some companies and Amazon is a good example of this. And this is going to increase tremendously in 2021.
Social Media: Social media have in recent years, especially in 2020, witnessed a large increase in the number of brands selling all categories of products on the platforms. Due to the covid19 impact, 2021 is going to witness more increase in this number of brands. More physical shops are going to move their sales on social media as a way to fill the gaps created by the pandemic.
Offline Ecommerce: Currently all that is possible is migrating from the physical to the virtual world. New business models and e-commerce are growing. Presently, there is a growing trend for taking e-commerce stores offline. Mobile technology is one of the main drivers of platforms since virtually all consumers have a Smartphone in hand. The pop-ups shops, which are interactive e-commerce, are constantly bringing our favourite online retailers onto the high street. In 2021, we are going to witness more increase in the number of brands occupying pop-up and multi-channel shops that bring the internet to real life. Hence, a purchase can be made anywhere and at any time.
Premium Private Label Brands: For the past few years now, direct to consumer commerce has exploded. This method of buying had given brands direct access to customers and profits and also given direct access to consumers to brands and lower cost.
In 2021, the trends are expected to shift as premium private brand sales are increasing. Customers are going to purchase more luxury private label brands in the quest for superior products and better shopping experiences.