More EV stations at malls, sustainable delivery, and merging the online and offline customer experience are all critical retail trends expected to take off in 2023.
Five key retail industry trends for 2023 have been shared by Bluedot, a company that offers tracking solutions for customer arrival and traffic.
Emil Davityan, Bluedot co-founder and CEO states:
This year we should expect to see some significant changes in the retail market. The current economic climate and sales numbers are directly influencing retail brands’ operational decisions and how they engage customers.
Five Key Retail Trends and Predictions for 2023
1. More EV charging stations at malls and retail parks
Malls and retail parks will attempt to lure customers by adding more EV charging stations. Demand for charging stations is steadily increasing as more and more consumers invest in electric and semi-electric vehicles.
Given that charging EVs can take 30 minutes or more on a fast charge, there is a strategic opportunity for malls to increase foot traffic by offering consumers the convenience of charging while shopping at the mall. Charging discounts may even be offered to lure shoppers.
Even in the SEE region, we are seeing the rise of this trend with leading retail parks and shopping malls investing in EV stations.
Here are some examples:
- Immofinanz Expanding EV stations across SerbiaÂ
- MPC Properties Contributions to a Healthier Ecosystem
2. Buy now, pay later will continue to gain popularity
As the cost of living rises buy now, pay later (BNPL) has become a go-to for consumers in the west as a way to better manage their expenses and an alternative to credit cards. To attract younger customers, especially Gen Z, we will see retailers put more emphasis on BNPL both online and in-store to help ease consumer cost restraints.
According to Bluedot’s latest Holiday Shopping Habits report, 4 in 10 consumers planned to use BNPL for holiday gifts in 2022. Adobe Analytics’ Holiday Shopping Report found that revenue share for BNPL grew 9.2% during the holiday season compared to the 2021 season.
Let us also not forget that payment via facial recognition is on the rise:
Mastercard Launching Pay with Face: how will this change the way we shop?
3. More retailers will offer sustainable shipping options
When it comes to online purchases, consumers are more environmentally conscious than ever before, particularly with how purchases are delivered. We’ll see retailers offer more transparency and more environmentally friendly-shipping options such as longer delivery windows that provide added efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
4. Logistics is the new customer experience
As more consumers turn to mobile and online shopping, the pressure is on retailers to get the delivery experience right. Retailers will begin to focus on smaller footprint stores as they turn focus to order pickup and delivery whether that’s in-store, curbside, or at-home delivery.
5. Merging the online and offline experience
Powered by technology, the online and offline customer experience is becoming one experience. New technology is helping retailers collect highly valuable contextual data that capture customer behavior, preferences, demography, and location (both on- and off-premise).
This data is used for marketers to make better decisions and helps retailers deliver a consistent seamless customer experience offline and online. But this is not just a seamless handoff between online and offline, but a full engagement integration at the technical level, ultimately delivering bespoke customer experiences.
About Bluedot
Bluedot is a customer arrival platform that empowers brands to provide real-time interactions and pickup solutions. The company’s hyper-accurate location technology identifies exactly when and where a user arrives whether that’s entering a store, pulling into a curbside pickup space, or at a parking lot. Bluedot enables brands to provide timely messaging, proximity offers, automated loyalty identification, frictionless curbside pickups, gamification, and more. Easy to implement, Bluedot is inherently compliant with GDPR and CCPA.
Bluedot works across key industries including retail, restaurants, and transportation. Global brands, including Federal Realty, McDonald’s, Dunkin’, Six Flags, and IAG, trust Bluedot for their location strategy. For more information on Bluedot and its solutions, visit bluedot.io.
