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Pop-ups, voice top trends driving retail holiday sales

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November 15, 2019

As the holiday buying season gets into full swing there are five major trends driving retail sales at brick-and-mortar stores. Pop-up experiences, along with voice assistants, are on the list.

In addition to those trends, the physical store is much more than the final stop on the customer journey and is increasingly serving as an opportunity to create a meaningful, memorable experience for consumers, according to a R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company report.

Here are highlights : 

Trend No. 1: Retail stores are moving up the sales funnel.
A study conducted by Forrester Consulting found that experience-driven businesses who focus on investing broadly in CX across the customer life cycle, report 1.6 to 1.9 times higher year-over-year growth in customer retention, repeat purchase rates, average order values and customer lifetime value compared to other companies.

Trend No. 2: New retail experiences led by pop-up activations.
Pop-up experiences allow companies to extend their brand beyond the typical storefront or digital channels and create lasting impressions with potential customers. By adding an additional, unique form of interaction, retailers can engage with consumers in an uncommon and therefore more memorable way.

Trend No. 3: Voice finds its place in in-store shopping.
Voice is being used to drive shoppers to physical stores. Smart retailers are optimizing their voice strategy, ensuring voice assistants like Alexa and Siri can accurately answer questions around store hours and locations.

Trend No. 4: E-commerce brands incorporating brick-and-mortar for deeper customer connections.
Though e-commerce will continue to grow, physical locations are not to be counted out. They offer entire sensory interactions with both the products and store employees that are more multidimensional than any online platform can provide.

Trend No. 5: "Store As Warehouse" becomes essential in the e-commerce world.
As online shopping grows, specifically the concept of "order online, pick-up in-store," more physical locations will begin acting as distribution centers. This will be key as traditional retailers aim to compete with online giants and offer an advantage due to the vast number of stores and the speed to which they can put products in customers’ hands because of their proximity.

"We're well-versed with the story line around e-commerce sites stealing business from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers," said Toni Thompson, president, RRD Retail Solutions, in a press release on the report. "What we're not talking about is how retailers are evolving to compete and stay relevant in today's digital world. While holiday shopping is vastly different than it was 10 years ago, brick-and-mortar stores are creating strong customer experiences, investing in new technology, and tapping into their expansive network of locations to show their value to consumers."