From incredible new technologies to never-before-seen levels of personalization, Canadian shoppers can expect to see retailers paying more attention than ever to customer convenience in 2019.
There鈥檚 an economic reason for this. Retail is an ever-expanding sector in Canada, and the fight for consumers鈥� dollars is only getting fiercer.
Industry analysts say the intense competition means large and small retailers alike have no choice but to keep finding new and innovative ways to attract customers and keep them coming through their doors. And with so many forces pulling them in different directions to try and wring a few dollars out of them, consumers are realizing the balance of power has shifted in their direction.
鈥淭he customer is never satisfied,鈥� John Torella, a senior advisor with retail consulting firm J.C. Williams Group, told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview.
鈥淭hey have no time. They have no patience. They鈥檙e confused with the hierarchy of change and the selection factor 鈥� all the options out there.鈥�
Torella sees the retail sector as being in the midst of a 鈥渃onvenience revolution,鈥� with customers looking for the entire shopping process to be as simple as possible. That means the continuing rise of 鈥渃lick and collect鈥�-style grocery shopping and similar programs.
The personal touch
Smart retailers will see benefits in tailoring their shopping experience to each individual shopper, meaning many will spend 2019 getting to know their customers in ways they never have before. Large clothing chains, for example, might allow shoppers to fill out questionnaires about their body and their lifestyle before they ever show up at the store. When they do arrive, they鈥檒l be met by a salesperson who already knows what they might be interested in and which sizes should fit best.
Smaller retailers can offer even more personal touches, Torella says 鈥� not only remembering their customers鈥� names and tastes but their families and what they might be planning for the weekend.
Here, too, technology can play a big role 鈥� and not just for the industry heavyweights. Torella says small retailers are increasingly keeping databases of their regular customers and their preferences.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 really the strategy, I think, for success for the smaller guys: localize; customize; personalize. Use your intimate information to really gain that personal contact,鈥� he said.
Bigger players might not be able to match that level of intimate information, but having access to large-scale information about shopping habits comes with its own benefits.
Jennifer Marley, a partner at retail marketing consultancy Sklar, Wilton and Associates, cites Loblaw鈥檚 loyalty program as the leading example of this trend. She says her firm has heard far more positive feedback about PC Points than about any competitor鈥檚 similar offering 鈥� with shoppers seeming nonplussed about the information their grocery store is learning about them.
鈥淭o get personalization, you have to give access to something about you,鈥� she said in a telephone interview.
鈥淟etting them have access to your shopping data 鈥� customers view that as a worthy trade-off because they鈥檙e getting meaningful discounts on things that they actually want to buy.鈥�
Technological trends
Amazon may be the most recognizable name in online retail, but a Chinese company is hot on its heels.
Already the undisputed ruler of e-commerce in its native country, Alibaba is ambitiously attempting to spread its empire around the world. In 2017, it sold US$768 billion worth of goods across its various platforms.
It has helped turn Singles Day 鈥� an unofficial Chinese holiday that started as a protest against Valentine鈥檚 Day 鈥� into the biggest worldwide shopping day of the year.
The site already has a robust network of Canadian companies peddling everything from clothing to tractors to seafood. But its main focus isn鈥檛 on building its business in any one country. It鈥檚 on creating what Torella calls a 鈥渂orderless society鈥� where geographic barriers between companies and customers matter less than ever before.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e saying 鈥楬ey, we can give you exposure to grow the markets,鈥欌�� Torella said.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just think about it as them being this Chinese company 鈥� they鈥檙e a global company, and they鈥檙e available to anyone.鈥�
Marley sees blockchain and augmented reality as other technologies that could make strides into the Canadian retail scene in 2019.
Blockchain allows products to be traced at every step of the production process, meaning consumers could use their phones to find out where a piece of pork originated or where the material in a wool sweater came from.
The beauty industry has been one of the earliest retail adopters of augmented reality, which allows shoppers to scan their faces and see how they would look with different types of makeup applied.
Marley says AR tech will continue to roll out over the next year, while similar innovations such as 鈥渟mart mirrors鈥� for clothing stores are likely still a few years away.
From predictions to realities
Health-conscious consumers have long been cited as an impending force in Canadian retail 鈥� but according to Marley, evidence exists to show that they have arrived on the scene and will make even more of an impact in 2019.
鈥淔or years, customers said they wanted it but then they鈥檇 still buy the Big Mac and fries at McDonald鈥檚,鈥� she said.
鈥淣ow we鈥檙e seeing real change in terms of where they鈥檙e dining and where they鈥檙e shopping and what they鈥檙e buying for groceries.鈥�
This means Canadians can expect retailers to refocus on health and wellness products in everything from food to home appliances.
Another long-awaited development in Canadian retail is the arrival of 鈥渙mnichannel鈥� 鈥� long a buzzword to describe the breaking down of barriers between a retailer鈥檚 online presence and its physical stores.
鈥淐onsumers see it as just one big system,鈥� Marley said.
For smaller retailers that may not have the marketing muscle of bigger chains, that could mean using social media to build a community around common interests. Some stores are taking their online communities into the offline world, with food stores offering cooking classes and bookstores organizing new book clubs specifically for the people interacting with the shop online.
鈥淓ven if you鈥檙e a smaller retailer 鈥� you need to have an online presence. You need to have creative content. You need to have ideas on meal planning or wardrobe planning or how to make a deck,鈥� Torella said.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to invest as much as you can online, and then deliver that in a personal way in-store.鈥�
