Consumerology

Summary

The inexorable rise of online commerce has left many wondering how best to approach retail overall – not only to maximise sales, but also to strike the right balance between online and instore sales, and across all the channels used to communicate with customers. Companies that are serious about growth need to be ‘omnichannel’ businesses, but getting that right is not straightforward. The positive news is that retail is growing. In the UK, the underlying trend is one of growth, with Government figures showing overall retail sales up 1.2% year-on-year and online sales increasing 14%. Forrester reports that total US sales are forecast to grow 3.8% in 2017, with 12.9% of sales happening online. Yet with everyone agreeing that customers’ buying habits are changing very fast and clear shifts occurring in social media engagement from older to younger users, how can you boost your chances of grabbing some of the retail growth – or even staying in the race?