design:retail - February 2018 - 24

perspectives

024

A Look Ahead

KELLY SAYRE
RETAIL/CPG ANALYST
IHL GROUP

T'S A NEW YEAR ,
and there are new
challenges facing the
retail industry, as
brick-and-mortar
stores work to maintain and gain customers in the
digital age. Retail/CPG Analyst
Kelly Sayre of IHL Group
will be presenting during
GlobalShop's conference program on Thursday, March 29.
In anticipation of her session, "Retail's Transformation
(and How to Come Out on
Top When the Dust Settles),"
design:retail asked her to look
at 2018's retail landscape.

"Retail is healthy, it's
just changing."

design:retail: What should
retailers be doing more of to attract and keep
customers in 2018?
Sayre: Remodeling physical stores to be more interactive. Consumers want to try a product on or see
how it works in person. They must want to shop
instead of needing to shop. We are also seeing more
personalized services and having accurate view of
the inventory, wherever it is (warehouse, delivery
truck, another store or even the shelf location).
Another focus is having a real-time view of the
customer and their purchase history.
d:r: How are retailers using technology to
their advantage?
Sayre: Leaders (those whose revenues are increasing 5 percent) are 91 percent more likely to
be using Consumer Mobile Checkout, with super leaders (those whose revenues are increasing
10 percent or more) are 136 percent more likely.
Super leaders also are 50 percent more likely to
be using order online from POS and 42 percent
more likely to be using Order at Other Stores.
Retailers are offering their customers the ability
to buy, fulfill and return merchandise with ease,
FEBRUARY 2018

are interacting with customers, so it's crucial they have
high-level customer service
training. Most consumers do
their research online before
entering the store. They've already narrowed down their
choices and may even know exactly what they want. They are
looking for the sales associates
to show them the product so
they can touch it. This presents
an opportunity for the sales associate to upsell or recommend
complementary items to increase the sales ticket.

DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM

regardless of the channel their customers choose
to shop.
d:r: What predictions do you have for retail in 2018?
Sayre: Retailers will be integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into applications so it's transparent to
the user. Those retailers who have invested heavily
in technology advancements will outpace their
competitors. Retailers plan to increase their overall IT spending for the coming year by 5.6 percent,
which is up from last year's 4.5 percent. They
expect to increase their store IT spending by
5.8 percent, which is up from last year's 4.7 percent.
One-day and same-day delivery offerings will become the consumer expectation.

d:r: The retail "apocalypse"
has been exaggerated or
over-hyped. What are some
of the signs that brick-and-mortar retail is
still important?
Sayre: Amazon bought Whole Foods and is rumored to be opening Amazon Go stores to the
public. I live in Minnesota, and I hear a lot about
the Mall of America. In an article by Mary McGuire
for the local CBS affiliate, a mall official stated that
around 175,000 people came through the doors as
of Black Friday afternoon in 2017-smashing the
previous record of just more than 130,000. People
still want to shop in stores, and it's all about the
experience of shopping now. Industry wide, brickand-mortar retail sales increased in 2017 over 2016.
Retail is healthy, it's just changing.

KELLY SAYRE IS A RETAIL/CPG ANALYST WITH MURPHREESBORO,

d:r: Customers need a reason to go to a physical
store instead of ordering what they want online.
What are some in-store experiences retailers
can focus on to get the most draw, and the most
repeat customers?
Sayre: Retailers offering mobile POS for sales
associates and the proper training in that technology of sales associates is key. The sales associates

GLOBALSHOP.ORG

TENN.-BASED IHL GROUP. SHE HAS A LONG HISTORY OF EVENT
MANAGEMENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MARKET ANALYSIS AND
DEVELOPING INTELLIGENT CONTENT VIA NEW MEDIA, INCLUDING
A PODCAST SERIES ON WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP ISSUES. SHE HAS
JOINED THE IHL GROUP TEAM TO BROADEN ITS COVERAGE OF THE
RETAIL, E-COMMERCE AND CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS IT MARKET,
AS WELL AS TAKING THE LEAD IN GROWING THE COMPANY'S MEDIA
MARKETING EFFORTS.

Illustration by BY BESTVECTORICON/SHUTTERSTOCK

http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG

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