1.

Invest in Omnichannel Retail Strategies

One of the most important retail industry trends is investment in Omnichannel retail
strategies. Research shows that the average digital consumer owns 3.64 connected
devices and tends to consult these devices prior to making a purchase. Consumers may
look at an item on their mobile and complete the purchase on their iPad, or they may
search for an item on the web and pick it up in the store later. The ubiquity of connected
devices means that consumers demand a seamless experience across multiple
touchpoints. 

Part of this seamless shopping experience starts with a mobile-first approach. Gartner

estimates that by 2017, mobile commerce will equal approximately 50% of all digital
commerce in the U.S. Therefore a focus on mobile is a strategic move for retailers, as it
allows them to take advantage of one of the most used purchasing devices and
supplement its usage with other systems, channels, and devices.

Some retailers are already tapping into mobile shopping in innovative ways. For
example, Dixons Carphone – one of our customers – is Europe’s leading specialist
electrical and telecommunications retailer. They wanted to create a unique shopping
experience for their customers, one that is seamless and free of any friction. They used
MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform™ to develop honeyBee, a platform that sales associates
can use on mobile tablets to provide an interactive customer journey. Through the
application, customers can navigate through a consistent journey alongside sales
associates––from exploring purchasing options to comparing services and products. 

2. Provide a Personalized Retail Experience

Another retail industry trend that is becoming increasingly important to consumers is
having a personalized shopping experience. Personalization in the retail world often
involves retailers giving consumers suggestions based on their taste, location, order
history, and previous searches. Retailers also create personalized experiences through
simple services. This includes chat-bots that increase customer engagement and
interaction, text messages that provide updates on orders, online- and tele-based
communications, and other services.
Further, the rise of personalization as a retail industry trend has paved way for the
application of more advanced and innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence
(AI). For example 1-800-Flowers.com, an online flower delivery store, uses an AI-
powered personal assistant that learns each customer’s preferences and predicts
suitable gifts for every order. Retailers that want to provide consumers with unique
personalized shopping experiences must invest in advanced technologies – AI or
otherwise – and look beyond basic personalization tactics.

3. Attend to the Growing Culture of Immediacy

The rise of technology has led to a prevalent cultural and retail industry trend: impatient
consumers. According to research on impatience commissioned by KANA Software,
today’s generation of consumers want to receive a communication response in 10
minutes, compared to previous generations which expected a response in 10 days. 

Today’s consumers want immediate results and retailers need to both speed up and
expand their services in order to respond to the culture of immediacy. Some of these
services include: presenting and updating inventory in real-time, restocking stock
quickly, offering same-day delivery services, setting-up delivery-lockers, and providing
scheduled deliveries. However, these services are challenging to incorporate, as
retailers must have an efficient supply chain in order to support them. 

One retailer that needed to address changing customer behavior and fast delivery
services is Addison Lee, one of our partners. Addison Lee is Europe’s largest premium
car services and operates in over 350 cities, transporting 10 million passengers
annually. Addison recognized that their customers’ behavior was changing. Customers
no longer wanted to order a taxi through phone calls or pay for their trips with cash. To
address these changing customer demands, Addison Lee turned to MuleSoft’s Anypoint
Platform™ to built its first public API in just six weeks. As a result, they were able to
create new customer-centric mobile applications easily in order to enhance customer
experiences. Retailers that want to survive in the industry must embark on a path to
upend their customer engagements and ensure they are attending to the growing culture
of immediacy.

4. Embrace the Digital Mobile Wallet

One emerging fintech and retail industry trend is the use of mobile as a payment
method. A study commissioned by Bank of America surveyed 1,000 of its adult
customers that own a smartphone. The study found that the overwhelming majority –
91% – viewed their smartphones as an “indispensable companion” in daily life. 

Certain retailers have caught onto this retail industry trend and are already providing
seamless mobile payments by adopting APIs. In fact, According to recent survey from
Boston Retail Partners, the number of merchants that accept mobile payment is rising.
Approximately 36% of U.S. retailers that were surveyed stated that they accept Apple
Pay, and 22% said they plan to accept it within the next 12 months. 

But the rise of the digital wallet demonstrates that there is growing consumer demand for
flexible payment methods beyond Apple Pay. A growing number of the retailers
surveyed also indicated they accept PayPal (34%), MasterCard PayPass (25%), and
Android Pay (24%). In fact, only 11% of retailers revealed that they have no plans to
implement mobile payments in their stores in the near future. 

Therefore, to better thrive in the industry, retailers must ensure that they provide flexible
payment methods such as mobile payments. A Forrester report found that 21% of adults
in the U.S. already use mobile wallets or are interested in using it in the near future.
Clearly, those that incorporate mobile payment services will be able to better thrive in the
industry by fulfilling an unmet need.

5. Expand into Emerging Markets and Create New

Channels
One common retail industry trend is the ability to tap into new markets and channels.
Technology has made it easier for retailers to tap into international and emerging
markets that would otherwise be difficult to reach. Retailers are no longer confined to a
single location or market and many of them are able to expand their operations overseas
by following an effective digital strategy. According to one estimate, it is expected that 3
to 5 billion more people will come online by 2020. By following a digital-first strategy,
retailers can move beyond existing traditional borders and tap into new and emerging
markets in order to increase their customer reach. 

The Alibaba Group, for example, plans to expand its global reach to Australia, Dubai,
Europe, and Japan. The Chinese eCommerce giant will likely largely benefit from this
expansion. According to the Emerging Consumer Survey by Credit Suisse, total
eCommerce sales for select emerging markets, such as India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia,
and Turkey, is expected to reach $3.5 trillion due to rising Internet access and higher
incomes. These figures demonstrate that retailers have a vast, untapped opportunity
ahead of them and they must establish a retail strategy that can both expand and scale
easily.  

Evidently the majority of these retail industry trends involve businesses taking control of
their retail strategy––whether it is integrating systems and applications to
implement omnichannel strategies or building an efficient supply chain to better serve
customers and meet their demands. Technology is key to building and offering retail
APIs to enable mobile payments and promote consumer personalization. 

Explore some of our integration solutions for the retail industry and, for further insight,
see how retailers can build better digital retail experiences to achieve some of these
retail industry trends.