Five Ways Retail Has Changed and How Businesses Can Adapt

Consumers no longer see a distinction between online and offline shopping.

Whether it’s searching on a laptop, browsing main street shops or hanging out at the mall - it’s all shopping. To adapt to the competitive new reality, smart retailers are drawing on classic retailing truths of the past and augmenting them for the now.

Innovative retailers are embracing this new reality, using digital to extend their storefronts.

These are my top five observations on how shopping has changed and suggestions for how marketers can adapt to join the retail revolution.

As digital weaves itself deeper into the fabric of our lives, smart retailers understand making the most of new opportunities is not about gadgets or technology. It’s about human nature.

Forward-thinking retailers should be looking at how they are interweaving digital tools like contextual targeting, mobile and video with sales, marketing and customer service. When these things are used well, the technology becomes invisible.

Customers simply see retailers as being very good at giving them exactly what they want.