Will 2022 be the Year of The Retail Revival?

It’s a new year, but merchants are still dealing with the same supply chain problems they had in 2021. Freight and shipping volumes are at all-time highs, while rates are at all-time highs. At the very same time, nearly 1 million retail jobs remain vacant, despite customer expectations for greater ease in purchasing and receiving items than ever before.

All of these variables, according to analysts, indicate that we’re approaching a singularity –– a retail reset, if you will. The 2022 Retail Industry Outlook delves into the most important developments in retail, e-commerce, and supply chains for the coming year. What the future of retail had to say was as follows:

Everything Has to Do with Supply Chains.

Supply networks are top of mind for retailers in 2022, which should come as no surprise. Consumers would prefer stock availability over brand loyalty, according to 80% of the CEOs polled in the research, which means merchants will need to prioritize inventory above all else if they want to make a profit.

The interdependencies that exist between the provider and the retailer are the major factor that we believe will be worth keeping an eye on.

Retailers’ whole supply chain calculus is altering as a result of rising costs and lengthy delays. According to him, the common thinking among supply chain managers used to be that having fewer sourcing partners equaled lower costs, but the last two years have thrown that out the window, with disruptions affecting shipping channels all over the world.

You might not have precisely the enterprise you’re looking for if you increase your assortment, but you’ll have a lot more flexibility in terms of being in stock, or at least relevant.

Retailers want as much information from their sourcing partners as possible, while also bringing on new partners to extend their sourcing base and mitigate the effect of widespread interruptions.

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Automation

Warehouses and distribution facilities provide the most prospects for automation since they are less expensive to automate than physical retail. Retailers should automate their warehousing procedures as much as possible, and invest in autonomous driving technologies for the last mile, according to the research.

Meanwhile, more than half of industry professionals anticipate that in the next five years, staff-free stores will be commonplace.

Data Sharing

All of the sourcing and automation in the world won’t help a shop if it doesn’t know where its items are. The increased emphasis among retailers on data exchange and visibility may provide supply chains with a slew of new efficiencies.

The Last Mile

Reduced last-mile expenses will be one of the most difficult challenges facing retail CEOs. Offering all of these possibilities while keeping prices down is a problem when customers anticipate near-infinite fulfillment options. All of these options are more expensive than a standard delivery: ship from store, curbside pickup, buy online, pick up in-store.

Make Room for E-Commerce

The largest new e-commerce trend, we believe, will be voice commerce, an AI-based solution that allows users to shop using only their voices. While in-store automation is also on the table, technologies like self-checkout, sensors, and cameras are more expensive and less scalable, according to research, 55% of industry professionals predict the technology will be “widely used” in the next five years.

Social Commerce

Another big e-commerce trend expected to take root in 2022 is social commerce, which involves reaching out to customers through social media sites.

The Role of Brick-And-Mortar

Retailers will need to revamp their in-store infrastructures to meet the omnichannel fulfillment trend. If they don’t, they risk their technology becoming obsolete rapidly, resulting in a poor customer experience.

Clearly, merchants have a lot on their minds. Despite a chaotic 2021, the respondents showed a surprising amount of hope. More than half of respondents (54%) forecast growth of up to 5% in 2022, with another third predicting growth of up to 5%.

Despite all of the economic headwinds and problems, I believe the shops we spoke with were positive about their prospects.