From Costco to Amazon Prime, subscription retail services have slowly become mainstream.

Over 62% of households are now subscribed to at least one retail membership. Not surprisingly, 54% of U.S. households are subscribed to Amazon Prime.

Not only do programs like Walmart+ and Amazon prime drive more sales with the added benefits such as free shipping, but the memberships also help drive brand loyalty and trust.

Although subscription services do not directly relate to big-ticket items, early access or “subscriber-only” deals can be a great way to generate leads and brand loyalty.

Click HERE to learn more about retail subscription services.

Although most people will tell you they would rather talk to a human than a robot, there is a time and place for everything.

With more commerce moving to the digital space, customers are looking to interact with brands on a personal level now more than ever. Most customers are looking for a conversation and personalized experience, now more than ever.

In 2020, brand interactions during the Black Friday, Cyber Monday season skyrocketed 345% over 2019. In 2021, those numbers continued to rise by 16%.

Despite the increased need for human interaction throughout the customer experience, certain conversations can be time-consuming and unnecessary for a human to do. In 2021, WISMO (where is my order?) accounted for 36% of interactions, up from 31% in 2020.

WISMO conversations are the perfect use-case for an Ai-system that can instantly give the customer an update on their order.

Click HERE to learn about more customer experience hacks.

As I think we can all relate, a trip to the gas station or supermarket is now becoming more and more painful.

With prices continuing to rise, shoppers are beginning to consolidate their shopping trips and trying to make the most out of each outing. Over the last year, discount and dollar store visits are on the rise while supermarket visits dwindle.

Companies such as Costco have seen traffic at their gas stations nearly double year-over-year, and continue to benefit from shoppers consolidating their shopping trips and gas runs into one.

Click HERE to learn more about how consumers are shopping with inflated prices.

When it comes to foot traffic, March was seen very differently in different industries.

Compared to the same time last year, both the furniture and footwear industries saw slight increases. Even with mask mandates slowly being dropped around the country, the mattress and appliance industry still struggled to get the same amount of customers as they saw last year.

As for this year, foot traffic continues to trend positively. Compared to last month, nearly every industry was in the green with more foot traffic than in February. Although the furniture industry saw a decrease in traffic, a 0.21% decrease will be easy to improve on this month.

With Spring in full action, we expect April to be one of the highest foot traffic months thus far this year.

As the retail industry as a whole, and more specifically the furniture industry, continues to change, Retail Dive sat down with various store owners to ask what they think could be learned from other industries.

John Conroy of Morrisofa Europe says, “The tech sector sells a full concept rather than a product – for example, buying an apple iPhone usually leads to buying Airpods, an iPad, apple Watch, and iPod to go with it. Why do we only try to sell a sofa, rather than a professionally designed roomset?” 

Another owner pointed out the importance of supplier-driven assets. Mike Whitman, the owner of Iconography, states “Decent photography is an expensive investment, and proper 3D models are even more costly. Small independents simply can’t afford to source this themselves, either in time or money. If suppliers want their products to be chosen over their competitors (either by the end-customer or by retailers), then they need to be providing that retailer support.” 

Each industry provides a unique take on what is going on in their world, and how the industries overlap and can learn from each other.

Click HERE to hear more about what can be learned from other industries.  

Each week there seems to be a new trend that sweeps the industry. Despite all the changes, certain trends stand out amongst the others.

Here are the top trends in the retail industry this year:

1. Selling online is non-negotiable.
2. Omnichannel tools create more meaningful shopping experiences.
3. Automated technology helps retailers manage the labor shortage.
4. Same-day delivery gives retailers a clear advantage.
5. Social commerce is one of the biggest digital trends in the retail industry.
6. Interactive retail experiences bridge the gap between the online and offline parts of a store.
7. The borders between retail and other industries continue to blur.
8. Community investments from retailers may be here to stay.

Click HERE to read more about the trends that will shape 2022.

At the beginning of the pandemic, ship-from-store became a popular trend for stores across the country.

Ship-from-store was a suitable pandemic strategy because there were thousands of shops sitting dormant and full of stock.  This is a process that was been accelerated by the pandemic and is likely something we would’ve still seen in 5 or 10 years if the pandemic never happened.

With the combination of the increasing popularity of BOPIS and curbside pickup, ship-to-store has become a staple in the world of brick-and-mortar. Additionally, with the correct systems in place, you can get a surplus of data when a shopper buys online and picks up in-store.

Click HERE to read more about the benefits of ship-to-store.