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By Alberto Jessurun / December 13, 2023 / Blog

5 Trends That Will Shape the Retail Industry in 2024

Here are the top technology trends you should bet on as the retail industry evolves.

Key takeaways:

Retail technology trends encompass a wide range of innovations, each contributing to enhanced customer experiences and operational efficiency.
Understanding customer behavior through data analytics and delivering personalized shopping experiences is crucial for success in modern retail.
Seamless integration of technologies across various retail channels and the ability to adapt to emerging trends are also paramount to staying competitive.
Sustainable practices benefit the environment and resonate with modern consumers who prioritize eco-friendly options.
With rising cyber threats and in-store incidents, maintaining regulatory compliance and security across all touchpoints is imperative to maintain profitability, customer trust, and brand reputation.
Retailers must strike a balance between adopting cutting-edge technologies and ensuring a return on investment through prudent investment strategies and careful evaluation of ROI.

The retail industry’s digital transformation is rising exponentially despite the economic challenges of 2023. Retailers worldwide are finding innovative ways to build a unique brand value, understand and reach a broader customer base, and drive sales and growth.

New AI applications, omnichannel retailing, hyper-personalization, and heightened in-store and cyber security are poised to be the top retail technology trends for 2024. Sustainable technology will also take center stage as retailers face pressure from rising climate concerns and environmentally-conscious consumers to lower their carbon footprint and provide sustainably sourced products.

Anticipating these trends and investing in scalable, flexible technologies is essential to stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving retail landscape.

1. AI everywhere, all at once

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will be the driving forces in retail in 2024. These technologies will impact every aspect, from discovery to the supply chain, helping businesses achieve unprecedented efficiency and profitability.

Some promising AI applications include demand planning and forecasting, inventory management, automation, and real-time price optimization. Retailers will also use AI to reach specific audiences in the right places, at the right time—and adapt content dynamically across various retail touchpoints and channels. Similarly, predictive ML tools will help them determine key signals around buying habits and customer loyalty with increasing accuracy to avoid loyalty risk.

We can also expect more pronounced Generative AI (GenAI) usage, following the rapid advancements in deep learning models like ChatGPT. Large retailers like Walmart, Shopify, Instacart, and Snipes are already experimenting with GenAI to draft product descriptions, help users create and refine shopping lists, and even add products to carts by text or speech. Others, like Levi Strauss, plan to use the technology to increase the diversity of bodies shoppers see in its online store.

While GenAI holds much promise for retailers, it is still in its early days. The good news is there’s little risk in experimenting with GenAI since most consumers support its use. As we head into 2024, retailers will run more tests to gauge where and how GenAI may help improve back-end and front-end operations. So, starting to experiment with the technology early is essential to avoid missing out.

2. Growing need for omnichannel retailing

The modern consumer often discovers your brand or product on social media and explores your e-commerce store before visiting your brick-and-mortar store. And even if they discover your physical store first, chances are they’ll interact with you online at some point in their journey. This pattern will continue in the foreseeable future.

As such, ensuring a seamless, natural transition between your online and offline retail operations is essential. Omnichannel retailing provides customers with a trustworthy experience, reduces the likelihood of an unsatisfactory purchase or return, and opens up a new world of data-driven decision-making and hyper-personalization.

3. Hyper-personalization takes priority

For the past few years, the customer experience has evolved from a transactional process to one rooted in deep, ongoing, and enriching relationships. Personalized interactions have become less of a nice-to-have and more of a must-have for enhancing customer experiences, building loyalty, and driving higher conversion rates.

Moreover, customers now demand retailers engage with them based on their unique needs and preferences, rather than group them into categories. This means retailers must shift from using segmented personalization to delivering data-driven, hyper-personalized shopping journeys.

As more advanced AI systems and technologies become available in 2024, leveraging them to provide highly personalized product experiences and recommendations is imperative.

4. Increasing demand for sustainability and responsibility

Sustainability will also be a key trend in 2024 as more consumers are conscious of how their shopping habits and lifestyles impact climate change. Consumers will increasingly base their buying decisions around sustainability, environmentalism, and ethics questions. They’ll want to know the services or products they buy are produced in environmentally friendly ways by companies with sound environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.

Therefore, retailers must adopt sustainable technology to build customer trust and loyalty and enhance their processes and operations. Some trends advancing retail sustainability include emission-free shipping, biodegradable packaging, digital receipts, locally sourced products, and organically grown food.

Retailers also measure their operation’s energy efficiency and carbon footprint to achieve net-zero goals. Further, reverse commerce or reCommerce promotes a circular economy, rental or subscription-based models reduce wastage, and on-demand manufacturing tackles overproduction.

As we enter 2024, retailers will increasingly leverage 5G, IoT, NFTs, and blockchain to facilitate distributed order management, enable product authenticity, and improve supply chain transparency.

5. More attention to security and compliance

In 2023, there was a noticeable uptick in retail theft and organized crime. If you’ve been tuning in to retail news, you’ve probably seen it—stores with locked-up goods, reduced hours, and even talks of shutting down. Big retailers players like Home Depot, Walmart, and Target have been hit the hardest by the retail theft boom, suffering massive financial losses.

Security incidents aren’t limited to physical theft; bad actors can also use ransomware, malware, and other nefarious tools to compromise your business and customers’ experiences. With cyber threats growing increasingly sophisticated each year, ensuring data security and compliance with regulations is imperative to maintain customer trust and brand reputation.

Going into 2024, retailers must not only step up the technology they use to manage in-store incidents and cyber attacks, but they must do it in a way that doesn’t frustrate shoppers or discourage them from making a purchase.

Implement the latest retail technology trends with Unisol

The trends shaping retail aren’t just adaptive; they’re transformative. Embracing these innovations is necessary to streamline operations and elevate customer engagement. However, you must strike a balance between adopting cutting-edge technologies and ensuring a return on investment through prudent investment strategies and careful evaluation of ROI.

When you’re ready to implement the latest retail technology trends, Unisol can help you do it right. Get in touch to learn more about how we can help you stay competitive in the constantly evolving digital landscape.

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5 Trends That Will Shape the Retail Industry in 2024

Here are the top technology trends you should bet on as the retail industry evolves.

1. AI everywhere, all at once

2. Growing need for omnichannel retailing

3. Hyper-personalization takes priority

4. Increasing demand for sustainability and responsibility

5. More attention to security and compliance

Implement the latest retail technology trends with Unisol

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