Predicting Retail Trends

Introduction

Some predictions are a slam dunk. Retail will continue to be driven by technology. Science fiction is coming to life in the form of robotics and virtual reality. And the Internet will soon be embedded everywhere. Another truism: Change is exponen­tial in retail. Accepting that is the easy part.

Trying to predict what’s next in an industry that moves faster and faster—toppling norms and reimagining processes— is the hard part. In this case are several predictions for 2016. Let’s see which ones turned out to be correct.

Source: Barry Berman, Joel R Evans, Patrali Chatterjee (2017), Retail Management: A Strategic Approach, Pearson; 13th edition.