The future of retail – it’s here now.

Recently a virtual grocery store was set up by Tesco at Heathrow airport. You can order essential groceries whilst you’re waiting to catch the plane and they will be delivered in time for your homecoming. No more having to borrow milk from the neighbour or having to go supermarket shopping when you’re in the middle of post-holiday unpacking and washing. Changes are happening very rapidly in the world of retail and a convergence of technology has given rise to behavioural changes that we expected to be decades away. The major retailers are already looking at this of course and it’s a race to see which brand establishes itself before the others and who will capture the greatest share of this dynamic new route to market.

We were commissioned recently to predict changes for one of the leading supermarkets which are likely to happen in 5 years and 30 years. Real blue sky thinking was needed. We looked at all aspects of food retail as it currently exists and as it is likely to exist in the future. Our predictions included the demise of the hypermarket “sheds” and the introduction of underground warehouses, the development of  food storage that would be accessible from outside the home so that the householder would not need to be present for deliveries and the implementation of intelligent packaging. Customer profiling will take place in an ever more sophisticated way allowing for optimum nutrition for health. All of these aspects and many more are being considered right now as the public are being led into different ways of buying. We are already comfortable with cashier-free check-outs and 17% have already tried online grocery shopping, and find it of benefit in busy lives. Sales are expected to rise from £5.9 billion to £11.2 by 2016.

Independent retailers can take advantage of this change too. We have recently built an e-commerce site for a designer shoe retailer. Sales were falling owing to online competition so, in the spirit of joining them rather than beating them, our client took the plunge. We are also working with a privately owned pharmacy chain who recognises the opportunity to increase customer loyalty and increase order values per customer by offering a whole range of health related products online in addition to repeat prescriptions. Although most people requiring regular medicines are over 60, computer literacy has improved to an extent that it is worth setting the scene for these shoppers and the generation to follow.

Every type of business that sells a product or service should be reviewing their online presence now and thinking creatively about how they can compete. A well-optimised site with fresh content will become as important as a shop window, if it is not already. Whether you want to promote legal services or hair styling, gifts or food hampers, there is no doubt that traditional marketing methods must be complemented and supported online.

Exciting times ahead!