Since the pandemic, retail has continued its metamorphosis to meet the new aspirations of customers. The future is exciting, with new technologies paving the way for a more immersive in-store experience, new consumer behaviors driving product innovation, and more humane and responsible shopping views. In this market where everything is changing so quickly, what are the 2023 retail trends? What major actions need to be implemented? Overview.
1- The omnichannel strategy and the shopping experience
With the global crisis we are going through, online sales have been boosted by another 50%, as revealed by Fevad. Nevertheless, at the same time, retail today must respond to the growing desire of consumers to return to pre-covid uses: to go to the store to buy their favorite products. Gone are the days of putting online and in-store sales back to back. The customer now evolves in a global ecosystem according to his desires, his needs, his attachment to a brand or a sign. Using your phone to scan a QR code, discover practical advice, 3D visualizations, test make-up or outfits virtually, be informed of availability, etc. The challenge is to implement a coherent omnichannel strategy at each point of contact throughout the buying journey.
2- The revival of retail
The world of online and digital retail is no longer the sole privilege of dynamic start-ups or pure-player online businesses. Deloitte sees major established retail companies fighting back, embracing digital themselves. The modern retailer's journey to digital leads them to adapt their core business, exploring digital products and experiences like the metaverse. More flexible, faster, the retail trade is catching up with the big brands and is in turn embarking on this digitalisation and this omnichannel shopping experience.
3- Humanisation of the customer relationship
Mobile sales support solutions for in-store sales assistants, interactive kiosks or even conversational platforms: the automation of certain business gestures should make it possible to relieve the teams of time-consuming processes and focus on their added value: the humanization of customer relations and the provision of quality advice. The human must remain the priority entry key to create a climate of trust with its customers and enrich the bond and loyalty.
4- Be “instagrammable”
The social media trend is a factor to consider in 2023! The shops are intended as real shooting locations that can be found on social networks. Many brands or retail stores today manage to create real online communities, generate traffic in stores, and even sell directly in social shopping. This solid management of attractive content should once again make it possible to complete the customer's relationship with the brand by making it more endearing, closer, more accessible, more human.
5- Create experiences and rely on the senses
If customers no longer want to waste time in stores for everyday consumer products, they are on the other hand looking for experiences and emotions. In 2023, attracting and then retaining consumers who are ever more in demand will go through a different personalized customer relationship: ephemeral concept stores, total immersion, olfactory identity that maximizes the feeling of well-being. Entering a store must become a magical moment where each sense is called upon: from the design of the place, to the quality of the soundtrack or even the personality of an ambient fragrance that subtly accompanies the customer journey. A study by the Journal of Marketing in 2021 thus showed the impact of scent marketing on the design of the place itself, which is considered more attractive (21%) and even more colourful (30%) than in the absence of a scent. .
Similarly, a product presented in a successful olfactory environment appears more appropriate (22%), and of better quality (14%) because the customer feels more relaxed, more in tune with the proposals made to him, and more able to to appreciate the uniqueness of the brand or the store. Talking to your client through a fragrance is like reminding him of his childhood, taking him on a journey where emotion creates a deep and unique attachment.
Are you looking to enrich the experience of your customers?
Eco.French.Lab supports retail professionals in their olfactory marketing strategy in order to create a strong and lasting bond with its consumers. Boutique, retail brand, shopping center?
Contact one of our olfactory experts for a free, non-binding consultation on the opportunities brought by the creation of your olfactory identity.