Retail and E-commerce Trends to Watch for in 2021

Apac CIO Outlook | Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Fremont, CA: Beginning of the New Year a good time to look at what's ahead for retailers and online traders. Though COVID-19 brought many retailers to a standstill in 2020, it also intensified the developments in retail technology that had already infiltrated the industry over the years.

Here are some of the key trends the industry should expect to see accelerate in 2021.

Brick-and-Mortar Retail Changed

The brick-and-mortar retail experience will be permanently altered as a result of coronavirus impacts. Buy online, pick-up in-store (BOPIS) will become common practise for nearly every supermarket, with square footage in the store devoted to serving customers who have opted to use this option to shop.Another practise that is now becoming common during COVID-19 is curbside and contactless pickup. This will remain a common practise, altering not only the layout of the store, but also the layout of the parking lot to account for this buying option.

Less evident at first will also be how retail locations will change their emphasis and seek to better serve the e-commerce platform. Over time, consumers can see how stores can be transformed to concentrate on customer engagement as opposed to purchases, or can be shut down completely to customers to operate as mini warehouses and service centres to satisfy the demand for online sales.

Greater focus on AI-based personalisation

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning were very big buzzwords in 2020 and made some inroads into e-commerce, mostly through chatbots and some customization tools. This trend is expected to increase significantly in 2021.Recommendation systems that have this functionality would greatly increase and, more specifically, be open to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in addition to the largest enterprises.