Top Four Emerging Trends for Retailers in 2023

As retailers navigate the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing in 2023, there are a number of trends and technologies to stay on top of for this year.
We have identified four major trends to keep your eye on this year. Omnichannel digital marketing for retailers, the importance of first party data integration in a cookie-less world,  the rising trend of artificial intelligence and how to leverage it. and lastly; the importance of augmented or virtual reality to connect with consumers. All these core trends will help retailers develop strategies and connect with their customers in meaningful ways.

Cookie-less Future

A major trend that retailers need to be aware of is the impending shift away from third-party cookies and the importance of integrating first party data into your marketing strategies. As we step away from third-party tracking, businesses must ensure they adopt new ways to collect and leverage data from their customers.

This means that retailers need to start adopting new technologies and strategies to collect first party customer data. The most popular approach is integrating CRM (Customer Relationship Management) technologies such as Emarsys, and CDP (Customer Data Platforms) such as Tealium and Lexer. These allow you to collect information directly from the customer including purchase history, key demographics and on-site browsing behaviours. This information can be integrated across all major channels and touchpoints, and allows retailers to gain a better understanding of their customers to then customise marketing strategies to adapt with the needs of the consumer. Businesses who choose to neglect this pivotal point in marketing history will lose all key data insights on their current customers and how to approach marketing towards them in 2023,  resulting in large potential revenue losses and increased costs across their marketing strategy.

 

Adopt AI To Your Benefit

Another rapidly developing trend for retailers is the rise of artificial intelligence and how this can be leveraged to free up time and resources to focus on higher-level strategies. Whether that be done using chatbots within an ecommerce website, or predictive AI tools, these are incredible assets to be utilised by retailers in 2023. AI tools can be used to help personalise the customer journey and provide assistance, recommending products or services, and highlight areas of opportunities based on on-site customer behaviours and product preferences. This is a vastly utilised trend in the current market with many businesses not adopting the proactive approach to this trend and falling behind in the market.

AI is a technology which continues to evolve within the digital space and the importance of retailers to ride that wave has never been more crucial as retailers utilise AI tools to enhance the customer shopping experience. The businesses who embrace this trend are the businesses that will succeed in this current market.

 

Augmented/ Virtual Reality Trends

A third important trend related to our previous topic of AI is the emerging trend of augmented and virtual reality for retailers in the digital marketing space. These new technologies allow retailers to create immersive, interactive experiences for customers throughout various touch points of the purchase journey. Augmented and virtual reality can create an experience which allows customers to interact with products and services without needing to walk into a store. A perfect example of this being utilised within the digital retailer market is Snapchat which has 250 million users engaged everyday in some form of augmented reality and has allowed countless brands to market their products to users prior to purchase and without the need of a physical store.

This tech can be adopted through using virtual try-on or virtual product placement experiences, allowing customers to see how products look before purchasing. Virtual reality however, can be used to fully immerse customers in virtual stores and a virtual world entirely. As technology advances retailers will see this style of marketing become more accessible for brands and their customers.

 

Take The Holistic View

Omnichannel digital marketing for retailers is arguably one of the biggest challenges facing retailers today. Retailers need to reach customers across a wide variety of channels and leverage data to understand the contribution of online vs offline in order to gain a holistic view for retailers. Consumers expect a seamless and integrated experience across all digital channels and within in-store experiences no matter where they wish to interact with a business along the purchase journey.  This strategy is vastly under-utilised by businesses and if missed or not implemented correctly can result in a huge decrease in potential earnings in the long term.

This approach involves creating a cohesive brand experience across all channels, so that customers can move seamlessly from one touchpoint to another without feeling as though they are interacting with completely different entities. This involves adopting technologies which allow capturing off-line and online data and integrating within your marketing strategy, implementing consistent branding & messaging across all channels, real time pricing & inventory updates and personalization for each customer based on preferences and behaviors. These essential practices will ensure retailers are able to adopt an effective omni-channel strategy.

From omnichannel marketing to artificial intelligence to augmented and virtual reality, there are a wide variety of strategies and technologies that retailers can use to connect with their customers in new and meaningful ways. By staying up to date on emerging trends and technologies, retailers can stay ahead of the curve and continue to provide exceptional customer experiences, both online and offline.

 

Marlon Thain is a Senior Digital Advertising Manager at Adcore Australia. You can find more insights from Adcore Australia here.