Top 50 Retail Innovation Statistics That Helps You to Plan for 2020

With a new year come new trends in the world of retail and eCommerce. This time, many of them were brought by innovative technologies that have thoroughly changed the ways consumers browse and shop. The number of visits to brick-and-mortar stores is decreasing year and year, where online retail, on the other hand, is blooming.

What will retail look like in 2020? Statistics show the rise of sales through a variety of digital channels and importance of balance between personalisation and consumer privacy. A few topics already introduced in Retail Industry Trends & Predictions for 2019 prove that no matter what’s happening in the retail landscape, customer experience will always play a vital part in any successful strategy.

Let’s dive straight into top retail trends 2020 that will help you deliver what your consumers really value.

Personalisation

1. Almost half (48% of shoppers) have left a brand’s website and purchased from a competitor because of a poorly personalised experience.

2. 41% shoppers, on the other hand, stated it’s creepy to receive a text from a brand or retailer when they walk by a physical store, feeling that using their location was the most invasive approach.

3. 71% of mobile purchases are influenced by personalised emails from a retailer. 

Inclusivity and Shopping Behaviour

4. In 2020 more retailers will offer extended price ranges with the rise of the plus-size market, especially in the US.

5. The rising trend- sustainable retailing. 65% out of 10,000 shoppers said they care more about sustainability than they did a year ago.

6. 50% of digital consumers have stated that environmental concerns impact their purchasing decisions.

7. Complete product customisation is expected to grow massively in 2020 to offer one-of-a-kind look for each consumer.

8. The retailers offering flexible payment plans, such as Afterpay, Klarna, Final or Affirm have seen increase in conversion rates by up to 30%.

9. More brands will offer multiple payment options to create easier checkout experiences, such as Apple Pay, Paypal or Amazon checkout.

10. 88% consumers are willing to pay more for same-day delivery or a faster delivery.

Customer Experience

11. Consumers look for unique experiences- more than a half would attend a pop-up store, while 42% would participate in an experience-driven social event or demo inside a store.

12. It is expected to see more seamless experiences between in-store and online, starting with consistency in pricing, in-store pickups and free in-store returns.

13. More shoppers will expect guest checkout in place on eCommerce websites- 35% of abandonment rates are due to lack of a guest checkout option available.

14. More customers expect free shipping than those who expect to pay for shipping, meaning more brands will need to include it in their offering.

15. 84% of customers will abandon cart if the website is not secure.

16. 53% of millennials said sales assistants don’t have the tools they need to provide good customer service, such as mobile devices for looking up customer profiles and recommending products.

17. Being transparent about the pricing, fees and additional charges at checkout will continue to be important in 2020, as unexpected fees and charges are one of the main reasons customers abandon the cart.

18. 57% of online shoppers are comfortable with providing personal information to a brand, as long as it directly benefits their shopping experience.

19. 46% of consumers expect product comparisons from eCommerce sites.

20. 68% of people said trustworthy reviews are the strongest influencing factor when they decide to shop.

21. According to Adobe, 69% of mobile purchases were influenced by emails from a certain company, 67% by Online Ads and 54% by Facebook.

Technology

22. Voice shopping is growing among Internet users and it is predicted that 55% of smart speaker owners will make purchases by voice by 2022.

23. QR codes are coming back. 4 in 10 users scan a QR code on their mobile devises every month.

24. By 2022 over 120,000 stores will be using AR (Augmented Reality) technologies.

25. Some major eCommerce platforms such as BigCommerce and Shopify have already realised apps that have AR capabilities, allowing merchants to get 3D products into their stores.

26. Nearly half (42%) of consumers feel that AI will lead to faster checkouts.

27. 2020 will witness a lot more eCommerce sites joining the trend and taking advantage of Predictive Analytics and AI.

28. Social media networks will be integrated with the most recognisable payment services such as Apple Pay and PayPal.

29. It is recommended to use video, 3D models and testimonials for product at higher price points to speed up decision-making process.

30. More eCommerce brands will incorporate headless commerce enabling to build a custom front end from scratch with its endless possibilities.

31. Messaging Apps will help bridge the gap between personalisation and automation, providing quick help and tailored products instantly to users.

32. Dynamic pricing is predicted to drive significant profit for retailers, with constant monitoring and optimising prices to react to consumer behaviour and insights.

Shopping Channels

33. 73% of eCommerce sales will be made on mobile devices by the end of 2021.

34. Google is becoming a new online marketplace. Google Shopping has proved to boost conversion by over 17%.

35. More than half of online shoppers (55 percent) have made a purchase through a social media channel, such as Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.

36. TikTok is one of emerging channels for eCommerce brands to test out and leverage in 2020, becoming the fastest-growing digital platform. With 150 million users worldwide, it was second-most downloaded app in both Google Play and Apple Store in November.

37. By 2020 it is expected to see a higher number of subscription-based business models, an eCommerce trend that has been steadily growing over recent years.

38. B2B eCommerce sales were projected to increase worldwide by $6.6 trillion by 2020.

39. Sending promotional SMS messages is predicted to grow, where 98% of mobile users open text messages and only 20 for emails.

40. 2020 is said to be a year of owned marketing, where more brands will grow their customer lists to become less dependent on third-party advertising.

41. In 2020 more brands will understand that it is essential to find good audience for Facebook and Instagram ads rather than simply run Google Shopping ads.

42. £3.6 trillion– the number of expected global eCommerce sales by 2021.

43. It is predicted that going international will be essential for any growth strategy in 2020.

44. With customers being more mobile-savy, we will see a growth of PWA (progressive web apps) for eCommerce.

45. More retailers will offer non-commerce experiences, such as live music or workshops.

46. Streaming ads will be a part of a well-rounded omnichannel approach in 2020.

47. Secure payment gateways have more chances to be completed. In fact, PayPal transaction have 70% higher checkout rates than non-PayPal transactions.

48. Global purchases are increasing with 57% of online shoppers having made a purchase from an overseas retailer.

49. 43% of eCommerce traffic is coming from organic Google search, so strategies for 2020 should be built with SEO in mind.

50. 90% of shoppers will visit Amazon to check and compare pricing.

The Future of Retail Industry

What are the trends in retailing? Now you should have a good idea of what to expect in 2020 and how important it is to understand how consumers shop and make their purchasing decisions. There are a few trends that have tendency to re-appear and stand out in a crowd:

• Personalised experiences and customisable product offering
• Voice Commerce
• Omnichannel strategy
• Sustainability
• Flexible shipping, payment and return policy

You’re probably thinking, what is an omnichannel strategy? With those in mind, we can expect brands to heavily invest in multi-channel strategy with the growth of mobile commerce and buying through social media platforms. Customers will also expect businesses to operate in sustainable ways and connect with them on a slightly deeper level with an understanding of their real needs.

To Recap

Nothing is for certain in the retail industry with constantly changing shopping habits and emerging technologies. Is the retail industry growing? We’ve certainly witnessed the rise of fully customisable products, subscription-based business models, importance of omnichannel strategy and flexible payment plans, which all lead to unique customer experiences. Analysing these seasonal insights and trends can only help you create strategies that drive results in real-time.