Digital expectations in a physical world [PODCAST]

What’s hot in retail can sometimes be difficult to predict because innovations and adoptions are moving so quickly. The pandemic taught us that new behaviors are always popping up, but we’re still figuring out which ones are here to stay.

Jason “Retailgeek” Goldberg is the chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Group and has been a go-to retail expert for industry leaders for years. At NRF Retail Converge, he’ll be moderating a panel on unique marketplaces and how retailers like Crate & Barrel and social media sites like Pinterest are leveraging them.

He joined Retail Gets Real to talk about what’s happening in retail, technology and how consumers are helping drive innovation.

“In general, the world is going to stores less. Now, good news, we’re spending as much or more than ever, right? So, good retailers are doing great,” Goldberg said. “Retail actually had a decent year last year in spite of the pandemic, but we’re using the store in a very different way. We buy more stuff when we go to the store.”

The role of the store is changing for good. As consumers become more accommodated to the variety and offerings of digital, Goldberg said they’ll have elevated expectations of those digital amenities when they visit bricks-and-mortar stores. Even if they’re just using a curbside pickup service, consumers might see digital signage to remind them of the impulse buys they’re used to in the checkout line.

Goldberg said he’s seeing interesting marketing tactics being deployed to lock in pandemic behaviors in post-pandemic consumers. Meanwhile, restaurants are reminding people about all the things they missed in 2020. Both ends of the spectrum are spinning the narrative in their favor in a fascinating game of messaging tug-of-war.