by Serena Masih, The Retail Hive

For consumers, Christmas isn’t even contemplated until the flip-flops are packed firmly away and the ground starts to crunch under that satisfying smell of autumn leaves. But of course, for us in the Retail sector, Christmas is scarily close.

Having spoken with our Retail Hive members it seems the behaviour of disruptors such as Alibaba and Amazon are a continuous thorn in the side of retailers, particularly approaching peak, with many believing these digital giants are inflating consumer expectations largely because they are not burdened by any of the legacy system challenges that traditional retailers are grappling with.

Last year Amazon launched their first pop up shop in London – I wonder what will be revealed for 2018?

But what if you could be absolutely sure of your consumers’ expectation when they walked into your store?

Our valued partners Manhattan Associates have recently published a report available to download here, which examines what consumers really want and their perception of how retail is performing in three areas;

  1. The role of the store assistant
  2. Seamless experience across channels
  3. The use of technology

Crucially the report contains key Retailer action points for each area as it is clear that the winners during peak 2018 will be those retailers who have  acted quickly to satisfy consumers rising expectations.