It’s a brand new year, bringing new hopes and expectations for your retail store. What will it take to grow and thrive in 2016? No matter your store size or product line, you’ll need to ride the crest of key retail trends to attract and impress customers. So, what will be hot in the new year? Let’s look at the retail trends for 2016.

Technology, of course.

For one thing, it’s a mobile world now. Prospective shoppers and in-store customers are using mobile devices in ever-increasing numbers, and you have to be there for them. The best way to do that is to arm your sales staff with mobile devices, too. They’ll be more efficient and it will be easier for them to interact in personalized ways with customers.

Embrace big data, because the more you learn about customers, the more you can increase sales. One industry expert suggests making full use of available data could boost your operating margin by 60%+. Why? Because your customers now expect an “all about me” experience. You can’t do that if you don’t understand what matters most to them.

There’s a potential Catch-22 here, though – you can’t individualize your marketing or merchandising without customer data, yet most people are still leery of providing that data. Building trust in your privacy and security procedures is key.

Incorporating interactive merchandising elements – touchscreen kiosks, digital displays, etc. – improves the overall in-store experience. Customers can help themselves to information, try out products, or build unique-to-them customized products. Expect showrooming (in-store “research” shopping before making an online purchase) to increase. Make it work in your favor, by creating your own mobile app for customers to use in your store.

New technologies also make it possible to manage your retail business more effectively, in real time. Among other things, that means you can look forward to disappointing fewer customers with out-of-stocks in 2016.

Omni-channel marketing.

In 2016, retail trends call for making better use of multiple marketing channels to reach out to potential and loyal customers. It’s not just a matter of promoting your business, but engaging with prospects and loyalists with the content they want, when they want it, delivered via the channel(s) they prefer. In other words, refining your content marketing will be essential.

“Gotta have it now” purchasing will increase for online customers, whether they are actually shopping, or simply interacting within their social networks. Make it easy for customers to buy from you, with buyable Pins on Pinterest, Dash buttons on Amazon, Buy Now buttons on Twitter, the mobile storefront on Facebook. Look for Instagram and Snapchat to enter the picture, too.

Lines will blur between online presence and brick-and-mortar presence. Or they should. Shoppers expect a seamless, consistent experience just as they expect a reliably similar experience among your multiple storefront locations. And they will expect smoother cross-over — offerings such as ordering online with in-store pickup.

Become a student of retail trends for 2016. You don’t have to adopt all of them, but positioning your store on the leading edge will make you more desirable to customers.

Palmer Retail Solutions strives to offer our clients the absolute best combination of innovation, quality, service, and value for our diversified custom store fixtures and merchandising displays. For more information about our designs, retail fixtures, cash wraps, kiosks, or point of purchase displays, visit our website at: http://www.palmerretailsolutions.com.