Breakthrough Insights brings you Kantar’s expert point of view on six key themes in commerce to help you tackle today’s — and tomorrow’s — most pressing decisions.
This year, we are bringing you Breakthrough Insights in two separate issues, each one exploring three of our 2023 themes and supported by our proprietary data and research.
Our six retail themes this year range from the challenging macroeconomic conditions and rapidly expanding digital playground to shopper engagement with sustainable brands. Each theme was identified by our commerce analysts and economist as a key source for growth and innovation this year and beyond.
Six Key Retail Themes of 2023
- New macro realities: The surreal past two years of pandemic and government policy have been upended by global conflict, surging commodity prices, and labor shortages to create a new macro reality.
- Shopper reset: Retailers and brands will need to solve for an evolving loyalty equation as shoppers rethink retailer and brand choice in the context of challenging economic conditions.
- Digital playground: The digital realm continues to expand rapidly into new areas of retail, data, entertainment, payments, and even the metaverse for new selling opportunities.
- Managing contradictions: Retail will be managing contradictory demands: investing to compete with unpredictable labor, inventory, and shopper spending while still generating the higher margins that shareholders require.
- New social contract: The new landscape of cultural change is shifting to more agreements and transparency, creating a new social contract covering data, sustainability, social justice, and privacy.
- Share of life: Integrating retailing into lifestyles to increase engagement is rewarding and goes well beyond the normal transactional relationship.
This dynamic collection of work takes the reader from near-term, highly tactical, and executional scenarios to more forward-looking, strategic scenario-planning frameworks aimed at maximizing organizational agility and preparing your company to excel.
Want to see the first issue of Breakthrough Insights 2023? Access the document here.
