Retail Trends

The “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) market is hotter than ever. With a strong presence on major retailers’ websites and increasing brand awareness among consumers, BNPL is receiving growing attention from the world’s top banks, lenders, and credit card providers. While the concept is nearly a century old, Forrester has been tracking the “reemergence” of […]

Post van gastblogger Melissa Chaudet, senior onderzoeksmedewerker. Het is geen geheim dat Europese consumenten zich steeds meer zorgen maken over de impact van hun consumptie op het milieu. Forrester heeft onlangs nieuw onderzoek uitgevoerd om een beeld te krijgen van de verwachtingen en houding van Europese consumenten ten aan zien van duurzaamheid. Dit waren de bevindingen: […]

As retail industry analysts, the key question for us is whether inflation is already driving US retail sales growth – or is the retail sales growth still volume-driven?

We forecast that global OMS spending will nearly double over the next five years, with a CAGR of 12.8%. Here’s why.

Guest blog post by Melissa Chaudet, senior research associate. It’s no secret that European consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their consumption habits. We’ve recently conducted net-new data research to gain a snapshot of European consumers’ environmental expectations and attitudes. We found that they: Actively seek more environmentally friendly options when shopping. […]

Luxury brands continue to grapple with their evolving digital go-to-market strategies in the face of ingrained traditions, placing a premium on the in-store customer experience. But it is not a case of digital versus store. Year on year, Forrester’s consumer surveys show that luxury consumers are more digitally mature than their mainstream counterparts. They seek […]

What are NFTs, really? What’s in it for brands? What are the key challenges? Here's a quick recap of our recent webinar on NFTs.

We recently discussed the future look of shopping centers and malls with one of the largest players in the commercial real estate world. Here are the major changes we expect to see.

In our most recent online grocery snapshot with IRI, we highlight key changes in online grocery market trends.

The future of payments will see firms shift focus from consumers toward businesses, embedding payment technology (not payments), and programmable payments in a quest to mitigate complexity.

US online retail sales will grow by 10% for the 2021 holiday season, reaching just under $200 billion.

US online holiday sales grew by 30% in 2020, and Forrester forecasts that it will grow another 10% year over year in 2021. This growth raises the stakes for retail professionals to support the increased demand, which ultimately makes them a prime target for ransomware attackers. Why Should Retailers Pay Attention To Ransomware Preparedness? Ransomware […]

To get a closer look at what retailers did online during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we reviewed 75 retailer and brand home pages, spanning several product categories. Here are the highlights.

The value of a brand’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) digital presence goes beyond direct sales. Brands that still rely heavily on retail partners for digital sales can still drive value from direct customer engagement. Of course, DTC consumer purchases benefit brands with better margins, since they avoid fees or commission charges from partners. The benefits go beyond […]

Let's demystify the crypto basics, examine the pros and cons, and share our take on whether retailers should accept cryptocurrencies.

To help brand manufacturers take control, Forrester’s Digital Go-To-Market Review series assesses a set of brands in a specific category to see how well they are positioned to thrive independently. In this review, we analyzed our reviews of 177 retail brands.

Retailers, the time is now to manage supply chain risks, raise bot defenses, and prioritize customers this holiday season.

Double 11, or Singles’ Day, the world’s largest online shopping festival that is bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, has been consistently smashing mind-blowing gross merchandise value (GMV) records year by year since 2009. As the actual promotion period gets longer and longer — Singles’ Day’s 2021 presales moved up from 2020’s November […]

From a long-standing focus on sustainability by companies such as Patagonia and REI to newer initiatives such as Galeries Lafayette’s (Re)Store, IKEA designing for reuse, and Mars’ pledge for net-zero emissions (among many!), retailers and brands are on the path to actively supporting the circular economy. Overall, consumers’ consciousness about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) […]