It’s that time of year where predictions for 2025 will be thrown around.
Now, I’m not certified in prognostication or claim to be a retail soothsayer. However, there are some things that are worth thinking about as we close out this year and move into the next.
As such, I scribbled down 10 ideas on a notepad that I felt would be of importance.
This week, I share three of them.
1 – Tech Enables Touch and Touch Enables Tech.
Technology is everywhere (see AI) and it will continue to evolve in every area of retail.
The big question will be how do companies balance high tech and high touch?
Think of this example: Self-checkout kiosks can exist on their own. But, they are always operated (and more accepted) in the presence of store associates.
However, I’ll go a step further and say that investments in high tech must also enable high touch.
That means store associates should be enabled to focus more on clienteling. Carrier sales reps at 3PL’s can spend time building relationships with quality carriers. Product creation functions can spend more time in market and so on.
Oddly enough, the enablement of tech requires the human touch. For instance, leaders need to hold everyone accountable for adoption and compliance of the tech in the organization.
Every company needs to determine their precise tech/touch balance.
2 – Loss Led Growth
GLP-1 drugs (e.g. Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and so on) are wildly successful and pharma companies are working to make them even better.
Moreover, companies like Noom are drawing interest from employers with their low-cost, compounded versions of the name brand drugs. This might be a way for more employers to cover the costs of these drugs for employees.
The growing use is already impacting the food industry and eating habits.
Anyone who makes apparel, swimwear, intimates and so on will also feel an impact…if it hasn’t already happened.
In apparel, it is common practice to buy into a set size range because it is easier for the merchant to assort a style. The sizes are developed using a range based on a fit block. Then, the fit block informs the pattern or instructions for the garment.
It’s more important than ever to update fit blocks and size ranges. Yet, fit blocks are rarely updated as it costs money to bring in a new fit model, update patterns and reevaluate raw material planning.
But, that doesn’t seem like a system that can dynamically respond to shifts in customer behavior which impact fit.
It’s another reason to innovate how products are made.
3 – Pro Sports Is Having A Big Moment
NFL viewership is rising steadily. The Black Friday game this year pulled in an average of 13.51 million viewers. Last year, it was an average of 9.61 million. The average for all Thanksgiving games this year was 34.2 million and last year was 34.1 million.
Netflix is likely very excited that is has NFL games on Christmas. And why not, they carried the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight. It did numbers even though the fight itself was meh.
Women’s sports, like the WNBA, is starting to pick up in popularity too.
And, retail isn’t just standing idle…
- Lululemon and Fanatics are teaming up to bring NHL fan apparel to market.
- The brand Roots of Fight has opened physical stores in places with high relevance to their assortment e.g. at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, KY.
- Amazon streams hockey on Monday nights, football on Thursdays and will soon add NBA games to their lineup.
- Oh, and LVMH has signed a 10 year partnership deal with Formula 1.
And, I think the retail category is still very underrated when it comes to the sports fan experience.
Plenty of opportunity to be had.
Next week, I’ll share more of what I have scribbled down.
