There’s no overstating it; this is a time of extraordinary challenge and opportunity for retail.
The challenges are immediate and significant and include the pandemic, labour shortages, inflation and the supply chain. But the opportunities are huge. At a time when the pandemic continues to disrupt travel plans and consumers can’t eat out in the way they used to, retail provides continuity – a unique area of consumer comfort and agency. People still like to shop; they’re still doing so. The reports from the end of 2021 indicate that more people than expected were returning to stores, and the holiday season results were good.
As the keynote speeches, technology presentations and innumerable eager face-to-face conversations at NRF 2022 attest, retail is back on the front foot, with renewed purpose and vigour.
Hotwire and Retail in Detail are proud to present our annual NRF wrap-up, where we identify ten of the key trends which were inescapable over the course of NRF and hear from those at the very top of the sector today.