Insiders predicting more real estate defaults and e-commerce outdoing brick-and-mortar have everyone wondering: What is the future of retail? Per Retail Dive, here are 11 expert predictions for 2016.
1. SageBerry Consulting president Steven Dennis: A focus on extraordinary customer experiences
"I believe that more and more retailers will come to realize that, in most segments, they are in a no-growth, zero-sum environment. The focus therefore must be on how to steal market share from the competition by becoming more remarkable and more intensely customer relevant."
2. Siteworks president Nick Egelanian: Department stores make way for discount apparel.
"While department stores have been on the decline for more than two decades now, we expect to see dramatic acceleration of market share declines in 2016. On the flip side, new discount apparel concepts like Primark will continue to emerge."