Looking Back And Ahead: What We've Learned From 2021 Retail – Forbes

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If retailers and consumers think price tags are high today, consider all the non-dollar costs that will influence purchase decisions tomorrow, such as time, convenience and (importantly) experience. Any one of these factors could change a shopper’s choice. Every one of them can coalesce to form expectations that are unparalleled and shifting with every rip of the calendar page.
Yet while the year we’re wrapping up may have been an epic challenge, nearly every month of it delivered a “return” gift waiting to be unpacked. Looking back on the top retail news in 2021, here are nine trends and behaviors that should inform retailer strategies in 2022.

The price of attracting new shoppers, and retaining existing customers, rises like inflation depending on the environmental factors that guide all purchase decisions – from pricing, to the channel, to the most rewarding shopping experience.
Retailers that trust their customers as guides, and combine that input with insight-enriching resources such as machine learning, should be able to detect worthy trends, as well as guide their trajectory.

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