IDC Retail Insights Releases Top 10 Predictions for 2013

IDC Retail Insights hosted a webinar that revealed their top 10 retail predictions for the coming year. The Predictions Webinar series is designed to help company leaders capitalize on emerging opportunities and plan for growth. “2013 will be a turning point in terms of industry momentum around delivering on the omnichannel promise,” said Robert Parker, group vice president, IDC Retail Insights. “This trend means we will be applying ‘new rules’ to both the customer experience and supply chain execution. Technology will have a critical role.”

Here are the Top 10 Predictions for 2013:

1. Omnichannel Retail Maturity will move from foundation to convergence, and from precision to immersion.

2. Retailers omnichannel objectives will require platform & architecture investments.

3. Retailers pivot merchandising and marketing on customer analytics to drive revenue and profit; relevance and reciprocity being the watchwords.

4. Retailers will invest in customer analytics, merchandising, and marketing technologies to curate commerce and contextualize communications.

5. The time is right to break down marketing silos.

6. Marketing processes and infrastructures will align with the omnichannel business.

7. Retailers will remove barriers and instead encourage the Stop Start Shopper.

8. The convergence of web-based customer experience touch points to unify the customer journey.

9. Retailers will optimize omnichannel customer service and cost by enabling trustworthy, efficient and effective supply chains.

10. Retailers will invest in technologies that enable visibility, visualization and virtualization.