The Top Retail Trends in 2023
The retail industry is reshaping the shopping experience in 2023, redefining not only how we shop and sell, but where we shop and what we buy (a mimosa while shopping, anyone?). The cutting-edge retail trends below are guiding each step of the way.
To help retailers identify and lean into those strengths and strategies, Square teamed up with Wakefield Research and surveyed 2,000 consumers and 500 retail owners and managers about the retail industry trends that capture where they’re headed in 2023. The results were eye-opening — the who, what, where, and why behind the shopping experience is going through a metamorphosis. There could even be an opportunity for local retailers to make a name for themselves and beat out competitors through social and mobile commerce along with automated tools.
To see the top 5 retail trends for 2023, visit the Retail Dive website.
Best Buy Tops Profit Estimates Despite Ongoing Sales Slump
Best Buy Co. is betting that a long sales slump in consumer electronics and household appliances will start to ease later this year. The gadget retailer’s first-quarter profit exceeded estimates and it stood by its annual financial forecasts, reiterating that comparable sales will fall by no more than 6% this year. That implies shallower declines in the second half of the year after a 10% plunge in the first quarter and a second-quarter drop of as much as 8%.
Best Buy’s steady outlook signals a ray of hope, however faint, after sales tumbled last year as consumers retreated from electronics and other discretionary goods. That followed a binge during the early stages of the pandemic. The retailer still has a long road to recovery as inflation forces shoppers to spend more on basic goods, making them think twice before buying televisions, computers and appliances.
To read the full article, visit the MSN website.
Statistics Canada Reports Retail Sales Down 1.4% in March, but Core Sales Up 0.3%
Canadian retail sales fell 1.4% to $65.3 billion in March as sales at gas stations and new car dealers declined, Statistics Canada said. In volume terms, Statistics Canada says retail sales fell 1.0% in March.
However, the agency said its early estimate for April pointed to a gain of 0.2% for that month, though it cautioned the figure would be revised.
“While March’s decline in retail sales was no worse than anticipated, and was driven largely by volatility in auto and gasoline sales, slight cracks are starting to show within Canadian consumer spending,” CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham wrote in a report.
Statistics Canada said that retail sales rose in five of the nine subsectors it tracks as core retail sales — which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers — rose 0.3% in March. Sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers rose 1.6% and sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers gained 1.6%.
To read more, visit the BNN Bloomberg website.
Int’l Imaging Technology Council Brings Another Complaint Against HP Inc. over Firmware and Greenwashing
On May 22, the International Imaging Technology Council (Int’l ITC) has filed a complaint against HP Inc. (HP) with the Global Electronics Council (GEC) over HP’s blatant practice of preventing remanufactured cartridges from being used in HP’s “Dynamic Security” and “HP+” printers while marketing these devices as EPEAT-registered. Manufacturers of EPEAT registered devices are prohibited from designing their products to prevent the use of remanufactured cartridges. According to HP’s own product documentation, Dynamic Security and HP+ printers are designed to do exactly that.
To read the full article, visit the IITC website.
