One of the standard rituals of the New Year is the annual round of forecasts, predictions and prognostications on what to expect over the next 12 months.
The fact that very few of the people making all these statements ever go back and review them the next year notwithstanding, there are often some fascinating things coming out of all of this. For this month’s LightSource we’ve gathered up a number of predictions from across both the general business and societal realms as well as the specific home furnishings business. We’ve divided them into two categories: in this article, we’ve highlighted the ones related to business and in Part II, trends impacting design.
Take a look:
Retail Places & Positions, from Placer.ai: The research company which tracks store traffic and business see shopping malls continuing to transform from retail spaces to community centers with more non-store space. It predicts brands will do more direct-to-consumer selling, both online and in their own physical stores. Finally Placer forecasts that the suburbs will become more important for retail businesses as urban flight remains an ongoing issue for big cities.
More Internal Hiring, from Deloitte: The financial services company says companies will increasingly look to hire from within versus outside, setting up procedures and processes to encourage internal advancement and job placement.
The QR Code Returns, from Modern Retail: Recently largely forgotten and written off as a dead-end technology, QR codes are more popular than ever, the online retail newsletter says, serving as an effective contactless platform for retail commerce. QR code usage was up 35% last year during the pandemic.
Buy Now Pay Later Gains, from creditcards.com: It’s an old retail practice with a new name but whatever you call it the online consulting company says services like Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay are gaining in popularity, often at the expense of traditional -- and expensive -- credit cards.