A keynote presentation on trends affecting the retail industry - delivered at the Shop.org Retailer Merchandising Summit in July 2012.

1. JULY, 2012 | SHOP.ORG MEETING - WASHINGTON DC
Rohit Bhargava
KEYNOTE:
12 Big Trends Changing
Retail & Ecommerce
TrendCurator,Storyteller&NiceGuy
#nonobvious
How eRetailers Can
Prepare For The Future

2. @ROHITBHARGAVATO WATCH VIDEOS VISIT WWW.ROHITBHARGAVA.COM/SPEAKING
ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION:
THE BACKSTORY
Thispresentationwasoriginallydeliveredlivetoanaudienceof
someofthebiggestonline(andreallife)retailersintheworldat
theShop.orgMerchandisingSummit.Sincefirstpresenting
theseretailtrends,Ihavepublishedtwoneweditionsofmy
annualTrendReportwithmoreretailspecifictrends. Forthe
latesttrends–pleasepickuptheneweditionofNon-Obvious
2017onAmazon!
BuyOnAmazon-https://www.amazon.com/dp/1940858232
Rohit Bhargava – Trend Curator, Keynote Speaker, Nice Guy
rohit@nonobviouscompany.com | www.rohitbhargava.com/speaking

3. NEED A KEYNOTE
SPEAKER ON RETAIL
TRENDS FOR YOUR
NEXT EVENT?
Visit www.rohitbhargava.com/speaking and use the
online form to check availability and rates.
Rohit’s Direct Email – rohit@nonobviouscompany.com

4. The Problem:
We are living
through the modern
believability crisis.

5. 5

6. 6

7. 7

9. 9

10. 10

11. 11

12. So, can social media
really solve the
problem?

13. 13

16. Sometimes consumers
really don’t want a
“conversation” …

19. Conversation
Education
Real-time
Ongoing
Static
Archive

20. Or empty promises of
“storytelling” …

23. Success in the future will
require every retailer to
do something more …

24. In a world where we don’t
trust the institutions around
us, the only real metric for
trust is human connections.

25. So let’s talk about what
is really changing …

26. Remember, trends never
offer a perfect map for
where to focus …

27. Instead, they can spark a
powerful new idea or direction.

28. Trend #1:
Pervasive Shopping
What Is It? Thanks to mobile devices and
new forms of retail integration, we can now
shop anytime and anywhere.
What Does It Mean? Offering the ability
to purchase in multiple channels, and integrating
with third party ecommerce networks is key.

31. Trend #2:
Retail Curation
What Is It? A sea of choice leads retailers to
use curation to narrow choice and offer more
personalized experiences to buy and share.
What Does It Mean? Consumers are
growing to expect more custom and personalized
experiences and share them readily with others.

36. Trend #3:
Story Trumps Product
What Is It? Storytelling takes a fundamental
role in creating a narrative that inspires people
to buy a (sometimes) undifferentiated product.
What Does It Mean? When products are
easily replicated and do not necessarily stand out
alone, better storytelling is the secret weapon.

37. Story Source: Peter Guber’s Tell To Win

45. 45

46. 46

47. 47

48. Trend #4:
Being Useful Sells
What Is It? While “conversation” gets a lot
of attention today, consumers buy from
companies that provide value by being useful.
What Does It Mean? Often the best
value from digital tactics comes by educating
instead of trying to have a “dialogue.”

53. Trend #5:
Analytics Everywhere
What Is It? More and more tools, products
and online services allow us to measure, track
and chart each and every aspect of our lives.
What Does It Mean? As consumers
continually receive “life data” – this will influence
the decisions they make and products they buy.

58. Trend #6:
Instant Visual eCommerce
What Is It? The longtime promise of being
able to click any image to view and purchase a
product is finally becoming a reality.
What Does It Mean? Finding ways to link
product imagery in any form (across the web) to
ecommerce pages will become more important.

62. Trend #7:
Eliminating Agony
What Is It? After years of romantic
fascination with social media, usability becomes
a priority to improve customer experience again.
What Does It Mean? As more sites begin
with a mobile-centric design, consumers
expectations of extreme simplicity increase.

70. Trend #8:
Rewarding Activity
What Is It? “Engagement” continues to be
loosely defined as brands reward simple
activities like clicking a button or showing up.
What Does It Mean? Consumers will
expect more rewards for activity, but may offer
their social capital/networks in exchange.

77. Trend #9:
Unexpected Honesty
What Is It? As brand humanity continues to
be a major macro trend in business, consumers
reward companies that are honest unexpectedly.
What Does It Mean? Being proactive
with sharing the logic and truth behind your
business is a powerful way to build trust.

84. Trend #10:
Real Time Ethical Consumerism
What Is It? Consumers now have the tools to
uncover which companies behave ethically in real
time, to impact everyday purchase decisions.
What Does It Mean? Companies that
behave in unethical ways can no longer depend
on that information being hidden or hard to find.

88. Trend #11:
Social Personalization
What Is It? Retailers personalize not only by
interest & purchase history, but also by social
context of what friends like and recommend.
What Does It Mean? Influencing
consumers takes not only a focus on offers and
benefits, but also through social context.

91. Trend #12:
Co-Created Retail
What Is It? User generated media has been
popular for years in marketing – but now is
finally extending to on shelf and eRetail.
What Does It Mean? The affiliate model
that has been so successful in ecommerce is
extending to include any entrepreneur.

95. One final thought …

96. Trends should offer inspiration to
try new things – so be inspired!

97. +
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
CONCIERGE
MARKETING
SIGNATURE
WORKSHOPS
NON-OBVIOUS
KEYNOTES
CMOCONSULTING
AGENCYREVIEWS
STRATEGYAUDITS
STORYTELLING
CONTENTMARKETING
DIGITALCERTIFICATIONS
CONFERENCES
PRIVATESUMMITS
EXECRETREATS
LEARNMOREABOUTBOOKINGROHITTOSPEAK:
www.trustimg.com/speaking