Trends in 2023 for transformation of the retail market After 2 years of accelerating e-commerce followed by 2022 as a year of energy and inflation crisis, plus a summer of climate emergency, the context for 2023 is uncertain. Retailers are caught between falling consumption, rising costs and the end of cheap cash. Shareholders must be convinced to continue investing in expensive digital transformation. The projects include finding the right mix between online and "offline", decarbonising a business, offering an omnichannel and personalised customer relationship in a more restrictive regulatory context, exploiting e-retail media and enriching the vendors' experience. Mind Retail presents the main digital and environmental trends in retail this year. Through Sophie Baqué. Published on 16 January 2023 à 16h58 - Update on 17 January 2023 à 17h15 Synthesis The context After a profitable 2021, the retail sector ended 2022 with falling sales and lower profitability. In the Eurozone, the market fell by 1.8% in value terms in October 2022 (monthly change, Eurostat), recording the biggest drop since July 2021. Grocery sales were down by 1.5% and non-food by 2.1%. In November, the overall retail market returned to growth of 0.8%, but consumers continued to assess their spending. Non-food grew by 1.6% but food decreased by 0.9%. Readers will remember that European inflation stood at 10% at the end of December 2022. In the U.S.A., after holding up until October with an increase of 1.3%, the retail market plunged to 0.6% in November and to 1.9% in December (monthly change, Census Bureau). In the US, inflation at the end of 2022 was up to 7.1%, so retailers are facing even sharper declines in volumes. In the U.S.A., margins of the major retailers have plummeted. In Q3 2022, margins fell by 55% year-on-year. In France, in 2022, grocery retailing fell without collapsing, down by 2.2% in volume and up by 2.1% in value (source IRI). Last year, food inflation was 6.1%. Data shows that the French consumers are unable to move upmarket. There are more first-price products in shopping baskets (sales up by 7.4% in 2022), whilst organic products (down by 7.8%) and fresh products are bought less. Chains with a strong price image have won more customers.… This article is for subscribers only Already have an account? Log in You are not registered yet ? Sign up for a free trialfree for 1 month Online services : studies, analyses, databases and much more Daily Briefing : latest news digest Weekly letters Last name First name Email address
