Retail 2020: Winning in a polarizing world

Kantar has released a new report, "Retail 2020: Winning in a Polarized World." Successful retailers in 2020 will be the ones most likely to position themselves appropriately to take control of their vibrant markets. However, the market is likely to become increasingly polarized and will be demonstrated in a number of ways by 2020:

Channel segmentation.Non-store retail sales in the U.S. are expected to grow significantly. Successful entity formats look very different. Most major retail stores operate a large number of brick-and-mortar stores, all in order to please their target customers with a variety of shopping patterns. In fact, these footprints may not involve brick-and-mortar stores at all.

Non-store retailing accelerated.By 2020, non-store retail is expected to account for 12% of the overall non-automotive retail market in the United States. The concept of an all-round retail world underpins many of the dynamics, trends and strategies of development in 2020.

Smaller area.The retail environment of the future will see more and more retailers operating smaller stores to create new growth. Several markets, such as the UK and Mexico, have seen this. The online world will take a growing share of planned shopping trips, allowing brick-and-mortar retailers to take advantage of immediate or impulsive demand.

Income differentiation.According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the U.S. is the world's most income-polarized advanced economy. This polarization will continue to drive success stories at both ends of the economic spectrum, increasingly pandering to a wider range of incomes.

Growth of recession-trained fixed-income shoppers.These groups, regardless of wealth, are expected to pursue an increasingly polarizing shopping decision-making process. For the categories of deep concern to these shoppers, there will be an increase in the number of premium products tailored to their specific needs.