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After the NRF Big Show in New York City, industry leaders have pointed out some of the top trends for retail in 2018 First, Retailers are looking to personalize the digital experience for their customers. According to Terry Lundgren, Executive Chairman at Macy’s, “The whole concept of personalization is simply on steroids right now. It’s all about the consumer in that one moment in time. We’re doing anything we can do to connect directly with consumers and make shopping convenient for them.” Second, online and physical store experiences will become connected. With the rise in online shopping retailers are understanding the importance in keeping their physical stores relevant by connecting the online and in-store experience. According to Lundgren, “physical stores are not going away. Customers will always want the option of coming into the store to try on jeans instead of buying three different sizes online.” Third, retailers will integrate their products with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and other voice assistants. Charlie Cole, Global Chief eCommerce Officer at Samsonite said, “Categories like consumables will start to take off in voice…” Forth, Artificial intelligence is seeing greater adoption as it has gotten older. According to Cole, “[In 2018] artificial Intelligence will have its breakthrough moment. More and more retailers will start using it to power various parts of the retail and ecommerce experience.” Finally, retailers are looking to Amazon Marketing Services as their preferred acquisition tool for 2018. Brad Weston, CEO of Petco said, “Amazon Marketing is going to become as critical to a brand’s marketing strategy as Google and Facebook. Today, Amazon has the return on investment potential of Google Paid Search in 2005 and display ads 2002.” There are a lot of exciting retail trends to look forward to in 2018 and we can’t wait to see how all of these new ideas turn out
