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4 • Sports Insight March/April 2019 The Future of Retail? THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF "POWER" IN RETAIL HAVE BEEN MAJOR topics of conversation in our editorial oce this past month as we put our annual Power Retail issue of the magazine together. As we examined 2018's major retail stories and looked at retailers' plans for 2019 and beyond, we couldn't help but wonder what retail would look like a decade from now. In 10 years, will we be saying, "Did people really shop like that in 2019?" Along those lines, a recent report from Shoptalk titled "e Transformation of Retail," addresses this very issue. Here are 5 predictions for retail's future: 1. e New Digital Retail Organization. Running a retail organization — whether digital or physical — will increasingly mean running a technology company, mandating changes in skill sets, hiring, culture and more. Digital expertise will be a hiring factor in every role across the organization. 2. Next Generation E-commerce and Omnichannel Retail. Pickup options will become more diverse and widespread, and there will be greater focus on drive-through oerings. Technologies that enable shoppers to visualize products on their faces and bodies will proliferate. Mobile-enabled shopping experiences will play a bigger role in stores, allowing shoppers to learn more about products as they shop. 3. Technologies Creating New Retail Experiences. Every aspect of the store — from shopping carts to displays — will become more intelligent. Robots will become increasingly common in store aisles. Digital shelves will proliferate. Automated warehouses — combined with new pickup and delivery options — will reduce fulllment times, changing consumers' denition of immediacy. 4. Advances in Store Layout and Design. Stores will change their layouts in the era of cashierless checkout, with impulse purchases at checkout moving to strategically placed locations. Stores will double as fulllment centers, as sections are blocked o to shoppers and designated for lling online orders. Shopper convenience will be key in new store layouts. 5. e New Brand and Retailer Dynamic. Brands and retailers will continue to strike unlikely partnerships with competitors to capture new consumers. Successful direct-to- consumer startups will be sought-aer as partners and acquisition targets for established retailers. Brands will build out their direct relationships with shoppers and rely less on wholesale partners — at the same time, brands will value their best wholesale partners more than ever as the fastest way to scale. Retailers will invest more in the development and marketing of their own private brands. Brands sold through retail will be evaluated for their potential to engage shoppers through experiences. To read our Power Retail report on the most powerful sporting goods retailers, turn to page 12. To see what consumers had to say about the retail experience, turn to page 32. To see how many of the predictions on the list above come true, let's plan to meet up in the year 2029 and discuss. Cara Griffin Editorial Director cgriffin@formula4media.com TIME OUT sportsinsightmag.com Editorial Director Cara Griffin cgriffin@formula4media.com Senior Editors Bob McGee Jennifer Ernst Beaudry Art Director Francis Klaess Associate Art Director Mary McGann Contributors Emily Walzer Suzanne Blecher Michael Jacobsen Publisher Jeff Gruenhut jgruenhut@formula4media.com 404-467-9980 Business Manager Marianna Rukhvarger 516-305-4709 mrukhvarger@formula4media.com Production Brandon Christie 516-305-4712 bchristie@formula4media.com Advertising Jeff Nott jnott@formula4media.com 516-305-4711 Katie O'Donohue kodonohue@formula4media.com 828-244-3043 Sam Selvaggio sselvaggio@formula4media.com 212-398-5021 Subscriptions: store.formula4media.com Formula4 Media Publications Sports Insight Sports Insigt Extra Outdoor Insight Footwear Insight Footwear Insight Extra Team Insight Textile Insight Textile Insight Extra Trend Insight sportstyle Sports Insight ® is a registered trademark of Formula4 Media, LLC. ©2019 All rights reserved. The opinions expressed by authors and contributors to Sports Insight are not necessarily those of the editors or publishers. Sports Insight is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Articles appearing in Sports Insight may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of the publisher. Sports Insight is published bi-monthly: Jan/Feb; Mar/Apr; May/Jun; Jul/Aug; Sep/Oct; and Nov/Dec. Postmaster: Send address changes to Sports Insight, P.O. Box 23-1318, Great Neck, NY 11023 PO Box 23-1318, Great Neck, NY 11023 Phone: 516-305-4710 / Fax: 516-305-4712 formula4media.com