Shopify president Harley Finkelstein has given his predictions for the upcoming holiday season and its effects on retail on Twitter.
“QR codes will continue to play a big role – the pandemic reinvigorated the use of QR codes as a form of communication,” he said to his 58,000 followers.
“This will continue as retailers seek out contactless interactions.”
Finkelstein also believes that the lines between gaming and retail will become increasingly non distinct.
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“Brands and celebs will use platforms like Roblox to extend and monetize their reach, giving customers net new experiences where they can shop.”
Finkelstein also placed his faith in the omnichannel strategy and says that consumers will continue to shop in a hybrid reality of online and offline.
He said that retailers that cater to this, by showing inventory availability online before shopping in-store and augmented reality (AR) try ons will succeed.
Here are my predictions for how the 2021 holiday season in retail will look (part 1) a thread🧵:
— Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) September 7, 2021
This was not the first time that Finkelstein has taken to the social media platform to voice his opinions on which direction retail will take next.
He argued back in March that the future of retail is not going to be online or offline and rather it will be everywhere.
“How you’re going to win in retail: Capitalise on your customer knowledge and be flexible when it comes to platforms,” he tweeted.
“You need to be able to sell everywhere from TikTok to Pinterest to a physical store and understand the different customers and merchandising needs between platforms.
“Having a deep understanding of your customer is the power of retailers today and in the future. Owning that relationship and understanding what they want and where they want to buy is key.”
