It's not just Retail Traffic that's soothsaying the state of the retail business in 2010. At its 2003 Strategic Outlook Conference, consulting firm Retail Forward released a report entitled Twenty Trends for 2010: Retailing in an Age of Uncertainty. Here are some of the more dramatic trends and death knells — and their rankings — that the report highlights:
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Wal-Mart will wait for no one.
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Department stores are caught in a vicious circle propelled by escalating competition from mass retailers and lifestyle specialists; more consolidation and retrenchment are inevitable.
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Malls aren't going away, but many will change almost beyond recognition.
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Compressed life cycles for products, retail concepts and brands mean the days of the large, mass-merchandised specialty chain are over.
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The selling of products and services via mobile devices will remain elusive.
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Retailers will become brand managers on an unprecedented scale as the search for competitive differentiation accelerates.
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Supplier direct-to-consumer will become a more viable scenario for the future.