What is the future of retail? Thought starters with Natalie Berg

At Goodman, we make space for our customers’ greatest ambitions. That’s why we’ve spoken to inspirational experts around the world to uncover insights into the key trends shaping our customers’ businesses – today, tomorrow and beyond.

Hear from Natalie Berg, Retail Analyst, Author and Founder of NBK Retail;
"If I had to describe the future of retail in one word, it would be blended.

On the one hand, we have physical retailers looking to digitise their stores, looking to technology to bring bricks and mortar into the 21st century. But on the other hand, we also have retailers looking to make their digital experiences more immersive. So, we’ve seen the rise of augmented reality, live streaming, we’re also seeing virtual shopping consultations. So, it’s this idea of connecting online shoppers with in-store staff.

All of these aspects are accelerating the convergence between physical and digital retail. And offering a really compelling hyper-personalised experience for the customer regardless of whether they are in the physical or digital world.

There is a real race on in retail at the moment to offer the most frictionless in-store experience. Trying to replicate the convenience and ease of online shopping but in a physical setting.

We have to remember that when customers come into a store, they are hyper-informed, they’re up to their eyeballs in information and most sales today are digitally influenced.

And so, retailers are responding to that by looking to technology to enhance the experience and equipping their staff with the right technology. And so, I think the challenge for retailers is to ensure they are offering this blended and seamless holistic experience, and meeting customers wherever they are. And that’s a real shift.

In the future, we won’t know where the physical world ends and where the digital one begins."

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Our purpose at Goodman is to make space for all of our stakeholders’ greatest ambitions.

As global industrial property specialists, we own, develop and manage high-quality properties in strategic locations across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. However, we’re conscious it’s not just what we do that’s important, but how we do it.

Goodman plans for the long term and looks at the big picture. We have the teams, scale, expertise, infrastructure and capital to develop long-term relationships with customers and partners around the world, but we’re still flexible enough to adapt to local business needs.

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