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Welcome readers to Part 3 of F.C. Dadson's 2018 Retail Predictions! In case you haven't checked them out so far, here are the previous entries:
Part 1: Digital and Physical Keep Merging
So our final prediction for 2018 is that curation is king. In a retail world of seemingly infinite choices, the companies that are able to understand their customer well enough to know what she wants will succeed. This will be true whether the product is apparel, consumer products, food, or healthcare.
One example of this curation in the product retail world is b8ta, a startup company that showcases tech-y items from other startup companies. b8ta is focused on early technology adopters, and curates its selection accordingly. From $1,500 electric skateboards to $60 lightbulbs, these are products you won't find at Wal-Mart.
On the restaurant side, there's a continuing shift away from the multipage, catch-all Applebee's type of menus to more narrowly focused, curated offerings. This doesn't mean that consumers give up choices. One of the most popular trends in fast casual at the moment is build your own pizza, so at restaurants like Mod Pizza or Blaze pizza lovers can make their own pies. Increasingly, growth in the food business is found in specialty categories like cookies (Tiff's Treats), Middle Eastern (Naf Naf), and healthy/vegetarian (Coolgreens).
Even in the area of healthcare, services are becoming more tailored to individual consumers with specific health issues. Urgent care continues to grow, as doctors and hospitals seek to meet consumers where they live. Micro-hospitals, which are somewhere in between a large urgent care center and an emergency room with a few inpatient beds, are also a growing trend. In addition, specialty types of urgent care are becoming more prevalent, including orthopedic, spine, pediatric, and tele-health.
In sum, 2018 will be another exciting year in the ever-changing world of retail. Bricks and clicks will continue to converge, small will be the new big, and niche the new norm. And whether you are business is retail stores, restaurants, spas, salons, or urgent care facilities, F.C. Dadson can help simplify your retail buildout.
