As an industry, retail has long explored what it means to be digital-focused, mobile-first, and omni-channel. With billions of dollars invested, retail is one of the leading industries making the transition to being digital-at-the-core. The search for profitable growth has shifted from physical stores to digital channels. Yet today, our research suggests, the value is now from the intersection of the two.

Malls, retail stores, digital experiences, and organizational structures are all being reimagined.  To understand this landscape, SapientRazorfish and Salesforce have partnered to conduct groundbreaking research that reveals new patterns of shopping behavior and new opportunities for retailers. Together, we have created a first-of-its-kind study that quantifies new patterns of behavior, and identifies the crucial new rules of retail.

With insights derived from the shopping activity of more than 300 million shoppers on Salesforce Commerce Cloud, a sweeping global consumer survey examining the preferences and motivations of 6,000 shoppers across six countries and dozens of interviews with retail experts in technology and customer experience, this study combines the perspectives of the consumer and the retailer alike.

Our research highlights four trends changing retail: the storefront’s new experience mandate, mobile’s rapid growth, the importance of AI and analytics, and the flattening of the conversion funnel.