Shopping in 2021 Was at Times Live and Fast-Moving While Also Slow and Steady

A year ago, experts weighed in on what was to come in retail and ecommerce in 2021—and it turns out they mostly got it right. They couldn’t, of course, have foreseen a container ship would get stuck in the Suez Canal for nearly a week and wreak havoc on global trade. But they did accurately predict many of the trends that defined shopping—at least in the U.S.—in 2021. Here’s a look back at the six biggest themes that emerged in retail over the last year: Livestream and social commerce We said livestreaming would take retail by storm in 2021 and, boy, was that right. From Walmart to Zappos to Saks and nearly every retailer in between, livestreaming was definitely in style. The platforms on which these shows aired abounded were TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and even some homespun networks. What Does the Ideal Retail Media Network Look Like? “Big-box retailers got creative and expanded their offerings in upper funnel [and] awareness tactics, ranging from influencer programs, livestreaming and complementary partnerships like Kroger with Bed, Bath and Beyond,” said Elizabeth Marsten, senior director of strategic marketplace services at performance marketing firm Tinuiti. Retail media networks Another 2021 prediction—retail media—also came true. Family Dollar and Lowe’s were among the retailers to join the party, although Walgreens added its retail media network just 28 days before the year began. Marsten noted most of these media programs have come with a sell-side platform like Criteo, PromoteIQ or CitrusAd. “In 2021, we saw more retailers show up,” she said. “Actually, I would even argue 2021 had more than 2020. … I think the takeaway is retailers are finding ways to package their first-party audiences in a more scalable way.” Same-day—or faster—delivery In December 2020, experts said they thought brands would continue to make it easier for consumers to get goods wherever and however they wanted over the 12-month period to come. That both did and didn’t happen. On one hand, we’ve seen the rise of delivery platforms like Gopuff and Jokr, which promise goods in as little as 15 minutes. Zach Weinberg, vp of ecommerce at performance marketing network Reprise Digital, pointed to this trend of “trying to get [delivery time] into the minutes” as one of the hallmarks of 2021. Indeed, platforms like Instacart, DoorDash and Uber Eats are whittling delivery times down to 30 minutes or less. “That kind of dovetails with what I'm [predicting] for 2022,” he added. “Because I do think that's going to be something big, particularly with companies like Gopuff, who’s really pushing this 15-minute model.” For his part, Jeff Malmad, executive director of Shop+, a Mindshare unit focused on retail and ecommerce media, cited same-day services at retailers like Target becoming the norm as 2021’s key delivery trend. “For consumers, click-and-collect has become more than just a shopping method they employed during the pandemic to combat fears about shopping in-store,” he said. “Now it has become an important driver of convenience for consumers, especially if they’re shopping last-minute to avoid shipping delays.” Supply chain disruptions But, as noted, our panel of experts didn’t foresee supply chain bottlenecks, which are now projected to persist in 2022 and ultimately change how retailers source and distribute the goods they sell. In fact, Weinberg picked supply chain disruption as “the biggest undercurrent within retail and ecommerce in 2021.” “I think 2020 was the year of dramatic change," he added. "Supply chain disruptions [in 2021 were] the result of a lot of that dramatic change.” BNPL Not on our list last year, but certainly a significant retail/ecommerce trend in 2021, was buy now pay later (BNPL). We saw a number of deals in this space in 2021, including Square’s purchase of Afterpay, Amazon’s partnership with Affirm, PayPal’s purchase of Paidy and Stripe’s partnership with Klarna. This activity even spurred speculation U.S. regulators may attempt a crackdown to help prevent consumers from getting in over their heads. “For retailers, there are several benefits here—for example, last year Afterpay reported that BNPL could help solve for some shopping cart abandonment and increase basket size,” Malmad said. Online marketplaces There’s not much change in terms of where consumers are shopping, however. According to web analytics platform Similarweb, Amazon remained the most visited ecommerce site in the U.S., followed by eBay, Walmart, Craigslist and Etsy. Seema Shah, senior director of research and analytics for the platform, noted these sites use marketplace models to sell a range of goods. “A focus on value is playing a part in the popularity of these sites,” she added. In addition, Etsy got a traffic boost in 2020, thanks to higher mask sales and this growth has continued as “consumers look for unique, non-commoditized items and look to support local merchants,” Shah said. Consumer Spend Fails to Impress on Black Friday 2021