What's in store for retail?

The latest predictions expect online to account for a fifth of UK retail sales by 2024 - is this the beginning of the end for in-person shopping?

Low spirits for the high street. UK retail sales dropped again in Dec 2019 - the fifth month in a row where numbers declined. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a number of legacy brands disappearing from the high street - and as both Mothercare and Beales went administration this month, it’s not a promising start to the year for brick and mortar stores.

Hey pal, I’m China pay. PayPal has become the first foreign payments platform licensed to process online payments in China - after a landmark partnership with Chinese mobile wallet service UnionPay. This will allow millions of customers to use the payment service with PayPal’s 24 million global merchant partners. Streetbees data shows us that in the UK, over a third of people use their smartphones to make payments (e.g. Apple Pay) - will we see this become the leading payment method in the coming years?

Fitting in or standing out? ASOS has debuted its augmented reality tool - ‘See My Fit’ creates a simulated view of a product in different sizes and body types. The technology is being trialled with 800 dresses on the site, using a range of 16 different models - plus, machine learning is used to provide customers with personalised sizing recommendations for its products. With the e-retailer reporting an impressive £1bn sales in the last four months of 2019, will this new tech help keep it ahead of competitors?