A recent report valued the rental subscription market at around 1 billion dollars in 2018 and forecast it grows more than 20 percent a year, reaching 2.5 billion dollars by 2023. This trend isn’t lost on traditional retailers: over the last year everyone in the industry seems to be launching their own clothing rental service.

Recent research from GlobalData confirms the explosive growth of clothing rental and / or subscription services: it’s expected to reach 2.5 billion dollars value by 2023, prompting brands such as Banana Republic, Macy’s, Urban Outfitters, Trunk Club or J.C. Penney to announce their own apparel rental services.

I read a recent article in Forbes that talked about upheaval in the shopping mall industry. There's a link to it at the end of my commentary and I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts on it as well. Here are mine:

“HURRY AND DIE MALLS."

Your days are over. People want a social experience, not products. Mark-downs and sales clerks. As we all know, the hype, “Retail is Dead” is just that, hype. Consider the following. 87% of consumer retail is transacted in brick & mortar, physical stores. Yes, you heard me…87%. In fact, a recent NRF report stated retail sales, in stores, are up 4.9%. NOT e/comm, by true shopping and social interaction.

The net is, if you fear Amazon will put you out of business, shame on you! You “owned” your customers for decades, but did you do anything to earn their loyalty except showcase your products? 30% of my personal shopping is on-line. Mostly under $50 commodities. 70% is spent with retailers who invest in their employees training & wages, innovative products, and exceptional customer service, both pre and post sale. Malls are (I hate this word), “transforming” into social town centers with entertainment (movies, concerts, festivals), attractions (claiming walls, work-out centers, VR and the like), hard goods (driver training hosted by auto manufacturers, cooking classes hosted by appliance manufacturers and the like) and most of all, a place to stop texting and start socializing”. Mall dead? Yes, while town centers are thriving!”

To date, retailers have been cautious with live product broadcasts, but a wealth of opportunity exists to connect with customers, build their brands, and significantly increase sales with authentic video content. From combining influencers with real life people trying products to gamification and interactive broadcasting, brands should be looking to authentic video content as they move into the future of retail. In this episode of Reinventing Retail, we chat with Dave Dabbah of Agora.io, an API platform that’s bringing peer-to-peer video to retailers and fashion brands.

This podcast will look at the future of how order management will evolve from simply executing orders to truly optimizing how to best serve your customer. Listen as Guy Courtin and Tim Nelson discuss what to anticipate with the evolution of order management: next generation optimization rather than simply execution of orders. The cost to serve a customer will become more important than simply the cost to fulfill.

Stop and think about a day you could go without your smartphone. You are checking your calendar to see when or if that is even possible. And yet you may not realize that checking email, texting your doctor or tracking your children’s usage is only part of the life your smart device breathes into you. Last year, Americans made almost 30% of purchases through a mobile device. Next-day and same-day delivery created a market for mobile shoppers and retailers are responding.

The one where the market creator remains the market leader

Amazon, the retail Goliath, created the market for instant gratification with its online presence and product availability.

Establish a foundation for digital transformation:

With the world changing faster than ever before, companies need to keep up by becoming more agile and adopting new technology to stay competitive and stand out from the competition. Moving to the cloud is one way that can help you stay ahead.

Infor M3 Cloud delivers software as a service, offering complete flexibility in operations, technology, and scale. As a multi-site, multi-country, and multi-company ERP solution, M3 Cloud empowers your organization to easily adapt to changing business needs.

Independent Computer Consulting Group (ICCG) a Global Information Technology Solutions Provider for the Enterprise today announced the appointment of John Greenaway as Chief Revenue Officer – EMEA, effective immediately. Greenaway previously served as a Channel Director at Infor for the last 10 years, where he was responsible for growing revenue across EMEA. As Chief Revenue Officer - EMEA, Greenaway will champion ICCG’s efforts to expand its software consulting and implementation footprint into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Independent Computer Consulting Group (ICCG) a Global Information Technology Solutions Provider for the Enterprise today announced the appointment of Annette Cunningham as Chief Operating Officer – EMEA, effective immediately. Cunningham previously served for 4-1/2 years as a Regional Vice President of Sales at Infor managing a team of industry-leading sales people and channel partners. As COO, Cunningham will lead ICCG’s efforts to expand its software consulting and implementation footprint into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Independent Computer Consulting Group (ICCG) a Global Information Technology Solutions Provider for the Enterprise announced today that it has brought on board Mitchell Chi as General Manager for Americas for the Fashion & Retail and Manufacturing verticals. Mr. Chi, former Senior Director - Retail and Fashion at Infor, joins ICCG bringing with him a rich and successful career in fashion, retail, and manufacturing and distribution. He’s a multi-talented, industry veteran with experience at Price Waterhouse, Goldman Sachs, Garan International, Oracle, and a wide variety of retail, finance and manufacturing enterprises and startups.

The complexities of running a business with enterprise resource planning software aren’t lost on today’s executives. But ERP is at the center of everything a company does. It tackles the core tasks of managing and integrating core business processes in real-time. The enterprise software typically addresses project management, scheduling, procurement, production, sales, order management, distribution, billing, shipping, logistics, and supply chain management.

eWeek released a list of their “Top 10 Enterprise Resource Planning Software Providers." If you haven’t seen the article yet you can read it here.