What: Online sales are decelerating and foot traffic is up, resulting in retailers investing in technology and improving their supply chain.

Why it is important: As consumers increasingly seek out in-store experiences, retailers should dig into technology and data to better meet customer demands.

Retail is at an inflection point as online sales decrease and foot traffic increases in physical retail stores.

Retailers are increasingly more trusting of the data and technology available to them as they see this change in consumer behavior.

Analyzing this data has allowed brands to rationalize their footprint and analyze their brand performance. With this, brands have learned that closing an underperforming store results in e-commerce suffering in that geography. Additionally, retailers have increasingly looked at strip centers and freestanding stores as mall performance declines.

Technology has also assisted in the uptick of in-store shopping. Localized inventory is encouraging foot traffic as customers can see if an item is in store before going. Consumers now know to buy products quickly due to supply chain issues and retailers are getting smarter about having less inventory.

Frontline retail workers also play a vital role as consumers return to physical retail. We are in a human connection time and employees become a reflection a brand. Retailers should focus on the  technology available to employees and creating a positive work environment to ensure the success of their brand.

Retailers dig into data to rethink locations, footprint