This is To Affinity & Beyond; HyperFinity's podcast on decision intelligence for retailers.

This time our host is joined by HyperFinity's Chief Customer Officer, Thomas Hill, for the second of a two-part special. We're focusing on three key retail trends in 2023 and how data and AI can be used to address them.

This time we'll cover:

1. The rise of the circular economy

2. What's next for department stores?

3. Is it dark days for Black Friday?

Additional resources

• Resource one: Wikipedia's definition of a circular economy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_economy#:~:text=A%20circular%20economy%20(also%20referred,products%20as%20long%20as%20possible.
• Resource two: Fast fashion is getting faster, with exponential increases in clothing being manufactured and purchased: https://www.fastcompany.co.za/inspiration/fashion-is-wasteful-heres-why-retail-needs-rethink-7f3a2bdc-9f00-489d-989c-61eeccca715c
• Resource three: Retailers like Modern Milkman are leading the way to a circular economy. Their business focuses on eliminating single use plastics, by using modern tech to create a waste-free, circular supply chain: https://themodernmilkman.co.uk/our-mission
• Resource four: Consumers can now rent clothes to wear, with retailers like John Lewis jumping on the trend: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/designer-clothes-rental/
• Resource five: Hirestreet is an example of a fashion rental platform: https://www.hirestreetuk.com/
• Resource six: the outlook for department stores is gloomy. Debenhams finally closed its remaining 160 stores in spring 2021 - although the online brand has survived under new owner Boohoo (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-16/save-britain-s-heritage-report-highlights-threat-to-uk-department-stores). Meanwhile, John Lewis closed 16 stores during the pandemic (https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2022/03/john-lewis-boss-no-more-store-closures-despite-soaring-online-sales/#:~:text=John%20Lewis%20also%20traded%20from,would%20close%20no%20more%20stores) and retired its 'never knowingly undersold' price pledge in 2022 (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/11/john-lewis-to-retire-97-year-old-pledge-never-knowingly-undersold). Fenwick is closing its 130-year-old New Bond Street department store in 2024 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-63880285).
• Resource seven: Black Friday footfall in the UK was 22% lower than pre-pandemic levels (https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2022/nov/25/black-friday-retailers-bleak-friday-cost-of-living-strike-amazon-economy-hospitality-business-live).