Retail has becoming increasingly digital and internet-driven especially as the pandemic has made it extremely difficult for offline retailers to survive. Here are some trends we predict for 2021. 

Credit: Unsplash

• Autonomous delivery and fulfillment. A number of autonomous vehicle companies are already making headway in fulfillment including Aurora Innovation, TuSimple, and more. See our list of autonomous vehicle companies that were headlining in 2020 that we can be sure to see even more progress in 2021. 
• Shoppable TV. Shoppable live streams are already a rage in China but we are sure to see this expand in 2021. Walmart is already in talks to pilot with TikTok and NBC announced shoppable TV ads. 
• Ethical and values-based brands will increase. B Corporation certified companies are often top-performing companies and we are sure to see more brands aiming to clear the certification. 71% of consumers already want to buy from brands that align with their values and we predict that this year, companies that align with the consumers’ social, environmental, and political ideals will be increasingly spotlighted (or thrown down if misaligned). 
• Subscription payment options will thrive. We’ve seen companies like Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay grow substantially in 2020 as online shopping grew. These pay-over-time models should see even more shops online, in-app, and in-store growth as shoppers embrace this new payment model. 
• Social commerce. Just like shoppable TV, we can expect influencer marketing to grow even more as social platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram all enter their second year since launching/testing shoppable social platforms.