Predicting where the next phase of consumer buying behavior is headed has proven notoriously tricky. Ecommerce had been growing at a consistent rate, but its year-over-year growth shot up two to five times faster during the pandemic. And just when we thought ecommerce was the future, brick-and-mortar stores made a comeback in the last year.
The ever-shifting landscape of retail makes any type of prediction questionable, but there are a few hidden trends that are shaping the future of how we buy. The first is the shift away from sprawling warehouses and distribution centers and toward smaller, strategically located microfulfillment centers (MFCs).
