As 2023 draws to a close, we sat down with a few experts at Highlands to discuss key learnings from 2023, their insights into the major trends expected for 2024, and what their looking forward to over the winter break.
- Bob O’Gara, CEO + Partner
- Gordon Christiansen, Partner
- Seth Raley, Partner + President
- Jenn McMahan, VP, Strategic Accounts
- Stu Conroy, Director of Innovation + E-commerce
- Liz Bateman, Director, Marketing
- Kristin Stevens, VP, E-commerce
What are your top takeaways from 2023 and what trends do you anticipate in 2024?
Gordon: For me, it’s the USA v Europe ‘divide.’ The European economies took more of a battering than the US in 2023. USA’s self-sufficiency on oil protected US consumers from a lot of the pain. This was reflected in business performance and confidence.
Seth: Private equity will continue to play a large role in the consolidation of the Jan/San industry. Mergers and acquisitions will continue to create very large branded companies that have more leverage with their distribution partners.
Jenn: Change! B2B sales roles are evolving, relying more on reduced human interaction and becoming less confined by geographic boundaries.
Kristin: Freight rates and price increases continue to be pain points for e-tailers and they are continuing to push back for lower pricing.
Jenn: Another takeaway from this year is that the return to office will be a slow process.
Gordon: I call it the post-Covid blues. There is still a great divide about what ‘back to work’ will look like. I suspect this debate will continue for some time.
Stu: Over the last year, social commerce integrations are getting easier and there are more and more success stories. Meeting the customers where they are and how they want to shop is increasingly crucial to success.
Gordon: TikTok Shop is creating the bridge between genuine content and commercial transactions.
Liz: I agree, consumers want to be able to buy anything from anywhere. Now that TikTok Shop has launched in the US, I expect to see social commerce become more mainstream as brands embrace it.
Stu: I’m working with several retailers on live and video commerce solutions. There are many lessons to learn from the Far East and these are starting to take shape in the UK, Europe, and USA.
Bob: One trend that is sure to continue will be the adoption of AI in new and unexpected ways.
Jenn: I’m interested to see the adoption of AI technology and how it will increase productivity.
Liz: For me, it’s AI-powered marketing. AI is already being used in marketing to automate tasks, write copy, create stunning visuals, personalize customer experiences, and target advertising more effectively. In 2024, I expect to see even more innovative and powerful AI-powered marketing tools emerge.
Seth: The continued increase in e-commerce sales versus traditional brick and mortar, and the continued shift from outside sales to inside sales models.
Stu: The use of live selling in retail: B2B and DTC.
Liz: Trace sales data informing marketing campaigns. We’ve only scratched the surface of what data can do for our industry. I’m excited to see how we can continue to harness the power of data analytics to optimize our marketing strategies and drive sales growth.
Jenn: Another would be sustainability and purpose-driven branding, with companies increasingly wanting to partner with brands who share the same values.
What do you look forward to over winter break?
Bob: Family and friends around the fire, and an occasional good whiskey.
Gordon: Post-foot surgery rest is top of my list. A full recovery and hopefully back to full fitness for the spring of 2024!
Kristin: Reading two books (that’s my goal)!
Liz: Our Christmas tradition of spending all day preparing a complicated recipe from ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking.’ There’s usually a fair amount of ‘cooking wine’ involved.
Seth: Spending time with my family!
