By Rieva Lesonsky
Last month The Washington Post offered its picks (culled from experts) for what will be hot in retail in 2016. If you own a small retail store or restaurant, take note.
- Mobile payments. The Post says that thanks to the adoption of chip credit cards—which make transactions slower (albeit by milliseconds, but we Americans are not a patient people), more consumers will migrate to using mobile wallets to pick up time lost.
Spice it up. The hot Thai spice Sriracha is still going strong—and mainstream: It’s now featured on menus from Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Restaurant research company Technomic says this will likely inspire chefs to add other “assertive, unfamiliar spices” to their menus. Technomic predicts we’ll be seeing more Ghost pepper (India), sambal (Southeast Asia), gochujang (Korea) and harissa, sumac and dukka (North Africa).- Millennials like small businesses. Research has shown Millennials like “unique and distinctive” products—ones that generally aren’t found in department stores or national chains. The Post says a study of consumer spending patterns shows retailers with less than $50 million in annual revenue have grown faster than the overall retail industry for the past 44 months. That’s expected to continue—good news for small, niche retailers.
