Nine by Nine: an annual trends report by Future Commerce

2021 was a return to our defaults

This year’s Nine by Nine will explore the nature of a customer who has returned to brick and mortar. What does she find? For one, more direct-to-consumer brands are on the shelf than ever before. She also finds an explosion of private labels occupying an ever-growing amount of space. When she does shop online, she finds that DTC brands are engaging in more channels than ever before. Not only are brands omnichannel, now so are their customers.

Nine by Nine focuses on the brands, the retailers, the services, and collective organizations, which are changing our world for the better. We believe that, because everyone has to engage in Commerce, that it is a force to bring about change in the world. Those rated on this year’s Nine by Nine are doing that in nine distinct ways:

• Evolving from digital retailer to omnichannel business
• Providing greater access to customers of all sizes and income levels
• Putting the customer at the center of the experience
• Appealing to niches by providing curated marketplaces
• Evolving low-cost private label products into sought-after brands
• Innovating in new and exciting ways in “The Metaverse”
• Speaking directly to the C.A.R.L.Y. psychographic
• Engaging in performance art and absurdism to attract a new audience
• Promoting the well-being of their customers

So we find ourselves in the midst of an inflection point: a plenitude of brands, constrained with supply chain issues, increasingly omnichannel, with very little to sell; yet eager to continue to tell their stories and engage their communities, but unable to do so purely through Commerce.

If a brand has nothing to sell, do they have anything to say?

Download the report today.