Why is the human touch still needed in stores? How are brick-and-mortar outlets championing sustainability? And what role will voice tech play in browsing and buying? In this part of the 2020 Expert Outlook, we speak to three experts about the factors affecting how we shop online and IRL.

Perks like free and next-day delivery have become the norm in online shopping, but returns are lagging behind. Aiming to make the process faster, easier and smoother is Happy Returns, which lets shoppers take unwanted items to Return Bars located in malls and stores to get an instant refund.

While most people consider the ability to return any purchase a consumer right, the rise of ‘serial returning’ is becoming a problem for many retailers. Canvas8 spoke to Dr. Jason Sit, a marketing lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, to understand the drivers behind this phenomenon.

Waiting for a new pair of shoes to arrive could soon be a thing of the past. Shoppers have never been more impatient, and with services like Uber and Amazon Prime having raised the bar, they’re looking for immediacy, which is seeing click-and-collect services flourish as a result.