Investors Eye Retail Innovations with ROI

Venture capitalists working in retail are prioritizing finding brands whose innovations fit well into their existing “tech stacks” and can also have an  immediate business and/or consumer impact. Those trends were evident at a panel discussion titled “Investing In the Next Big Thing: How VCs View Today’s Retail Landscape” that took place at the recent eTail West conference.

That session “looked at the types of companies VCs are looking at, where they’re investing and areas that are currently overhyped,” TotalRetail reports.

Based on the panel discussion, the retail-related innovations VCs are most interested in include:

• The in-store experience, which is still ripe for both basic and inventive improvements.
• Untapped opportunities for symbiotic relationships between brands and the retailers that sell them.
• Generative AI, which is already changing the way people search for products.
• Live streaming, which remains a potentially huge revenue source.
• Meeting consumers where they truly are on sustainability.
• The metaverse is not a high priority – at least not yet.

Click here to see the full TR report.