This Is Retail » H&M

Top 10 Retail Concept Stores From Around The Globe.

Helen James — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 03:49:12 +0000

I read an interesting post today from Retail Futurist Matthew Brown featuring his top 10 global stores of 2021. These included some great examples of innovation, accelerated trends and wonderful store theatre.

—–

TRENDS STILL MATTER! 2020 is the year that the Retail Apocalypse finally happened. As we head into 2021, retail is still confronting a global crisis and many businesses are unlikely to survive. And yet the next few years will also see an exciting evolution of retail. The pandemic hasn’t put an end to innovation, instead it is accelerating existing trends, speeding up the inexorable rise of online, but also cementing the importance of local, ethical and responsive retail.

Here is a round up of my ten favourite new concepts from around the world from 2020. Featuring amazing innovation in every sector, it points to a vibrant and creative future for retail.

In the next few years we can expect to see many more exciting pop ups and sculpted new lifestyle community destinations, buzzing with the events and hospitality we have all missed so much. Direct to consumer brands will increasingly use retail as a tactile way of introducing customers to their brands. At the same time, innovative physical retailers will experiment with new mission-driven ways to combine the analogue and digital to create seamless brand experiences; with gamified loyalty, more attentive service and personalised products. Powered by technology, but delivered by humans, this will give them an edge over online-only retail. At the same time, store design and creative visual merchandising will continue to be vital tools that successful retailers, big and small, will use to surprise and delight.

10. Food Central, City Centre Deira, Dubai

The covid crisis may have precipitated the final collapse of Debenhams, however its failure is really an acceleration of the long-term, existential crisis at the heart of the entire global department store sector. Nevertheless, its collapse leaves gaping holes in high streets and malls across the UK and beyond. The big question, of course, is what to do with all the space?

Majid Al Futtaim; the mall operators behind the innovative Mall of the Emirates, have turned the empty Debenhams unit at City Centre Deira into a unique foodcourt featuring sustainability, street food and retail theatre. This space is the anchor for a major redevelopment of the mall.

Food Central is its first ‘culinary experience destination’ in the UAE and its all about authentic, fresh dining from small, local operators. With gorgeous biophilic design, our favourite feature is the live beehive where bees make honey that is used by the food stands.

9. H Beauty by Harrods, Intu Lakeside, UK

Whilst times are undoubtedly tough in the department store sector, luxury name Harrods has actually used the crisis as a time to expand the brand and develop new store formats.

Taking the old Debenhams unit at Westfield London, they opened a new discount fashion format, called Harrods Outlet in July 2020, followed by this glamorous new standalone Beauty concept called H Beauty, at Intu Lakeside in September 2020.

A bold move, in a bold location, Harrods plans to roll out a second store in Milton Keynes in Spring 2021.

At 23,000 sq ft, this new beauty hall concept is no standard white box. Designed by luxury specialists Virgile & Partners, it offers 90 brands across makeup skincare and fragrance, with instore masterclasses and treatment zones. The offer is also available online. Our favourite feature is the champagne bar that sits at the heart of the space.

8. House of Rituals, Amsterdam

Rituals proves the power of flagship experiences with its gorgeous new ‘House of Rituals’, which opened in its home town of Amsterdam to celebrate the brand’s 20th anniversary. At 1,900m² it is Rituals’ largest store worldwide.

In keeping with the brand’s ‘Art of Soulful living’ philosophy, House of Rituals is designed as an escape from the hectic city life, and a holistic haven for the mind, body and soul.

It features a number of firsts for the brand, including exclusive new co-created products, a new homewares collection, as well various opportunities to personalise items. This is in addition to an Arabian-Asian inspired restaurant called Routhi.

Due to COVID-19, the four storey store will have a phased opening, the ground and first floor featuring Ritual’s retail and restaurant offer have opened first. The Body Spa and Mind Spa will open in the summer of 2021, offering pampering, mediation and community events.

7. Zongshuge Books, China

Zhongshuge is now the most exciting book retailer on the planet. Its latest stores in Beijing, Dujiangyan, Guangzhou & Ningbo confirm that the bookstore is not only alive, but a place of wonder, surprise and delight, where design and creativity are vital tools.

Zongshuge taps into Chinese literary culture by creating unique designs for each store, based on local history and architecture. Their strategy actively avoids cookie cutter roll outs.

X+Living’s amazing design transports visitors to somewhere magical. Zongshuge stores offer community spaces and cafés and feature lots of reading nooks. There is a strong focus on special spaces for children.

While there are similarities in the design approach of the Zhongshuge stores, each has distinct theme, that makes it unique to the location, with each one setting visitors on a voyage of discovery. This is true destination retail.

6. H&M Looop, Stockholm

Sustainability continues to expand into the mainstream, as innovative brands find new ways to communicate solutions.

Looop by H&M is the world’s first in-store recycling system, turning old garments into new ones. In just eight steps, Looop shreds your old garment and knits a new one from the old fibres. No water, no dye.

This theatrical piece of sustainable manufacturing has been installed into the basement of H&M’s Drottninggatan store in Stockholm.

The technology behind Looop has been developed by The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) in collaboration with the non-profit H&M Foundation.

For 100 Swedish kronor (€10), members of H&M’s loyalty club can use the garment recycling service to transform a pre-loved item into something new. For non-members, the fee is 150 Swedish kronor (€15). A nice member benefit.

5. Asda Sustainability Store, Leeds, UK

UK value grocer ASDA’s sustainable concept in Middleton is designed to help shoppers reduce, reuse and recycle. Asda estimates its initiatives will save one million pieces of plastic per year.

‘Greener at Asda Price’ is a new national price promise that loose and unwrapped will not cost more than wrapped equivalents.

Their fashion offer includes sustainable lines from George, as well as a selection of pre-loved clothing and a charity pop-up in collaboration with The Salvation Arm.

Asda has partnered with Unilever, Kelloggs and other suppliers to test out new ‘unwrapped’ concepts. The store features a large scale ‘Refill Zone’ that offers more than 30 household staples including dry goods, detergents and beauty products. Asda will use this site to test and learn which elements they will roll out to other stores in 2021.

4. Box by Posti, Helsinki

As online retail becomes a vital part of our everyday lives, so developing new solutions to solve the pain points of delivery, storage and returns are going become more important to us all.

Finland’s state owned postal service Posti, has opened a new type of high street click and collect concept called Box, in the heart of Helsinki. Designed by Fyra and with strategy from Motley, Box by Posti is where e-commerce meets the physical space.

It’s the missing link between customers’ home and online stores. In addition to parcel collection, there are dedicated spaces for customers to unpack goods, fitting rooms to try on clothing, facilities to repackage returns and even recycle packaging.

The ‘Spotlight’ area showcases up and coming DTC brands and gives them a space to sell their products in a physical store. Who said Post offices have to be boring?

3. Kit Kat Chocolatory, Sydney

FMCGs such as Nestle are continuing to invest in innovative retail concepts, to bring their brands direct to the consumer with exciting, sensory and personalised experiences.

Kit Kat has opened its first permanent Chocolatory in Sydney; an innovation incubator for future stores and product testing for new flavour releases.

The ‘Create your Break’ concept is a play on Kit Kat’s famous ‘Have a Break’ tagline. Customers can design their very own eight finger Kit Kat, made fresh while you wait, with up to 30,000 possible flavour combinations, or they can dine in-store using the sushi style dessert-train.

The concept centres around the theatre and craftsmanship of Kit Kat. By including hospitality dining it makes the experience longer and richer. Designed by Sydney based McCartney Design, the Chocolatory has been so popular that Kit Kat has even had to introduce a timed ticketing system for entry.

2. Nike House of Innovation, Paris

Nike is reaping the rewards of the ‘New Retail’ strategy it pioneered five years ago. Alongside streamlining its wholesale accounts, Nike is also investing in local, community stores alongside innovative flagship experiences. Everything is powered by the digital ecosystem that Nike has carefully sculpted.

Summer of 2020 saw the opening of its third House of Innovation, on the historic Champ Élysées in Paris. This 2,200m² flagship combines hero merchandising with immersive, digitally powered services.

The Nike app is central to enriching the experience, allowing touch free browsing and purchasing, AI fitting, personalisation and expert services that are unlocked when you become a member.

Powered entirely by clean energy and using sustainable materials in its design, the brand highlights its ‘Move to Zero’ initiative throughout the store, sending a positive message the growing number of ‘conscious consumers’.

1. Burberry Social Store, Shenzen, China

Burberry are trailblazers in digital retail, continuing to innovate even in the middle of a global crisis. Burberry has teamed up with technology giant Tencent to launch a new concept in Shenzhen, the tech capital of China.

Dubbed Burberry Social, customers use a WeChat mini program as a gamified shopping experience to book in-store tours, appointments, reserve fitting rooms and book a table at the store’s café. All products are labelled with QR codes, allowing customers to access in-depth product information via their own devices.

Customers are given a digital ‘egg’ when they start, which hatches into a unique animal avatar. This evolves and changes as you explore the store and allows you to unlock experiences, such as the Trench room, which you get a special tour when you reach ‘Panda level.’

This gamified approach to the instore experience is a clever way to reinvent loyalty in the digital age.

Via Linkedin

The post Top 10 Retail Concept Stores From Around The Globe. appeared first on This Is Retail.

The Rise Of Shoppable Brand Festivals

Helen James — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 00:37:58 +0000

These days the term ‘experiential’ seems to be tacked onto just about any retail idea – whether they deserve it or not. The shoppable brand festival does though.

These large-scale experiences come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but they all have the brand front and centre. They are a celebratory interpretation of the brand and what they stand for.

They provide a real-world opportunity to immerse yourself in the brand – beyond what a typical store can do. And of course, there is the opportunity to shop while in attendance.

Tommyland

Tommy Hilfiger was an early explorer of the shoppable festival with Tommyland. This 2017 event was a funfair, music festival and shoppable catwalk show that sold a perception of the brand over products.

While visitors were enjoying the fair, Tommy Hilfiger was always in the background. The signage, colour scheme and clothes worn by models and guests all evoked the brand.

A custom image recognition app made the most of our natural impulse to take photos. Guests could use the app to instantly shop the looks on the models at the catwalk show or in ads around the site. The shoppable element was so natural, and the setting so enjoyable, that Tommy Hilfiger reported that a third of the app users were first time customers.

Hypefest

Last October, Hypebeast ran a shoppable festival in Brooklyn called Hypefest. Customers paid $50 to enjoy a weekend of culture and entertainment with music, installations and special guests. The aim was to create an event that cemented Hypebeast’s position as a cultural authority.

The event also featured a large retail component. What was interesting is the physical stands from over 50 top brands from around the world including Puma, Rokit, Diesel, MCM and Rimowa were only a small part of that. The main focus was the ecommerce element.

Most of the available products were sold exclusively through the Hypefest app to then be sent to the customer at home after the event. The app store was geofenced so it could only be accessed by those on-site. You had to be at the festival to shop it.

This meant that not only did the brands not have to worry about running out of physical product, the visitors didn’t have to carry around bags of shopping. They were free to fully immerse themselves in the other activities.

Amazon’s Destination Denim

Amazon is also launching its first shoppable festival. Running for four days this October in Berlin, Destination Denim is all about promoting the wide range of denim available through Amazon.

Many of those products are available to buy there and then from big name brands like Levi’s, Wrangler, G-Star and Replay. There are also event exclusives from Tommy Jeans and Amazon’s own denim brand Find.

Given that the event is by Amazon, there’s a strong tech tie-in. This includes a digital catwalk which has 3D displays of the clothes being modelled. There’s also Alexa-enabled styling experience and a curated shoppable capsule collection.

Amazon is also creating an online event page with supporting content such as playlists, tutorials and denim edits that are curated by fashion influencers.

As well as shopping opportunities, the festival will offer educational events, workshops, product demonstrations and panels on all things denim. There are also live performances from various artists.

Aside from the invite-only launch party, the whole event is open to the public and is free to take part in. It’s about positioning Amazon as an expert in denim and encouraging customers to consider using it when they next look to buy some jeans.

Sephoria

This two-day Los Angeles event from Sephora recently returned for its second year. Designed as a House of Beauty, guests could explore 16 rooms with different experiences – from Instagrammable photo ops to beauty services to product education.

Sephoria is a place where people who love beauty can indulge that love. Masterclasses were in operation from top make-up artists, special guests were in attendance and of course a huge array of top beauty and skincare brands had a presence.

Visitors could buy products during their experience, including various limited-edition items and Sephoria merch. Some brands used the event to launch new products or to give beauty fans a sneak peek at upcoming releases. Visitors paid $80-$350 to attend depending on what tier of ticket they bought.

Meccaland

Hers in Australia, Mecca Cosmetics holds an annual three-day beauty festival in Sydney called Meccaland. More than 15,000 people visited the 2019 edition, which was three times the size of the 2018 festival.

Forty-four brands stocked by Mecca Cosmetics were in attendance. Visitors could also enjoy a Ferris wheel, neon lights, prop bubble baths and more. They also had the opportunity to meet makeup artists and get insights from them on panels.

On a retail side, visitors could try, buy and even customise different Mecca-carried products throughout the event. There were new products launching at the festival, which meant attendees got their hands on them first. Exclusive and limited-edition products were also on offer.

The aim is to create an inclusive, entertaining space for beauty junkies to come together and celebrate what they love. Meccaland lets fans feel like they’re connected to the industry rather than just consuming products.

Lush Showcase

Lush is another hair and beauty company who has explored the shoppable brand festival. Its interactive Lush Showcase events were designed to let fans get hands-on with its products, explore new items and share in its values.

If you’ve ever visited a Lush store you can get a rough idea of what the event might have been like in terms of colour, smell and sound. Interactive installations, performers and live music elevated the showcases to another level.

Visitors were able to make their own versions of certain products, explore the full range, and of course shop them all. The brand also used the event to preview seasonal products ahead of time, as well as reveal new products.

Education has always been a major tentpole of Lush’s business and this was carried through to the showcase. There were speakers covering topics close to its heart like sustainability. Visitors could also learn more about the ingredients used by Lush and where they come from. Tickets were priced at £15-£35 depending on when booked and what tier.

Taobao Maker Festival

This year saw the fourth edition of Alibaba’s Taobao Maker Festival. The multi-day event is designed to celebrate young creative entrepreneurs in China and is one of the most watched events in the Alibaba calendar.

The most recent iteration is the biggest yet spanning two weeks (up on four days last year) and two venues. It was designed to be a real-life discovery opportunity for the wide array of products available from sellers on the Taobao online platform.

More than 1000 different products were on offer during the event, with many being launched for the first time exclusively at the festival. This adds to the must-visit nature of Taobao Maker Festival as it becomes a place to find new trends.

Taobao Maker Festival made use of Alibaba’s extensive tech expertise to make the festival shoppable for both those at the festival, and those at home. Featured items were empowered with ‘See Now, Buy Now’ technology making it easy for shoppers to buy them in a few taps.

This is a really important development as a large proportion of people watch the event from home. Using tech to unlock additional shopping opportunities means Taobao can capture as many sales as possible.

H&M’s immersive theatre

Earlier this year, H&M decided to forego Paris Fashion Week and instead opted to launch its SS19 Studio collection via an immersive theatrical experience in the Arizona desert.

While it wasn’t a brand festival in quite the same way – the guests were influencers and press only – it did show how brands are rethinking engagement. For a start, those who were invited were immersed in a theatrical performance where they had a role to play (somewhat like the Secret Cinema idea).

Actors took the visitors through the experience, where they got to wear the clothes rather than just watch them on a runway. There was even a fake radio station created especially for the event to add to the immersion.

The guests modelled the clothes and posted pictures from the experience online with the #HMStudio hashtag, which let customers follow along on the journey.

It raises a question about whether this could be the future of the shoppable brand festival. Imagine turning up to a secret location, being given clothes or a product to try, and then exploring a multi-sensory environment as part of the story – not someone watching it.

If that’s not a way to make you feel connected to the brand and the product, then we’re not sure what is? And of course, you’re more likely to want to buy the thing you’ve been on this journey with at the end.

Is it a growing trend?

On the one hand you could argue that this isn’t a sustainable trend. Afterall, a lot of the brands mentioned above haven’t re-run their festival on an annual basis. But maybe that’s the point?

There’s a question around how much the success of these events is based around their scarcity. Not everyone can be there. Not everyone gets to experience them. It’s the same logic that’s behind the rise in product drops.

Cost is another factor. It’s not cheap to put on a massive, interactive event over a number of days – even if you charge people to attend. While these events certainly have a marketing role, they’re not necessarily sustainable to do on a wider scale.

It is unlikely that they could become the way we shop in general. Nor is it always necessary – do you want an immersive theatre experience when you go to the supermarket or do you just want to buy and get out?

As marketing events though, there is certainly scope for the shoppable brand festival to continue and expand. Brands are increasingly needing to find ways to distinguish themselves from their competition. Many are doing this by trying to connect themselves to culture, communities and lifestyles.

A festival is a great way to do this, especially if the brand element of it is secondary to the other bits. If it’s just an exercise in brand pushing it will fail because customers don’t want to be sold to. They want you to give them a reason to buy.

There may be another way that we see some of the element of the shoppable brand festival come into play.

Showfields which calls itself ‘the most interesting store in the world’ is one of a number of companies giving physical space to direct to consumer brands in a twist on the department store idea.

Its latest idea is the immersive theatrical experience House of Showfields which invites customers to explore brands through exciting installations manned by actors. Customers can buy the products that they experience in a retail area at the end. The journey there is what entices them to buy as a multi-sensory exploration which changes the usual retail expectations.

It works almost in the same way as the H&M experience only on a smaller and store-contained scale. Elements of this could be a way for more brands to create their own mini festivals in their stores.

With it widely reported that certain demographics now spending more on experiences than products, and the rise of social media and the currency of sharing those experiences, the shoppable brand festival feels like a natural meeting point of the two.

They’re also a way to celebrate a brand’s biggest fans and/or target market. Create a good enough festival that appeals to a certain culture or community and you could win over a legion of new customers. Equally, the shoppable festival can serve to reinforce the connection you have with your most loyal and engaged customers – and that’s certainly a viable approach.

Via Insider Trends

The post The Rise Of Shoppable Brand Festivals appeared first on This Is Retail.

The World’s Best in Retail Right Now

Helen James — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 23:52:52 +0000

The concept store has changed. Once it was about selling a certain lifestyle. The new retail concept store is a space where a brand is exploring a new direction, idea, initiative or concept – if you will.

These concept stores are a departure from the norm for the brands. They stand apart from the rest of the store portfolio. Or they’re an ecommerce brand’s wave-making new approach. They may be testbeds, they may be wildly different to the other spaces, they may be storytelling and engagement spaces. They may be permanent spaces or pop-ups or something in between. Some approaches have even been so well received they’ve been rolled out elsewhere.

We’ve scoured the world to bring together 47 of the very best new retail concept stores out there. These are the new, inspirational approaches to retailing that we think are redefining what the concept store can be.

1. AT&T (Seattle)

Tapping into Seattle’s coffee culture and booming tech scene, this space is a bold step for the global telecomms company. The concept is a space described as a ‘second living room’, where customers or non-customers can hang out, work, host events, browse various technology or enjoy coffee and food.

It also features a custom app that links to the space, where users can order and pay for food, and link to the in-store screens and tech. Customers can even shop and collect purchases in the space by receiving a custom QR code that links to a bank of lockers built into the wall. It’s an innovative space in an industry badly in need of new ideas for physical spaces.

2. Audi (Hong Kong)

Luxury automotive retailer Audi has opened an ‘innovation space’ in the Festival Walk shopping mall. Following the success of its pop-up store last year, this ‘experience store’ takes customers on a journey through the use of VR, allowing them to explore the full range of models.

Customers can also preview future car concepts which only helps to build brand loyalty. Over 40 models are available for customisation here and customers can view every detail through a VR device and even take their newly designed car for a virtual spin.

3. Alexander McQueen (London)

Alexander McQueen’s store on Bond Street is a flagship with a difference. As well as displaying the latest collections from the retailer it also features archive designs as another way to drive footfall.

Photographs and artworks are displayed throughout the store and the space hosts talks and exhibitions to inspire students and hopefully foster new fashion talent. There are plans to refresh the interiors each season with fabrics from the Alexander McQueen studio. The focus on storytelling is apparent here, with the top floor entirely dedicated to showing the history of the brand, and the stories behind specific designs.

4. Balenciaga (New York)

Luxury fashion retailer Balenciaga has recently opened a flagship on Madison Avenue. The store focuses on the concept of the space as a public domain. The theme here is Urbanism – where the environment is inspired by the city of New York. The benches and seats mimic the ones found in NYC parks and subway stations.

There is some good tech here too – with wraparound screens playing atmospheric videos. The space also features hyper-real mannequins based on 3D scans of real Balenciaga models.

The popular trend of displaying unique artworks in store is present here too. The silver sculpture by artist Tobias Spichtig takes centre stage. For a limited time, there will be an on-site graffiti artist customising customers’ Balenciaga bags – both new and old. There will also be a limited edition NYC shopping tote available here so there are plenty of reasons for Balenciaga fans to pop by.

5. Ba&sh (New York)

French fashion retailer Ba&sh has launched a brand new concept store in the Nolita neighbourhood of New York. The store is centred on customer experience and features a ‘dream closet’ where customers can choose some of the label’s signature items and ‘borrow’ them for 72 hours.

As a marketing exercise, there are plans to hold monthly events for influencers and their friends as a way of getting promoted on social media. It will also hold French lessons and pastry-making classes to draw more people to the boutique. This store has also honed in on its omnichannel experience with an app to make digital and physical shopping seamless.

6. Belstaff (London)

Luxury clothing brand Belstaff’s new flagship on Regent Street is an expression of its new community-first retail approach. The focus is on the ground floor, where customers can bring in old jackets to be repaired. This same space hosts classes on how to take care of leather and waxed clothing.

To supplement this, customers can enjoy an in-store coffee or a gin and tonic from its own bar. For a heritage retailer, this is a smart approach and it communicates its brand ethos powerfully.

7. Boots (London)

Health and beauty retailer Boots has launched a concept store in Covent Garden. The new space is the biggest makeover in the company’s 170 year history. The white marble tiled beauty hall is home to more than 300 brands and has its own YouTube studio and Instagram area where shoppers can film or take pictures with their new purchases.

It is also tapping into the sustainability trend and has installed its first ever water tap where customers can fill up water bottles free of charge. Other initiatives include a shampoo refill station and ditching plastic carrier bags for brown paper bags. The retailer is hoping to learn what people love about the store so it can be a blueprint for future stores.

8. Celine (New York)

Luxury fashion retailer Celine has opened a flagship concept store in New York. Located on Madison Avenue, it is another excellent example of the trend for discovery retail.

The artwork is adapted to the location, and the store’s aesthetic is very striking with a beautiful spiral staircase, framed with slats of glass and wood. The rest of the store is minimal which contrasts well with the art installations. As is the current trend in luxury fashion at the moment, the brand has also revamped its stores in Milan, Tokyo and LA to better represent the label.

9. Chanel (Paris)

Chanel’s new flagship in Paris is essentially a test space for its newest digital initiatives. The luxury brand has partnered with Farfetch to trial clientelling tools that use data to create personalised shopping experiences.

For customers, these are accessed via the Chanel app – and the store is highly focused on its top tier customers. In fact the two top floors of the store are dedicated to VIP customers only, with personal styling rooms and a restaurant exclusively for private meals.

10. Cos (London)

Set in the new Coal Drops Yard shopping area in Kings Cross, H&M-owned fashion retailer Cos has a store that is more like an ongoing exhibition. This hybrid space works as both a special edit of their collection and a destination for art and design.

The unique brand experience hosts work from both established and emerging artists to entice customers into the store. As well as curating its own collection, it also offers limited edition prints, a selection of books and other products from brands with a story to tell. The addition of other products, all curated by Cos, gives customers a better insight into the lifestyle of the brand.

11. Crate and Barrel (Chicago)

US furniture and homewares retailer Crate and Barrel has launched a restaurant in its Chicago store. The concept has been a proven success story for other stores in their bid to drive footfall.

Restaurants are a great way to keep customers in-store for longer and ‘The Table at Crate’ has the added perk that most of the items in the restaurant can be bought within the store. The retailer has partnered with local chef Bill Kim to manage the dining area. The space will then be used for other activities outside of restaurant hours such as cooking demonstrations to really make the most of the initiative.

12. eBay high street store (Wolverhampton, UK)

eBay’s first foray into bricks and mortar retailing earlier this year was a fascinating step forward. The so-called ‘Home Grown’ concept store featured a different group of independent retailers each week.

Each retailer was typically an ecommerce business so had its first chance to test its wares through physical retail, and eBay complemented the experience by offering retailers workshops, training and mentoring on various topics.

It’s all part of eBay’s ‘Retail Revival’ pilot scheme, which works with small businesses to help them grow digital sales and show how online and offline can work together effectively. For other ecommerce giants and platforms, eBay’s experiment is significant as it shows how they can do more to support the smaller businesses they’re sometimes accused of overshadowing.

13. Everlane (New York)

Fashion retailer Everlane has opened its largest store to date and it’s packed with lots of new features. Located in fashionable Williamsburg, the store is minimal in design which is a nod to its origins of being an online retailer. The store also features a lot more tech including the option to reserve items online for pick-up in-store.

There are tablets located around the store where customers can shop the full collection and a mobile fitting room system called ‘Save My Spot’, where customers simply text what they want to try on and are notified when the changing room is ready. The store is also home to the retailer’s first ever men’s floor. With this store Everlane really is attempting to master the omnichannel experience.

14. Foot Locker/Nike (New York)

Sports retail giants Footlocker and Nike have teamed up to create the latest Footlocker Power Store. The new Washington Heights store has been fully integrated with the Nike mobile app in a brand first.

The partnership means that all the benefits of the app such as scanning in-store products for inventory or reserving items for pick-up are all available here. It also has the benefit of creating brand connections in the neighbourhood it’s serving.

Some unique features to the store are the ‘Unlock Box’, where loyalty programme members can get access to limited edition gear, as well as a ‘Shoecase’ for early sneaker releases. It’s a great way to build customer relationships and enhance brand loyalty.

15. Freitag (Zurich)

German-Swiss bag brand Freitag has opened a micro factory store in Zurich’s District 4. The concept gives customers the opportunity to create their own one-of-a-kind version of the brand’s famous tarp bag.

Supervised by staff, customers gets to interact with the tools and the machinery to create their very own piece. The bags are made from recycled truck tarp and fully compostable textiles. The space provides visitors with an engaging and unique experience but it also educates them on the sustainable making processes that the retailer is so passionate about.

16. French Connection Studios (London)

The new home of French Connection on Duke Street features exclusive products designed only for this space, with a limited number of each style available. Offering menswear, womenswear, homeware and fragrances as well as books and magazines, it has partnered with artisan coffee shop Fernandez and Wells to offer food and drink too. It’s also home to a photography studio, which aims to shoot digital and influencer content and create some buzz around the brand.

17. Gymshark Hub (Solihull, UK)

British sportswear retailer Gymshark have launched a £5 million tech innovation hub near to its Headquarters. The former warehouse has been redesigned with the goal of being seen as the best gym in Europe. The space is designed to support the brand’s focus on social media and working with influencers.

The space also boasts an auditorium, research and development factory and several high-tech photography studios which will support the launch of Gymshark’s new fitness app. It’s a creative space where Gymshark can test out new products and ideas.

18. H&M (London)

H&M’s store in Hammersmith certainly stands out from its other stores. Designed to be a more aspirational shopping experience, the store is also tapping into the sustainability trend. The store is full of greenery and has lots of sustainable messages displayed above till points.

There is a ‘Repair and Remake’ station which encourages customers to recycle garments. It’s free for customers who are part of the H&M Club loyalty scheme and it offers personalised embroidery starting from £3. It’s the first UK H&M store to have self-checkouts and there’s an in-store app – where customers can check store availability and sizing.

19. IKEA Planning Studio (London)

The first IKEA Planning Studio on Tottenham Court Road is a bid to make IKEA more accessible. The mini store has been designed to suit the needs and lifestyles of people living in cities. The store offers personalised and tailored services focusing on the most used rooms in people’s homes – the kitchen and bedroom.

Customers can book free a design appointment with 3D planning tools to design their dream living space. IKEA stores have historically been in out of town locations so this is opening up IKEA to a new type of customer as well as current shopping trends. The concept has now been extended to other locations including New York and Paris.

20. Levi’s (New York)

Iconic denim retailer Levi’s launched a flagship in Times Square that is its largest store in the world. It’s home to its largest Tailor Shop where customers can sit at the customisation bar with iPads to see how items would look when personalised. They can look through customisation options from local artists or sit down with a Master tailor – it’s retail theatre at its best.

The space makes for great brand storytelling and is full of references to Levi’s in cultural history on digital screens and posters around the store. It also sells merchandise unique to the location which makes sense for such a busy tourist spot.

21. L’Occitane’s 555 (New York)

Beauty retailer L’Occitane’s concept store at 555, 5th Avenue was launched with a heavy focus on experience. The space is packed full of flashy tech with a dedicated social media area and a live feed of the retailer’s U.S. Instagram account.

The store is full of fun experiences – you can ride (stationary) bikes against a backdrop of Provence or take a virtual hot air balloon ride through the South of France. The rain-shower sink takes centre stage and customers are invited to test out products here.

It’s a fantastic store for the retailer to test out new ideas whilst being able to continually adapt the space with new product launches and campaigns. It also beautifully tells the story of its origins.

22. Lululemon (Chicago)

Lululemon’s brand new ‘experiential’ store in Chicago is also the retailer’s biggest ever store. The huge 20,000 sq ft space is home to a restaurant, yoga and meditation space and a concierge desk. The studio will hold guided meditation classes and hip-hop yoga. They also plan to hold events such as movie screenings and concerts to give the space a real community feel.

Another clever way it is enticing customers into store is by offering them the unique opportunity to try out Lululemon product in its workout classes, free of charge. This way customers can see the benefits of its technical gear in action.

23. Lush (Manchester)

Lush has launched a high-tech ‘Naked’ store in Manchester in an effort to reduce packaging. Customers are able to scan items in store via the LushLabs app to reveal detailed ingredient information and ‘how to use’ instructions digitally. The app uses the ‘Lush Lens’ feature and machine learning to recognise every product in store via shoppers’ smartphone cameras.

The retailer invites NGOs and activist groups that work on reducing waste and plastic pollution into store to educate both staff and customers. It shows that this is more than a token gesture from the retailer but instead something it truly believes in. There is a financial gain for Lush too – the money saved on packaging can be put into ingredients instead. The Naked model can also be seen elsewhere around the world now.

24. McDonald’s (London)

Fast food giant McDonald’s is piloting a take-away only service on Fleet Street in central London. There is no seating, a reduced menu, and the goal is to get customers in and out of the store as quickly as possible.

Customers use a touch-screen kiosk to place orders in the stripped-back space, and the whole experience is deliberately different to its typical newer spaces which have aimed to be more engaging, social spaces.

25. M.MLaFleur (New York)

Luxury women’s apparel retailer M.M.LaFleur has opened a new store concept in Manhattan’s financial district. The retailer was originally an e-commerce styling service that moved onto showroom experiences.

The new space is working on fulfilling the needs of the area – its location in the financial district means providing core ‘work-wardrobe essentials’. The smaller format operates more like a traditional retail space where customers can take their purchases away from the store, rather than having them shipped like in previous stores. Items can also be returned and exchanged here. The whole process has been designed to make life easier for its target customers.

26. MUJI pop-up (New York)

Japanese retailer Muji has launched a design and retail pop-up store in SoHo. The space is there to showcase the design history of the brand as told through classic MUJI products from its archive and an exhibition of its posters throughout history. Muji’s natural and simple design is as relevant today as it was when it first started.

Videos in store showcase its global initiatives including the MUJI hotel and MUJI diner. There is also a selection of homewares for sale. The display of the most iconic MUJI products includes pens, travel items and storage solutions. The posters showcase MUJI’s history of graphic design, featuring work by Ikko Tanaka. For fans of the brand, or design itself, it’s an interesting concept to check out.

27. Natuzzi AR store (New York)

Italian furniture brand Natuzzi has launched a virtual reality shopping experience. The AR store can be found at its Madison Avenue showroom. Here customers can enter a digital drawing of their home and decorate it with Natuzzi pieces.

By using Microsoft’s Hololens 2 headset, customers can interact with the environment and move furniture around, as well as changing the colour of items. And if that isn’t enough, customers can view a scaled down hologram of their homes on a tabletop for a birds-eye view of the space. This deeper engagement for customers means the store can build better connections which can only help build repeat custom.

28. Nike House of Innovation (New York)

Nike’s House of Innovation on 5th Avenue is a direct response to customers seeking experiences. For a start, you’ll need to download the Nike app to enjoy the touchpoints in-store and get the most out of the experience. Technology plays an important role here; if you see an item you like on a mannequin then you can scan the QR code to find out what sizes and colours are in stock.

Customers can virtually shop the store through their phones. There is also instant checkout on the app, so no more waiting in line. The Customization Bar is here too, so customers can create their unique sneakers. Such a personal and responsive store not only creates theatre, but provides a better, faster and more engaging in-store experience.

29. Nordstrom Local (LA)

Luxury department store Nordstrom opened its first ‘local’ concept in Melrose and has since gone on to open a further four stores in LA and NYC. The stores serve as hubs for buying online and picking up orders. There is no inventory for sale, instead there are personal styling services and alterations available. Shoppers can pick out their favourite looks online and have the items waiting in-store for them to try on without obligation to purchase.

There are lots of great initiatives to entice people into the store, such as the gift wrapping service and refreshments. There is also an area set aside for showcasing products from popular brands. They are really multifunctional spaces that perfectly display what the brand can offer.

30. Nordstrom Men’s Store (New York)

Nordstrom’s first exclusively men’s store in New York has already been a big success, with a focus on young customers and outstanding service. Customers can return items at the front of the store within two minutes and enjoy same day delivery from the store for $20. It’s also rumoured that staff will open the store after hours for customers desperate for particular items.

The space also features fast pick-up for online orders and a number of initiatives that offer convenience to busy New Yorkers. It’s another great example of how Nordstrom is flexing its mix of bricks and mortar stores to better suit a world of omnichannel retail.

31. Oxfam (Oxford, UK)

The charity Oxfam has opened its first superstore on the outskirts of Oxford in a bid to change the perception of charity shops. The location, on a retail park, is a destination with the retailer’s first on-site café and a changing menu of ‘world foods’.

Through local company Rework, it will sell second-hand white goods with a one-year warranty, for the first time. There is also an area devoted to online sales – where high value and sought-after items will be photographed for posting on Pinterest and other social media platforms in an effort to raise as much money as possible. The store will also act as a community space offering free talks and events to help spread the charity’s message.

32. Rouje (Paris)

Digital fashion brand Rouje has opened its first physical store in Paris, and as is often the case with digital-first brands, it’s no ordinary store. It features its own restaurant next door, Chez Jeanne, named after the founder Jeanne Damas. Jeanne Damas is the daughter of a brasserie owner, and is offering classic French brasserie food in a nod to her heritage. For her, food and Rouje go hand in hand, and there’s no better way of communicating that chemistry.

33. Sainsbury’s experimental superstore (Birmingham, UK)

Sainsbury’s most experimental store to date, based near Birmingham, has been 10 years in the making. It’s somewhere between a department store and supermarket, featuring a number of partnerships with other brands. They include its first Oasis concession, Habitat and Argos stores, and a large dine-in ‘Food Market’.

Sainsbury’s has experimented with smaller versions of some of these ideas before, but this is the first time it’s committed to such a multi-faceted space. As a result, the in-store experience is radically different.

34. Saint Laurent Lab (Paris)

Saint Laurent’s new ‘Lab’ features the usual mix of men’s and women’s ready to wear ranges. But interestingly, it also sells a huge range of collectibles, including furniture, books, vinyl and art, plus novelty items such as skateboards, yoga mats, stationery, lighters and phone cases.

The space also features a coffee counter at the front to lure in customers. The product mix will frequently change to test different ranges, and this ‘lab’ approach, based on data collection, will be rolled out to other stores.

35. Samsung KX (London)

Samsung’s much hyped new space at Coal Drops Yard in Kings Cross is essentially a marketing space for the brand. There are no tills, and instead the space is packed with hallmarks of experiential retail, including gaming lounges, co-working spaces, DJ booths, an event space and personalisation bars to design your own products. It also features a digital graffiti wall, a ‘kitchen of the future’ and a travel photography workshop. This is a pure engagement space, designed to bring technology to life and to encourage visitors to play.

36. Starbucks Reserve (Tokyo)

Coffee giant Starbucks has unveiled a high-end Reserve store in the Ginza district. The ‘Reserve’ status means that it will be serving high-quality coffee with the beans coming from the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo.

It’s different from a regular Starbucks store in other ways too. The space has been designed for groups to come and enjoy a meal, rather than a quick coffee. It has created more comfortable seating and tables are more spaced out to make dining a more enjoyable experience. To make it feel even more like a restaurant the store is also accepting dinner reservations.

37. The Body Shop (London)

Cosmetic retailer The Body Shop has unveiled a new store on Bond Street that reinforces its mission statement. The slogan ‘speaking out since 1976’ references the retailer’s founder, Anita Roddick, who opened the first store in Brighton which was famous for never testing on animals and supporting environmental issues.

Although that remains true to this day, the heritage of the brand has been lost until now. This store wants to remind customers of its ‘activist roots’. The store features refill stations, water bottle refills, recycling points and an ‘activism corner’ – here customers can join local and global activist groups and spread the word on social media. The concept for this store is to create a community hub for like-minded individuals and promote the message that its products are environmentally friendly.

38. The Container Store Custom Closets (LA)

The Container Store has opened its first Custom Closets store on the site of its existing store at the renowned Farmers Market in LA. The store has been fully redesigned and remodelled as a new way to shop its closet solutions. The Custom Closets represents more than 50% of the retailer’s business so it makes sense that it has focused the business here.

There are more than 70 real-life displays of the different closet options and the launch strategically follows the launch of its fourth closet line called Avera. The new store has been designed for both designers and customers to visualise the options. The Custom Design service has made it easier than ever to shop the closet solutions. Designers are also invited to use the space for client meetings creating a welcoming space for both the industry and customers alike.

39. The North Face (New York)

Outdoor clothing retailer The North Face has opened a store in SoHo to showcase its new retail strategy. The store is designed to create experiences to form stronger bonds with customers. The space tells the story of the brand as opposed to just being a place where a transaction takes place.

The store is premium, long-lasting and sustainable which is a nod towards its product. The museum-like archive of expeditions, classic products and staff guides will help customers find the right gear for their next adventure as well as gaining some insight into the values of the brand. As you come to expect with concept stores, there are exclusive products to be found here too.

40. The Perfume Shop (Sheffield, UK)

The Perfume Shop’s first experiential concept store is trialling some really innovative initiatives. It features a centrally located ‘perfume wheel’ with sensors that customers can touch and feel, as well as smell different scents. There are also centred funnels with iPads to help customers build their preferences.

Elsewhere, a personalisation station allows customers to decorate and engrave their bottles, and a huge chandelier made of perfume bottles has become a big hit on Instagram. It’s great to see a traditional high street retailer experimenting with genuinely innovative experiences.

41. Thirdlove (New York)

Direct-to-consumer lingerie company ThirdLove has opened its first physical store in SoHo. Although this store is a pop-up, it’s a fantastic example of an online retailer bringing something completely new to the bricks and mortar experience.

The San Francisco-based retailer uses a data-first and body inclusivity approach to bra design. The temporary store will allow the brand to gain customer feedback and build better information for its online quiz Fit Finder, something which cannot be captured online. The physical store is really a way of fulfilling a task to drive online sales.

42. Tiffany (Tokyo)

Luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co has a new concept store in Tokyo that’s unlike any other Tiffany store. It’s located on Cat Street, in an area popular for used-clothing shops and athletic brands rather than with other luxury retailers.

Instead it is targeting a younger customer with photo booths and an American retro-themed diner with hot dogs on the menu. The store is also exclusively releasing pendants engraved with the location’s unique logo which you won’t be able to buy anywhere else in the world. It’s a much more informal and playful store than other Tiffany locations, but still communicates the world of the brand beautifully.

43. Tim Hortons (Toronto)

Canadian fast-food chain Tim Hortons has launched its first ever ‘innovation café’ in downtown Toronto. The store, located at the base of the Exchange Tower, has been designed as a space to test out new menu items and technology initiatives.

A video wall greets customers on arrival and there is wireless charging integrated into seating. The self-order kiosks and dedicated mobile order pickup area speeds up the process for those short on time.

Other initiatives include a ‘Brew bar’ with seven different coffee brewing methods and a focus on sustainability. The store is offering 100% compostable cutlery, coffee cups made from 30% post-consumer recycled material, and china and glassware for dine-in customers. This store reflects what customers are coming to expect from retailers.

44. Virgin Holidays (Milton Keynes, UK)

Virgin Holidays has launched its most experience-led store to date, and it might surprise you to hear that it’s in Milton Keynes. As soon as you enter the store you cannot fail to notice the virtual roller coaster which will transport you to some of Virgin’s most exotic locations.

You can also sit in Premium and Upper Class seats whilst you sip on champagne during a consultation with a travel expert. There is even an area for little ones to enjoy entertainment and games. Better still, you can have a Virgin signature red manicure at the Clubhouse spa, all designed to get you in the holiday mood.

45. Walmart Test Lab (New York)

Walmart’s new ‘Intelligent Retail Lab’ (IRL) in New York is a fascinating and experimental retail space, filled with futuristic tech. It features AI-enabled cameras, interactive displays and a huge data centre, all built to showcase what AI can contribute to shopping experiences. Sensors and cameras monitor product inventories in real time, and notify staff on precisely what to re-stock and when.

There are also a number of educational displays to inform customers about IRL, its purpose and how AI can be beneficial. There is even an interactive, AI-powered interactive display that mirrors customer movements – an easy way of showing the fun side of sci-fi tech. Importantly, all of this vital data collection and learning is happening in an extremely busy location with high footfall, meaning Walmart is gathering meaningful insights into retail’s future.

46. Whole Foods (Chelsea, New York)

The new Whole Food store in New York focuses on its ‘grab and go’ concept. Although the store will still sell a selection of its raw ingredients, the focus is on prepared foods, including an acai bowl station, paninis and other hot dishes.

As well as appealing to lunching locals, the idea reflects a growing trend for supermarkets and wholesalers to showcase their ingredients in the best way possible – by showing off how delicious they are when combined in great recipes.

47. Zara (London)

Fashion retailer Zara has a flagship in London’s Westfield Stratford store that has been coined ‘the store of the future’ and it’s easy to see why. The pioneering digital store is super high-tech and merges online and the physical store in line with Zara’s business model. By investing in advanced technology, the retailer is making the customer experience as flawless as possible.

In a Zara world-first, there is a dedicated online area for purchasing and collecting online orders. There are also automated collection points where you scan the QR code or pin code on your e-receipt – your order can be delivered to you in seconds by way of a behind-the-scenes robotic arm. Other cool tech includes the interactive mirrors equipped with RFID, which can detect items held by customers and offer more information as well as outfit suggestions.

Via InsiderTrends

The post The World’s Best in Retail Right Now appeared first on This Is Retail.

KidZania Review – Westfield London

Helen James — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 04:15:38 +0000

“Get ready for a better world” is the slogan of Kidzania, the Mexican “educational play” company, which promises that it will teach children “real-life skills”.

At these amusement parks – of which there are now 19 worldwide – children play alone in small indoor cities, performing adult jobs: they can be factory workers, learn to fly aeroplanes with real flight simulators, or act as reporters for the city’s newspaper.

They say it’s a great way for children to act out their adult fantasies in a safe zone – the future of educational play. Critics say that it’s entertainment, but hardly educational because it’s so highly scripted.

Following instructions is surprisingly fun

As I stood with another mother outside of the dentist’s office, we peered into the window while our children hovered over a life-sized dummy and contemplated extracting its brown tooth.

“Perhaps this will help my son develop better oral hygiene,” said my companion, hopefully.

Possibly. But other than donning lab coats and demonstrating proper tooth-brushing technique to their activity leader with a giant set of choppers, there wasn’t a whole lot of realistic interaction with dentistry. My four-year-old daughter refused to extract the tooth because she was worried that it might make the dummy cry. In this and other activities, I was impressed by how seriously she took each scenario: much of my own cynicism did not seem to extend to my child.

Moving on to the baby hospital, I watched my daughter “work” as a doctor in a nursery with newborns to earn 8 kidzos, the currency in the city, which she wanted in order to pay for a tattoo at the tattoo parlour. Following the instructor’s lead, she lifted her baby doll and swaddled it, carefully holding its head.

There’s a pleasant and perpetual buzz of activity in the city as you walk around looking for work, or ways to spend your money, and this is augmented by the regular rounds made by a child-sized ambulance (driven by a worker, and filled with trainee EMTs), and a fire engine that speeds every half an hour off to ferry junior fire fighters to a “burning” building, which they spray with real water. Watching this was thrillingly frightening for my daughter, who was too young to participate.

But she did spend the kidzos that she earned with glee, making a necklace that she now regularly wears.

Both of us were riveted for the four hours that we were there: there are plenty of activities, places to eat, and ample things to explore.

What’s good

As a very elementary schooling in capitalism, the general concept for KidZania is entertaining. Many activities are “partnered with” (ie sponsored by) real world corporate giants – to keep down costs, according to the company – and this has caused quite a bit of controversy.

Still, there is a lot to recommend KidZania as a novel destination for families in London. Not allowing parents into activities is genius. Adults have to stand outside of each job, looking through a glass window, watching but not interfering. While there’s not a lot for parents to do as they hover, it is fantastic semi-freedom for young children. Kids above the age of seven can be dropped off by parents at the entrance to the city, and be left there for four hours. Thanks to electronic tracking bracelets worn throughout the visit, parents can feel happy that their child is safe.

As a simple exercise in having children follow the instructions of adults they don’t know, a visit to KidZania is well worth the cost. My often shy five-year-old loved being a courier, ferrying packages to and from various businesses in town, and navigating the city was a good challenge for her.

What’s bad

KidZania is very proud of its narrative, which involves a few inconvenient things: the city is in a permanent state of dusk (because, Xavier Lopez Ancona, the group’s global president, told me: “Children are rarely allowed out at dusk, so this is a treat for them.” I found it rather difficult to see).

Then there’s the unfortunate lingo. Each worker, or “Zupervisor”, is compelled to greet you with a strange gang-like hand symbol and the word “Kai!”, an alternative to “hi”. Because KidZania begins with a K. Get it?

And then there’s the bizarre cheerleader-like dance the workers must do, in a sort of Disney/early Britney Spears hybrid spoof, whenever KidZania’s theme song comes onto the loudspeakers.

What’s ridiculous

KidZania trades on its authenticity, but a disappointing number of things are for show. At the Eat Natural-sponsored fruit and nut bar making factory, children are taught about the origins of ingredients and about nutrition as they ‘make’ a cereal bar. They handle the ingredients, and are cautioned by the activity leaders to make sure they keep them clean, in order to practice good hygiene. This is, undoubtedly, a good kitchen policy. But it was disappointing to learn that the oven in the corner was fake, that the real ingredients the children handle are thrown away at the end of each day, uneaten, and that they are presented with “‘one I made earlier” at the end of each cereal bar activity.

The ever-present branding of each activity was entertaining in some places – who doesn’t want to make chocolates in a Cadbury’s factory – but one place where the corporate sponsorship, and any semblance of education or, indeed, fun, fell short was the H&M boutique modelling job.

You can earn kidzos for donning an H&M outfit and then posing for a photo shoot (conducted by a photographer, prints of which are available for the bargain price of £12). To maintain decorum, children do not disrobe, they simply put on the H&M clothes over their own. This is awkward, as is the fact that, on our visit, the myriad and tempting pairs of shoes were off-limits if you weren’t wearing your own socks (health and safety hazard). As it was a warm day, and most children were in sandals, that meant that all shoes and lots of other accessories – for reasons that were unclear – were off-duty on our visit. This meant that, rather than being an activity, the H&M boutique felt far more like a (boring) corporate plug and little else.

The bottom line

KidZania is about as real as the Westfield shopping mall it sits in.

If this is a glimpse of the “better world” the group promises, I want no part of it. But if your children are aged between 4 and about 10 (children over that age would struggle to stay engaged), and it’s a rainy day, you could do far worse.

My daughter absolutely loved her time at KidZania – though she was too young for about half of the activities.

The post KidZania Review – Westfield London appeared first on This Is Retail.

H&M’s Voice Activated Mirror

Helen James — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 01:02:56 +0000

Revealing its naked ambition to motor into the digital fast lane, Swedish fast-fashion supergroup H&M has opened both barrels on the smart mirror phenomenon by launching a voice activated mirror in its Times Square, New York flagship. Using dulcet-toned conversation-led tech – no touch-screens, no buttons, no typing – it encompasses selfies, styling recommendations and also a relatively smooth route to e-commerce. Crucially, it’s also underscored by a smart new attitude to user experience (UX) design, which views the mirror as a space to kick-start relations, not a personal confidante making private connections.

Created in tandem with Microsoft and two Stockholm-based agencies Ombori – a specialist in UX Design and digital signage experts Visual Art, the mirror is quietly ‘sleeping’ until facial detection technology (strictly speaking not facial recognition tech – the concept errs on the side of anonymity) senses someone has been looking at it for long enough to be reasonably engaged and then awakens the fixture. Its feminine-sounding superintendent invites people to take a selfie, giving them a countdown to prepare, which then appears on screen in the form of several magazine covers. A canny bit of self-promotion deftly massaging the inherent narcissism on which so much of social media is built, our faceless hostess even declares “great cover” when the image pops up, presumably to everyone. Users can download the image by scanning an on-screen QR code with their smartphone cameras.

Outstripping predictions based on consumers previous reticence to get on board with QR codes due to the hassle of having to download a code reader (a diminished obstacle since Apple introduced readers into the iPhone in September 2017) so far 86% of people that have taken a selfie have also downloaded it. Moreover, 10% of those who downloaded a selfie signed up for the newsletter, giving H&M a fresh connection to 8% of all those that dabbled with the mirror’s charms.

The mistress of the mirror also asks onlookers if they’d like fashion inspiration – effectively a menu of categories linked directly to whatever content and styles are showing on H&M’s website at the time. Anything of interest can be purchased directly by scanning another QR code.

Andreas Hassellöf, founder and CEO of Ombori reveals that the concept was borne from a desire to side-step too-often clunky visual technologies that deliver disappointment rather than delight, de-valuing the entire store experience. Instead, their mission was to chase the promise of making a powerful first connection: “In physical spaces you have a lot of people, so the focus is on triggering a relationship. The formula is based on creating surprise, satisfaction of experience and then making a conversion. Big screens are a great way for grabbing attention, making them ideal catalysts for a relationship but it’s far more likely that the personal dialogue will stay connected to personal devices.”

Far more than simply cashing-in on the buzz surrounding voice-controlled services (notably H&M has also just announced it will launch a Google Assistant app providing users with interiors styling advice via phones, computers or its smart speaker Google Home) Hassellöf reveals that the use of speech rather than touch panels was also deployed to circumvent the fact that, “people are afraid of making mistakes, especially in public”.

The suggestion is that spoken communication is deemed less final, more manageable and that the instructions are often more cleanly conveyed. He describes how an in-progress concept for another fashion brand involving the wow-factor of using just a flick of a mobile phone to shunt content on a digital screen sideways stalled because, “we weren’t looking at patterns that people recognise. It’s the same with language; there needs to be no confusion about what the next step the user has to take is”.

While the concept isn’t truly conversational as yet – the chat so far revolves around a menu of predetermined choices – it lays the foundations for a more personalized future dialogues. It also spotlights a vision of store design in which ambient tech – invisible technology that allows us to interact with our surroundings – will underpin a more edifying and enjoyable experience. It’s a world already ventured into in brief by Amazon, which partnered with US luxury fashion brand Calvin Klein last year on a Holiday season pop-up in New York that featured Amazon’s smart Echo speakers in fitting rooms. The tech allowed shoppers to ask questions about product, control lighting and play music, as if talking to a friend.

According to Hassellöf, successful future UX design will be anchored in creating systems that truly justify the title omni-commerce, where it will be possible to create a retail experience that’s effectively a rolling journey of communications using different tools – laptops, phones, TV screens, digital walls, talking into thin air – for different contexts. Sometimes public, sometimes private, the aim is to link those strands together, “Desktop computers will be primarily for creating content, but the other tools are likely to remain. It’s how the connections are made that counts”.

Via Forbes

The post H&M’s Voice Activated Mirror appeared first on This Is Retail.

Fashion Retail Gets Personal

Helen James — Thu, 03 May 2018 05:32:23 +0000

The world of fashion retail is wider than most. From luxury to discount, and fast fashion to handmade, fashion is never one-size-fits-all. And this means that retailers’ strategies can’t be either.

The way we buy fashion is also changing. The physical store is still an important part of the mix, but ecommerce is now a huge consideration, which brings with it its own challenges. Plus, social media is offering another way to shop.

Whatever type of fashion or channels you work with, these 19 recent initiatives from across the industry are sure to inspire you.

1. adidas Originals x BVG Berlin

Earlier this year, the Berlin transit authority BVG launched an unusual collaboration with Adidas – limited edition sneakers with a built-in BVG season pass. As such the wearer (as long as they are wearing the pair of sneakers at the time) will get free travel around pretty much the entire city on trams, buses, ferries and subways for the year. Although the shoes were quite highly priced at €180, the value of the annual travel pass is €728 which means they offer the owner a significant saving. Limited to 500 pairs, the shoes continue the BVG link in their design by mimicking the seat upholstery design used on the company’s train seats. It’s perhaps more of a marketing gimmick than the most practical collaboration, but it shows fashion’s potential to incorporate other functions and services.

2. Net-A-Porter AI personal shopper

Having invested £442 million in technology and personalisation, Net-A-Porter has developed a robot that can select clothes for customers based on their future plans – namely where they are going and the type of trip. The system uses AI to offer the personalised service. The company has also developed another tool that uses AI to put together outfits based on other items a customer has selected. As these technologies get smarter and more effective, AI is going to become a major tool in helping fashion brands offer a more personalised service.

3. Nordstrom Local’s service focus

Nordstrom’s latest retail model is very different to its existing department store offering. The new concept deconstructs the department store into smaller, targeted spaces. The first of these is Nordstrom Local, which is clothing store that stocks no clothes. Instead the small space has a stylish suite and dressing room with personal stylists ordering in products for customers to try. If they want to buy anything it will be shipped to their home. The space also offers alterations and tailoring.

4. Viktor & Rolf and Zalando’s recycled materials collection

Zalando has teamed up with fashion designers Viktor & Rolf to create a collection focused around using recycled materials to make handcrafted garments. Called RE:CYCLE, the new collection consists of 17 pieces of womenswear. The materials come from Zalando’s overstock fabrics, while Viktor & Rolf manage the design. The collection is deliberately priced to be accessible with the idea being that it’s a viable alternative to a customer’s usual purchases. The partnership shows that collaboration may be one way for fashion to fix some of its sustainability issues.

5. MM.Lafleur’s personal stylist

MM.Lafleur’s showrooms operate on something of the same concept as Nordstrom Local. The company runs a successful ecommerce business, but finds that many customers find shopping with a stylist more efficient. Taking that to the next level, MM.Lafleur’s stores don’t hold any inventory, which stops customers wasting time browsing and means they don’t need such a large space. Customers who book an appointment with a personal shopper will arrive to find a dressing room full of carefully selected clothes personalised to their tastes. If they like what they buy they can take it away that day, but most opt to have them delivered to their home. It’s another case of retail becoming more tailored to the customer with brand’s putting in the time to learn about the customer first, so they can offer a better service.

6. The Tie Bar’s data-gathering stores

Menswear brand The Tie Bar is one of the many brands that began life as an online-only operation, but has since moved into physical retail. Notably the company started with pop–up stores, but found they were turning a profit so converted them into permanent stores. However they don’t operate in isolation. The Tie Bar uses the stores to improve its online offering by testing out new products and uses learnings from customers’ in-store stylist sessions to improve its online equivalent. Going the other way, The Tie Bar uses online data about where its customers live and what they buy to decide where to open new stores. It shows that there’s a lot that retail can learn from its various channels in order to refine the overall shopping experience.

7. Nike’s 90 minutes custom sneakers

The Nike By You studio in New York is home to the brand’s new retail experience which lets customers customise a pair of trainers in less than 90 minutes. Known as the Nike Makers’ Experience, the process involves a series of graphic options and patterns, plus colour and size options, to create a design that’s unique to the customer. The experience uses a special model of trainer, the Nike Presto X, which was specifically created for it. Currently the Nike Makers’ Experience is invite only, but it shows just how fast personalisation can be. It’s likely that we’ll see more and more options for customisation in stores, but without customers having to give up a whole day for the experience.

8. Vogue and GQ Amazon Echo Look stylist

Amazon Echo Look’s screen and camera functionality is being put to good use by fashion publications Vogue and GQ. Customers can use the device’s AI stylist to get style suggestions from the magazines by uploading photos from their smartphone. The magazines will also host weekly content on the Echo Look app’s home screen with the ability for customers to click through and buy items. Although Amazon says Vogue and GQ don’t get a cut from any purchases made, it’s the sort of collaboration that you could add such an element to. For the magazines it’s a way of redefining their role in today’s increasingly print-free world.

9. Orchard Mile’s personalised ‘shopping street’

It’s been a slow process but more and more luxury brands are online, whether via their own initiatives or platforms like Net-a-Porter and Farfetch. One company changing how customers shop for these brands is Orchard Mile which lets customers create their own ‘shopping street’. The customer pick their favourite brands to populate the street, They can then click on them and go to a customised website featuring the designer’s entire collection. The aim is to make the experience akin to walking into the brand’s shop. With more choice than ever, ideas like this may help customers with their online shopping by narrowing down the options to certain brands. And customers don’t have to waste time filtering through brands they don’t like.

10. Columbia Sportswear’s personalised engagement

Columbia Sportswear has collaborated with Microsoft to offer a better customer experience. The company uses Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 and Azure cloud services to get insights into how customers respond to products – regardless of the channel used. This then helps Columbia Sportswear to personalise the experience. The technology is also used to improve merchandise management by offering better reporting and analysis. In the drive for personalisation it’s likely more and more retailers will be looking for technology partners to help them achieve their ambitions faster.

11. Stitch Fix’s AI-driven search

Stitch Fix is using artificial intelligence to take the effort out of finding new clothes. Rather than the customer going from store-to-store browsing, the company uses a mix of human personal styling and AI to find and send products directly to customers. It uses customer data to find the products it thinks the individual will like. The AI is constantly learning based on what the customer returns and keeps, which means its recommendation get better and more personalised over time.

12. H&M’s Afound discount marketplace

H&M wlll branch out into discount fashion with the launch of its new marketplace Afound. It marks a whole new chapter for the brand as H&M will allow other fashion labels to be sold on Afound. And of course H&M will use it sell its own unsold inventory. The marketplace will be accessible online and through a physical store in Sweden. The aim is to present a mix of brands at different price points. As customers continue to show their bargain-hunting desires, Afound may help H&M tap into a new audience. Incorporating other brands will help to drive traffic to the site.

13. Untuckit’s RFID merchandise

Casual men’s apparel retailer Untuckit is piloting the use of RFID in its Fifth Avenue store. The company will use the tech to track inventory and see which items are selling best. They can then use this to optimise inventory in real-time. Just as importantly the RFID will show which sizes and styles have low demand enabling Untuckit to remove or improve them. The store can also track staff and shoppers around the store to better understand journeys. It’s a glimpse into how the stores of the future will use tech to make their product ranges as lean and optimised as possible.

14. Zara self-service kiosks

With click-and-collect a well-established part of the retail mix some brands are looking at ways to improve the process. Zara is one of these. It’s testing self-service ‘pickup towers’ in-store which can hold up to 4,000 packages. Customers can use them to retrieve their online orders by scanning a barcode on their phone. The machine then locates and retrieves the package in just a few seconds. Given that most retailers’ click-and-collect services requires customers to queue up at a desk or till to get their items, this technology is a win-win. It makes the process faster for customers and frees up staff to do more important tasks.

15. Miquela Sousa the digital influencer

Miquela Sousa is a 19 year old LA-based model and influencer. So far, so normal. But Sousa is actually a computer-generated figure – and no-one knows who is actually behind her. Still, she has more than 899,000 Instagram followers and fills her feed with images of outfits from brands such as Chanel, Supreme and Vans. Her success raises a question around authenticity, specifically whether it matters if someone is real or not if they are ‘authentic’ in their persona and messaging. Sousa shows that there may also be an opportunity in the future for brands to use digitally created influencers for campaigns – probably for a lower price.

16. LVMH 24sevres multi-brand store

LVMH’s first ecommerce project is 24servres.com, which is a digital realisation of the Le Bon Marche store in Paris. The idea is to extend the physical experience to customers all around the world, including recreating the store’s famous window displays. LVMH also believes that its curated experience is what sets it apart with the brand taking an editorial approach to merchandising the site’s inventory. The project raises a question about how close the digital and physical experiences will get in the future – do customers want to shop on sites that are more like going into a store?

Image credit: Nike

17. Nike+ loyalty scheme

First launched in November 2017, Nike’s latest loyalty programme evolution involves rewarding customers with offers from select partners, including Classpass and Headspace. Customers have to be NIke+ app members to use the scheme. Other perks include things like four free months of Apple Music when buying a certain shoe or colour. In addition, members receive discounts and gifts on purchases throughout their entire birth month. Loyalty schemes are in desperate need of a revamp and this sort of partner-based idea is a good way to keep customers interested. It’s not just about being rewarded by Nike, but also other brands that you might be interested in.

Plus, the opening of Nike’s new New York flagship early next year will add another level to the brand’s loyalty offering. Instead of the usual product merchandising, the fifth floor will solely treat Nike+ members to exclusive services, including unique products, experiences and expert access. Again it’s another reason for customers to become members of the club, which then brings them closer to the brand.

18. Start Today USA at home e-commerce measurement service

The US subsidiary of Japanese fashion brand Start Today is aiming to change the way we buy online with its new at-home measurement device. The ZOZOsuit is an enhanced suit that uses sensor technology to capture 15,000 measurements from all over the wearer’s body. The data is then sent by bluetooth to the accompanying ZOZO app. Customers can then shop Start Today’s products and get recommendations on what will fit based on their exact measurements. While it’s quite an advanced solution to the issue of online purchases not fitting, it’s likely that individual customer measurements will become an integral part of ecommerce in the future.

19. Direct-to-consumer luxury WARDROBE.NYC

WARDROBE.NYC is a luxury direct-to-consumer label from designer Josh Goot and stylist Christine Centenera. While that’s an unusual model in itself for luxury fashion, the brand sells clothes as ‘wardrobes’ with customers having the choice or four or eight seasonal essentials costing £1,104 and £2,208 respectively. Catering for both men and women it’s an interesting look at where luxury fashion could go in the future by offering high quality products, curated into capsule wardrobes at a lower price.

What’s the future of fashion retail?

Personalisation and customisation are perhaps the biggest areas for fashion retailers to be paying attention to. The good things it that these types of services can take any number of forms, depending on the retailer and the customer. Some brands are using tech, some are using expert staff, some are using data between different channels, but they’re all trying to offer something that’s more focused on the individual.

Once you start providing customers with a more personal experience you’re likely to reap the benefits elsewhere in terms of loyalty. No-one wants to leave a brand that ‘gets’ them for one that doesn’t. And the more you know about your customers the more you can improve your business overall because you know what they want. If fashion retail does nothing else, it should start getting personal.
Via Insider-Trends

The post Fashion Retail Gets Personal appeared first on This Is Retail.

Katy Perry Teams Up With H&M To Release Christmas Music Video

Helen James — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:15:30 +0000

Katy Perry has unveiled rainbow-coloured hair and dressed up as a sexy Christmas fairy for H&M’s festive campaign.

The 31-year-old pop princess can be seen dancing around with gingerbread men, toy soldiers and candy canes in the uplifting film for the high-street chain.

But the American songstress isn’t the only famous face in the merry advert – British supermodel Jourdan Dunn and Sean O’Pry – from Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood music video – also star.

As well as lending her good looks to the campaign, Katy has exclusively recorded her first-ever Christmas track for the advert, Every Day Is A Holiday, which was produced by Duke Dumont.

Dressed in an array of sexy red dresses, gladiator sandals and cosy Christmas knits, Katy first appears as a fairy before bringing to life a cast of characters, from life-sized gingerbread men, to giant teddy bears.

‘I had such a festive time shooting this larger-than-life holiday commercial with Jonas Åkerlund, and all of the fun clothes, especially my favourite, the Elfie Selfie sweater. H&M has been a part of the evolution of my personal style since I was 13, when I would start to incorporate fun, affordable pieces into my vintage wardrobe.

‘I can’t wait for you to give your wardrobe some sparkle with this magical holiday collection,’ said Katy of her latest coup.

In both the commercial and accompanying print campaign, Katy appears in looks from the high street store’s Christmas collection, mixing festive glamour, style and fun.

Katy models vibrant red dresses, tuxedos with open sleeves and a T-shirt embroidered with a large sequin red bow.

‘I love the mix of style and updated traditions in this year’s Holiday collection. These are pieces for pure pleasure, whether it’s the perfect party dress for the best night out, or the cosiest fun sweater for relaxing with friends and family,’ said a spokesperson for the brand.

Via The Daily Mail

The post Katy Perry Teams Up With H&M To Release Christmas Music Video appeared first on This Is Retail.