Retail’s Renaissance: The Great Bifurcation

July 25, 2019 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

When considering the state of bricks and mortar retail it has become common industry parlance to refer to the “squeeze” in the middle. Indeed, media reports of a retail apocalypse often cite retail’s undifferentiated middle ground as being the cause of bricks and mortar’s impending implosion. Not a week seems to go by without news of store closures and administration announcements hitting the headlines as once loved household names meet their demise.

Yet according to recent figures released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, year on year retail sales to June 2019 were up by 3.8 percent. While retail’s middle ground may be under increasing pressure, sales at both the luxury and value end of the spectrum have shown considerable growth. Between 2013 and 2018, the luxury retail segment grew by nearly 25% in the UK, more than double that of overall retail (11.9%). While at the opposite end of the scale, the value sector is predicted to see growth of 36.1% over the next few years.

So why then do the headlines and figures tell such polarising stories?

There is no doubt that physical retail is undergoing something of an identity crisis as a catalogue of external factors shape its future. As covered in my recent article For The Love Of Shops, bricks and mortar retailers are having to double down on their efforts to attract increasingly fickle consumers while online players continue to encroach on their market share.

However, the debate around in-store versus online and millennial versus “traditional” shoppers has become increasingly nuanced according to a recent study by Deloitte who point to a range of socio-economic factors that are increasingly playing into consumer’s shopping behaviour. Specifically, the “Bifurcation” of retail.

Mid-Market Migration

In Deloitte’s study titled The Great Retail Bifurcation their analysis uncovers how socio-economic and demographic factors, specifically the increasing disparity between low-income households and the rich, help to explain two distinct shopper profiles we see emerging in retail today.

While the study was carried out within the U.S. market, Deloitte’s findings are universal in exploring how the rising cost of essentials is driving lower income shoppers to seek out ever more value-based options, while the increasing fortunes of top earners generates ever greater spending power at the opposite end of the market as their disposable incomes increase.

The report also points to the fact that a decade of salary stagnation means that middle-income shoppers are also feeling the pinch as their real-term financial situation is worse now than it was ten years ago. With limited disposable cash and price sensitivity at an all-time high, the middle-income consumer is also increasingly being attracted by off-price retailers.

Separately, the negative connotations that previously stigmatised value retail brands no longer ring true with consumers as their perceptions shift towards a positive, cost-conscious mindset, where value and quality are no longer viewed as mutually exclusive.

So, while the lower and middle-income shopper seeks budget conscious brands that offer economical (albeit increasingly innovative) shopping experiences, the high-income shopper continues to opt for premium brands that offer quality and elevated shopping experiences.

The result of this “bifurcation” is that consumers are passing by mid-market retailers – with often undifferentiated propositions – in favour of the greater clarity offered at polar ends of the retail spectrum.

Value or Luxury? Pick a Lane

The continued success and international growth of Primark with its “Amazing Fashion at Amazing Prices” mantra is testament to a brand that fundamentally understands this bifurcation. Primark’s recent Birmingham store (their largest globally) sees the retailer push the envelope of value retail by offering multiple in-store services – including restaurants and salons – all at a hugely competitive price point. The retailer taps into both the retail zeitgeist and consumer’s desire for in-store experience in a way that is sophisticated yet value driven. Primark’s turnover increased by 4.4 percent during the six months to March 2, due in no small part to an inherent understanding of their customer.

In a similar vein Burberry, the UK’s biggest luxury brand, beat expectations with like-for-like store sales increasing by 4 percent in the thirteen weeks ending June 29. Under Chief Executive Officer Marco Gobbetti and the creative direction of Riccardo Tisci, the 163 year-old brand has refocused in order to improve performance and re-establish its luxury credentials. In the second year of its turnaround plan, Burberry has successfully regained market share helped by an expanded range of leather goods, a new heritage-inspired monogram (who doesn’t love a monogram), store refurbishments and Instagram style product “drops”. All of which play to a discerning luxury consumer that expects constant innovation and a clearly articulated point of difference.

Meanwhile department stores – often cited as being at the heart of retail’s undifferentiated middle-ground – were the only non-food retail sector to see six consecutive months of decline to June 2019 according to figures released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics. As consumer’s gravitate towards either the value or luxury sectors, “bifurcation” is clearly impacting retail’s stagnating heart-land.

Millennials Misunderstood?

Intriguingly, Deloitte’s report also observes how millennials – widely regarded as the great disruptors of retail – shop in almost exactly the same way as their older generation cohorts within the low and middle-income demographic bands.

Millennials’ behaviour is frequently associated with shopping only online, spending on experiences not goods and influencing dramatic changes in how products are consumed. Interestingly however, the report finds that low and middle-income millennials shop almost identically to their older generation counterparts. It is only the high-income millennial – around 19 percent of millennials and only 6 percent of total shoppers – whose shopping habits align with what we consider to be millennial traits. Deloitte’s report argues that it is the exaggerated, often disruptive, shopping behaviours of this high-income minority that is skewing perceptions of the entire generational group.

There is however one millennial shopping tendency that appears to significantly different from their older generation counterparts across all income levels. Specifically, millennials are 6.4 percent less like to shop in department stores than previous generations, according to the report’s findings.

Retail’s Renaissance

The report concludes that while physical retail is unquestionably seeing a paradigm shift, it is not a retail apocalypse we are experiencing, but a retail renaissance. A renaissance driven by generational shifts in economics that are influencing a binary approach to consumers’ shopping behaviours as they resonate towards either the value or premium ends of the pricing spectrum.

Ultimately then, the retailers that will succeed through retail’s “bifurcation” will be those who are able to champion their own renaissance, pick a lane and offer consumers an appropriate value proposition that is aligned to their diverging needs and expectations.

Importantly though, physical retail is not about to implode. Boring, stagnant and undifferentiated retail on the other hand, is.

The Fall and Rise of Department Stores

May 23, 2019 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

It’s raining in New York City, and tourists huddle under their umbrellas as they photograph the towering Vessel structure located at Hudson Yards, the City’s newest retail destination. Even against the grey Manhattan skyline, Thomas Heatherwick’s copper-clad Vessel has an ethereal quality that is both captivating and bemusing; a sculptural Escheresque puzzle brought to life in Manhattan’s redeveloped West Side. Despite the pouring rain, crowds of tourists diligently queue to enter the open structure and ascend the rain-soaked staircase. The energy and excitement is palpable and no matter how divided opinion may be surrounding the Vessel, it has clearly become an experience to be owned – and shared – regardless of the weather. This place has a pulse.

Hudson Yards and Thomas Heatherwick’s Vessel structure

Yet in the warm and dry surroundings of neighbouring Neiman Marcus, Hudson Yards’ anchor department store tenant, that energy and pulse is noticeably lacking.

The opening of Neiman Marcus within Hudson Yards heralds a first for the luxury department store chain who’ve never previously operated an outpost within New York City. The announcement to plant their flag in the Big Apple came with the promise of delivering a world class retail experience to rival its established peers within the city. Yet despite the luxury brands (who are all in attendance), the curated selection of art (the store features original work by Lichtenstein and Matisse) and the store’s scale (17,500 sq metres), the retail “experience” is somewhat thin on the ground. Aside from a pocket of theatre provided by operator Atelier Notify who hand customise items on-site, New York’s Neiman Marcus certainly doesn’t redefine department store retail. Granted it’s a wet Wednesday afternoon, but where is the store’s beating heart? I decide I’d rather queue in the rain.

The Relevance Problem

Department stores have been suffering from a relevance problem for years and these once lofty cathedrals of consumerism are seeing their congregations dwindle.

As has been widely reported in the media, department stores have been hit by a combination of changing shopping habits, high running costs and (as with House of Fraser in the UK and Sears in the USA) years of underinvestment. However other key factors are also having an effect on the relevance of department stores in today’s retail landscape.

For a start, brands no longer require an on-the-ground distribution network of stores in order to reach their customer. Previously, brands relied on department stores (and the wholesale model) to sell their products and, symbiotically, customers relied on department stores in order to access those products. Convenience and commodity for both brand and consumer all under one roof. Now however, post internet, brands no longer have to rely on department stores to gain access to their customer as the convenience and commodity of shopping has moved online.

Secondly, fashion’s Spring Summer / Autumn Winter cycle as well as the pre-Christmas / New Year sales periods – crucial for department stores – are becoming increasingly obsolete as fashion brands “drop” collections and provide straight-to-consumer discounts all year round. Many department stores do not have the agility to cater for this faster-paced turnover, nor are they able to accommodate a consumer who has become increasingly fickle in their pursuit of newness.

Thirdly, consumers are increasingly demanding greater levels of experience from a brand’s physical offerings as their expectations move away from simply buying things to the experience of buying those things. Historically, department stores – often focussed on shifting inventory – have placed too much importance on the practical, and not enough on the emotional aspects of the customer experience. Today’s consumer wants to be engaged in a genuine sense of discovery and the importance of how a space makes them feel is paramount.

Substance and Style

Not all department stores are on life support however. Indeed, various pioneers in the market are facing these challenges head on. Selfridges’ flagship store in London – possibly one of the best examples of bricks and mortar retail in the world – continues to be a trailblazer for the potential of department stores. With a calendar of events and launches that infuse constant energy and newness into the store customers don’t just simply shop Selfridges, they live it. Their ‘Corner Shop’ pop-up has become a hosting space for super brands and artists to present capsule collections and limited editions only available in-store. Selfridges relationship with luxury players has seen them launch numerous exclusive collaborations, including their Radical Luxury campaign which saw brands including Louis Vuitton and BYREDO create unique installations that questioned our ideas of luxury. Selfridges also continue to in invest heavily in their stores with last year seeing the completion of Oxford Street’s accessories hall, one of the largest in the world. And in Trafford Manchester, the newly redesigned beauty hall features a wealth of customer focussed beauty services including a team of ‘Beauty Insiders’, experts unaffiliated with any particular brand that are on hand to provide impartial tailored advice.

Selfridges. Accessories Hall and ‘Corner Shop’ brand pop-up space

Across the English Channel, Galeries Lafayette is also championing a different style of department store retailing with its new Champs-Élysées store. The space designed by Danish architecture firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) is radically different to the Boulevard Haussmann flagship, located less than two miles away, and features a unique mix of brands aimed at a younger fashion focussed customer. Cantilevered glazed “internal windows” overlook the central atrium space and juxtapose against the store’s original Art Deco features. That new-meets-old juxtaposition can also be seen through the store’s service offering as the 300 “personal stylists” utilise a “personal stylist 2.0” app to assist customers before, during and after their visit. These sales assistants were specifically selected to include trend and style experts as well as cultural influencers who provide a knowledgeable, yet informal, level of personalised service. The store also features digital “smart hangars” that track stock availability, allow customers to order their size, and then have garments waiting in the fitting room.

Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées. Internal windows and “smart hangars”

By redefining customer service, the store experience and adding retail theatre, the Champs-Élysées store champions a sense of place and community above simply being a shopping space.

Galeries Lafayette also continues to expand its store estate within the China market and opened its second outpost in April this year. The Shanghai store with its beautifully landscaped internal garden terraces was designed by London design studio HMKM and marks the beginning of an ambitious expansion plan for Galeries Lafayette, with ten additional store openings planned by 2025.

In New York City, Showfields may be a newcomer to the scene, but unlike other department stores their assortment features only direct to consumer brands. Self-titled “The Most Interesting Store In The World”, the store curates a mix of art, homewear, fashion and beauty, which periodically changes meaning that on each visit the customer will discover something new. Showfields ethos is about showcasing physical retail in a digital world by fusing the best of online and offline. Many brands in-store have never had a physical space and Showfields provides a six-step process which assists with their concession’s design and construction. Guided by impartial sales assistants, customers ultimately get to interact with and trial products within the store and use tablets to explore additional items. If desired, customers can then use the tablets to purchase items which are shipped directly to the their home. This symbiotic relationship between offline experience and online convenience is something many major department store players could benefit from emulating.

The simple fact of the matter is that department stores can no longer afford to be the ocean liners of retail as these once stately giants become increasingly out of date, their concept nostalgic and their purpose obsolete. Today, there are simply too many icebergs. The disruptive icebreakers of today are the department stores who are radically re-imaging the way in which they connect with their customers, they are the stores that have a pulse.

They are the stores who offer experiences that are relevant and engaging and who embrace agility by honing their “fix and flex”; the balance between areas of the store that remain static and areas which adapt to accommodate constant newness. They are the stores who create spaces focussed on how they make the consumer feel through a genuine sense of discovery and are bravely innovative. Ultimately though, it will be those stores who are willing (and able) to face their relevance problem head on by championing the very best of physical retail, that will survive the fall – and rise – of department stores.

5G: A Retail Revolution

March 10, 2019 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

2019 is the year that sees 5G go mainstream. So as mobile phone networks and manufacturers gear up for the next generation of mobile technology, I take a look at what opportunities 5G will offer for the retail industry and whether retailers are doing enough to prepare for its arrival.

But exactly what is 5G and how does it differ from its predecessors? In the early eighties as the first ‘brick’ mobile phones came onto the market so did 1G or ‘first generation’ cellular communication which supported voice calls allowing people to communicate on the move. In the nineties, 2G saw the first text messages being sent as the mobile spectrum was used more efficiently and by the early noughties 3G was facilitating mobile internet access, streaming video, mobile gaming and sophisticated mobile applications. By 2012, 4G was being rolled out which saw significantly improved upload and download speed, HD applications, video calls and the advent of cloud-based storage.

So, 5G is simply the next iterative step in the evolution of this technology right? Wrong.

Rather than simply a step on from previous cellular network generations, 5G’s is set to revolutionise wireless communication with super-fast connection speed, greater capacity and low latency (the lag time as data travels between two points) and the lower the latency, the better the user experience.

“In basic terms if 3G was a VHS tape and 4G a DVD then 5G is Netflix.”

Imagine you want to download a high definition film. On 4G this could take anything up to 8 minutes depending on network, with 5G the same film will download in less than 50 seconds. Simultaneously, 5G will also be able to connect 100 time as many devices as current 4G networks according to CTIA; so no more struggling for reception at music festivals or sports games. This seismic leap in potential has led 5G being pitched as ‘a new form of connectivity’ with the potential to make much hyped technologies such as augmented and virtual reality common place in our everyday lives.

In basic terms if 3G was a VHS tape and 4G a DVD then 5G is Netflix.

So how can bricks-and-mortar stores capitalise on the potential of this new technology and what opportunities will it offer retailers? Here are my top three takeouts.

NEW IN-STORE EXPERIENCES

With 5G’s increased speed, imagine walking into a department store and being able to use personalised wayfinding to guide you directly to the specific department and product you’re looking for, all through your phone. Now imagine you’re in a LEGO store and through augmented reality it’s LEGO Movie characters that ‘hold your hand’ and guide you directly to your destination, or indeed guide you to other linked products you may not have considered buying. Or take the new skis you’re considering for a hyper-real test run down the piste in St Moritz through a virtual reality headset. This type of realistic experience will be made possible by 5G’s ability to almost instantaneously transmit cloud-based information to mobile devices in a way that has not been feasible before.

SMART STORES & SUPER SERVICE

Connected ‘Internet of Everything’ (IoT) devices will provide insight into consumer behaviour in real time, such as smart shelves that instantaneously update stock replenishment systems. As inventory systems become more responsive, the way in which stores are designed can also be fundamentally reimagined as stock rooms become smaller allowing sales floors to be maximised. Furthermore, imbedded facial recognition technology will help facilitate hugely personalised interactions as customer’s details and previous shopping preferences are immediately pushed to sales assistants’ mobile devices. Facial recognition software company Facenote is already rolling out a version of this technology at retail locations throughout Chile, Brazil and the US allowing brands to recognise their most valued companies as soon as they enter the store.

Despite the opportunities afforded by 5G to create ever more personalised customer touchpoints, the misuse of personal consumer data and GDPR has implanted a degree of mistrust into the public consciousness around how our information is being used by big business. As such, retailers will have to be hugely sensitive to how customer’s data is protected in order to ensure these closer relationships do not lead to acrimonious separations.

OPTIMISE THE VALUE CHAIN

With smarter, connected stores will come smarter connected logistics. With IoT devices in constant communication, the location of goods in the supply chain can be known and tracked in real time. Not only will stores and customers be able to keep constant tabs on where products are, but shipments themselves will be able to communicate with one another to ensure seamless and perfectly timed delivery. This ‘just-in-time’ potential has the power to revolutionise logistics meaning items will arrive exactly when needed, requiring less warehouse capacity and streamlining the value chain for brands.

As 5G will be able to support countless devices communicating with one another exponentially, it will also be possible to monitor the transparency of the supply chain with greater scrutiny. It will be possible to confirm a product’s point of origin and provenance with greater ease in order to ensure item’s ethical credentials are bona fide. As such retailers will need to ensure their supply chain is in check as consumer’s focus increasingly shifts towards traceability and sustainability.

With the imminent arrival of 5G retail brands should therefore be asking themselves “are we ready?”. While previously hyped, in-store tech has often had something of a false start, now is the time for retailers to consider what the future could look like for their in-store experiences, logistics and most importantly customer service. More than ever, retailers and marketers need to explore how technology can improve their brand in order to bring both emotive and transactional value to the customer.

Mobile Gaming: The New Frontier for Retail Brands

February 15, 2019 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

On Saturday 2nd of February the DJ Marshmello made history by performing the first ever live music set within the virtual universe of hugely successful online video game Fortnite. The free-to-play multiplayer shoot-em-up briefly became a live music venue as players attended the concert within Fortnite’s Pleasant Park. While Marshmello spun the decks, gamers weapons were deactivated and unique interactive experiences allowed attendees to bounce around in low gravity or rocket themselves into the air. All while fireworks and laser lights filled the virtual stadium.

So what, you might ask.

Well, the truly historical fact about this live music set was that the performance drew a captive audience of over 10 million Fortnite game-players, instantaneously making it the most attended live ‘concert’ in history. It should come as no surprise then that since the gig Marshmello’s Billboard chart position has jumped to number two with streams of his track ‘Happier’ up 120 percent during the week following the performance.

Source: Fortnite x Marshmello

Since its launch in 2017, the phenomenal success of Fortnite has seen it take prime place as the world’s most popular video game with over 200 million registered users according to its developer Epic Games. In real terms, if Fortnite were a country it would now be the 7th largest, trailing just behind Pakistan. And with its cities, forests and epic landscapes Fortnite has become a very tangible nation to its users – albeit a virtual one.

Interestingly, while first and foremost a video game Fortnite has also been adopted as a virtual hangout destination by its millions of users, eighty-two percent of whom are millennials and gen Z. With many of these seeing the platform as a space to socialise, catch-up and make new friends, Fortnite has become a new form of social media offering peer-to-peer connection with like-minded individuals within an escapist imaginary universe.

“Brands are increasingly seeking to capitalise on the captive audiences found within these fledgling online communities”

It is against a backdrop of this broader evolution in media consumption that brands are increasingly seeking to capitalise on the captive audiences found within these fledgling online communities.

Luxury brands in particular have been quick to explore ways of tapping into the success of online gaming and engage with a consumer who is both expectant of newness and familiar with in-game experiences. Hermès recently launched their “H-pitchhh” app, a single or multiplayer game based on a traditional horseshoe tossing pursuit originally played by Roman soldiers. As points are scored and different levels unlocked, players are greeted with virtual worlds inspired by Hermès illustrations and exclusive content is made available only to those playing the game.

Source: Hermès

Dior also recently launched an interactive online game to raise awareness around the opening of its Shanghai store where users needed to collect Dior items within the game to be in with a chance of winning tickets to the store’s VIP opening event.

Meanwhile Burberry used WeChat to launch a mini-game within the China market aimed at promoting the brand’s Christmas 2017 campaign. With a focus on finding the perfect Christmas gift, gamers used their phone to complete as many stages as possible – each linked to different product – and then compare their ranking with that of other players. In the end, the game recorded 30,000 interactions with traffic being driven directly to the Burberry website.

However, a brand creating specific game-based content to attract new customers versus a brand infiltrating an established game-based ecosystem requires two very different approaches. While the former creates customer engagement on the brand’s terms, the latter requires an acute sensitivity to how the brand will be perceived and integrated within an established universe.

It’s no surprise then that Fortnite’s collaborations to date have focussed on partnerships that are likely to already resonate with gamers. Since November 2018 for instance, users have been able to purchase National Football League (NFL) outfits or ‘skins’, to wear in-game allowing them to express their allegiance to a team while also exposing the NFL to countless other players. While in May of 2018, Fortnite integrated the Marvel character Thanos, to help promote Avengers: Infinity War with the character becoming a seamlessly integrated part of the in-game experience in a way that didn’t alienate players nor make them feel they were being marketed to.

So as brands and marketers look for ever more innovative ways to capture consumer’s attention, harnessing the largely untapped opportunity that exists within these virtual online universes could be a real gamechanger. While in-game marketing has to date taken a somewhat traditional approach aimed at everyone, it will only be a matter of time before technology facilitates ever more personalised branded experiences. But as advertising becomes increasingly sophisticated the key to unlocking this potential will be in ensuring these experiences are integrated, fun and relevant.

Ultimately, for brands who get it right the exposure and opportunity afforded within these online gaming ecosystems is limitless, however for those who get it wrong it could be game-over.

The Fashion Fast

January 29, 2019 by Adam Shilton

As ‘throwaway fashion’ and overconsumption take an increasing toll on our planet’s resources Emma McHugh asks whether we should all be adopting a New Year’s resolution of a different kind.

Emma McHugh & Adam Shilton

Healthy lifestyle choices and ‘a little bit less of what’s bad for you’ are often found on the New Year’s resolutions list, but January 2019’s best intentions seem to have been defined by a very different approach; total abstinence. This year, a record number signed up to take part in Veganuary which saw 300,000 people adopting an entirely plant-based diet for the duration of the month. Similarly, an estimated 4 million people also marked a Dry January this year, to reflect on their drinking habits while also giving their bodies respite following the excesses of the festive season.

Yet it’s not just abstaining from what we put into our bodies that has seen a shift in public opinion of late, what we put on them is coming under increased scrutiny too as people adopt a resolution of a different kind; the Fashion Fast.

This ‘movement’, which began to gain traction last year is rapidly becoming a part of the wider fashion conversation as consumers become increasingly enlightened to the damage so called “throwaway fashion culture” is having on the planet. Indeed in October 2018 MP’s also joined the debate with The Environmental Audit Committee writing a letter to the UK’s 10 biggest high-street fashion retailers inviting them into parliament to outline their sustainability credentials.

But this fashion overload isn’t limited exclusively to our high streets.

“Over lunch we can browse the endless catwalk of ‘fast fashion’ and shop the dress worn by our favourite style superstar with ‘1-Click’. Waiting is no longer acceptable as ‘see now buy now’ has rewired retail.”

It’s fair to say that over the past decade online and social media have radically changed the way in which we shop with the latter somewhat covertly becoming the latest retail frontier. Instagram in particular has become not only the go-to destination for fashion inspiration but also the go-to destination for savvy brands wishing to connect with a style conscious consumer, where ‘influencer’ endorsements and #ads have crept into our collective consciousness. Over lunch we can browse the endless catwalk of ‘fast fashion’ and shop the dress worn by our favourite style superstar with ‘1-Click’ and be wearing it the following day. Waiting is no longer acceptable as ‘see now buy now’ has rewired retail.

Further support for the Fashion Fast, comes in the form of a recent report that states the UK consumer now purchases twice as many clothes as they did 10 years ago causing stress on virgin resources whilst also pushing landfills to the limit. It is against this backdrop of mass overconsumption and environmental degradation that has caused many to feel we have reached fashion saturation. It’s time to detox.

But help is at hand. Apps such as Good On You provide information about the ethical and sustainable credentials of over 3000 fashion brands and gives ‘Great’ to ‘We avoid’ ratings to consumers demanding greater transparency. In the same vein, a recent Business of Fashion report cited 9 out of 10 Generation Z customers will only purchase from brands with a commitment to social and environmental responsibility. Similarly, nearly three quarters of people now wish for their purchases to make a medium to significant positive impact on social or environmental issues according to a report by Sustainable Brands.

Meanwhile the recent swell of interest in Marie Kondo’s minimalist decluttering KonMari method is perfectly attuned to the current appetite to cherish and value that which we have, rather than aspiring to accumulate more.

So unlike many of January’s best intentions that barely make it over the line to February, the Fashion Fast is a resolution that looks set to see out the year. As consumers’ shopping habits evolve to be more holistic, retail players that have a transparent attitude to their ethical credentials will increasingly be rewarded, while those that maintain a closed-door policy will come under greater public scrutiny. And while affordable, easily accessible fashion can be liberating, this should also be balanced with making responsible choices. Importantly for brands, it is an awareness of these emerging consumer trends and a genuine appetite to make a real difference that will be the key to us all having a truly Happy New Year in 2019.

Emma McHugh is a graphic designer, blogger and Creative Director at a leading London design agency.

Trending Now: 5 Factors that will Influence Retail In 2019

January 06, 2019 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

2018 was a challenging year for retail. We saw household names such as Toys R Us and Maplin vanish from our high streets, legacy retailers such as House of Fraser and New Look facing an uncertain future and high-profile players such as Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. All while consumers reigned in their spending and chose to prioritise experiences over goods.

So as the retail industry takes a collective deep breath ready to do it all over again, I take a look at the factors that will begin to play out over the course of the next twelve months. Various macro influences will shape the face of retail in 2019 with technology, social conscience and notably politics all having an effect. More than ever before, we will see consumers curating their own retail experiences and brands double down on their multi-channel strategies.

1. Consumers as Tastemakers

Consumers, not brands, are increasingly becoming retail’s tastemakers and this trend will continue over the next 12 months. Social media, a desire for instant gratification and newness along with a greater appetite for self-expression (particularly amongst Gen Z customers) means that consumers are becoming ever more single minded in their purchasing decisions and the ultimate curators of their own experience.

“Consumers are becoming ever more single minded in their purchasing decisions and the ultimate curators of their own experience.”

Enabled by established disruptors such as Netflix, Uber and Deliveroo consumers have become acclimatised to instant self-gratification and brands will need to harness this by creating online and offline experiences that respond quickly to changing tastes and trends. Only then will they be able to capitalise on the currency of now.

Tapping into this next generation of tastemaker, Snapchat recently announced it will be rolling out a visual search function in collaboration with Amazon that allows its users to simply photograph a product they wish to buy through the camera function and be instantly linked through to that (or similar items) on Amazon. While in the physical world, department store Macy’s recent acquisition of concept pop-up retailer STORY (who facilitate short-term brand collaborations) will hopefully inject much needed spontaneity, newness and experimentation into their store environments.

2. Sustainability & Transparency

Sustainability, transparency and a brand’s ability to proffer its ethical credentials to an increasingly socially aware customer will resonate more than ever in 2019. Environmental concerns, sustainability in the supply chain, labour conditions and data protection are all high on the agenda for an increasingly enlightened consumer. Indeed, 73 percent off millennials are willing to spend more on goods that are sustainable and on brands that convey a genuine social conscience.

Several retailers are already responding in earnest, perhaps none more so than apparel brand Everlane with its ‘radical transparency’ mission statements and ethical-from-source credentials that sit at the very heart of the brand’s DNA. However mass-market brands have been quick to respond. Zara, Mango and H&M all stock their own ethically sourced ranges along with Primark who are increasingly sharpening their sustainability focus both instore and online.

Retailers who wear their ethical credentials on their sleeve will increasingly become the new normal throughout 2019, with those who have skeletons in the closet coming under greater scrutiny.

3. Rent, Reuse, Resell

A spotlight will also continue to shine on the disposable nature of fashion with apparel rental, resale and reuse high on the ethical agenda.

More than ever consumer’s desires to tap into this market are being met by an increasingly varied array of options. Rent the Runway, for example, supplies women’s designer apparel and accessories for short-term use to clients unwilling to spend big bucks on seasonal pieces that may only be worn a handful of times. Instead customers can rent items on an ad-hoc basis through Rent the Runway’s website for as little as 10% of the garment’s original retail price. Initially online only, they have now expanded to five bricks and mortar sites in the USA where clients can access personal stylists, self-service checkout kiosks and quick return points, all adding value to the brand’s core offer.

The fashion resale market will also gain pace during 2019. At the luxury end of the spectrum The RealReal offers customers authentic second-hand designer items online and within its two bricks and mortar showrooms in New York and LA. ‘Consignors’ wishing to sell unwanted items send goods for evaluation and ultimately receive up to 85% of the resale price. At the opposite end of the resale spectrum Depop is a global online fashion resale marketplace that allows mostly Millennial and Gen Z users to buy and sell unwanted garments through the visually slick mobile app. Combining the intuitive nature of Instagram with the convenience of Ebay, Depop saw its users swell from 8 to 12 million in 2018 and have recently ventured into bricks and mortar in LA and New York.

As platforms respond to consumer’s appetite for greater accountability and the lifecycle of fashion becomes more fluid, retailers must seek to access this rapidly growing market in order to offer affordability, traceability and provenance to their customers.

4. Technology Gets Real

‘Cool’ PR worthy in-store tech will feature less in 2019 as underwhelmed retailers (and customers) accept digital for the sake of it does not deliver a return on investment. While engaging instore customer ‘experiences’ will remain of paramount importance, retailers will focus more sharply on how technology can directly add value to the customer both instore and online.

For online players, the application of technology to facilitate ever more frictionless shopping experience will continue to be a dominant force throughout 2019. Leading E-commerce brands will continue to explore new and innovative ways of converting sales by improving convenience while also reducing the friction point between seeing and buying.

The friction point of online returns will also be a hot topic in 2019 for customers and retailers alike. While free delivery and returns have become ubiquitous, it’s estimated the cost of returns to retailers currently stands at around £60 billion a year with fashion making up the largest proportion of returns in the UK (25% overall). London alone returns 66 million items of clothing per annum and given that most of these find their way into gasoline powered courier vans the environmental impact of returns is also likely to come under greater scrutiny. Alarmingly, it’s estimated that free returns in London alone account for the same amount of CO2 as produced by 1274 homes in a single year.

Japan’s largest e-commerce platform Zozotown may however have found an unlikely solution to both of these issues with their ‘Zozosuit’. Available internationally, customers receive a polka-dot Zozosuit through the post and using their smartphones scan themselves to capture their precise body measurements. Once the individual’s stats have been uploaded, orders from the Zozotown web platform are guaranteed to fit the wearer perfectly, thereby reducing the likelihood of returns while also increasing customer engagement. Time will tell whether the Zozosuit becomes a game-changing disruptor for online fashion, or simply a novelty item consigned to the sock drawer.

5. Multi-channel Becomes the Norm

As shopping across a variety of retail touchpoints becomes the new normal, brands will increasingly seek to consolidate disparate retail channels into a single multi-channel ecosystem by fully integrating their online, social media, marketing and store strategies to present consistency, capture new consumers and convert sales.

Digital native brands are the ones to watch here as increasing numbers seek to build on their established online and social media followings by moving into the physical retail world. Indeed, if proof were needed that physical retail isn’t dead, 67% of leading ecommerce brands opened physical stores between 2014 and 2017 according to a report by retail platform Hero. The difference with these physical sites compared to their bricks-and-mortar peers however is that more often than not, online brand’s outposts are less about selling and more about creating physical brand “embassies” with a focus on experience, advice and community rather than simply selling.

Traditional retail brands must therefore seek to reverse engineer this thinking across their store portfolios and deliver meaningful in-store experiences that entice and excite the customer, while simultaneously offering convenience, breadth and consistency online. Retailers must embrace deep integration and move away from a siloed mindset and towards creating seamless multi-channel expressions for the customer.

So as the year ahead begins, 2019’s trends will be driven by a consumer who seeks increasingly personalised brand experiences across multiple channels that don’t come at the expense of the environment, and who’s perception of the lifecycle of products is increasingly fluid. Therefore, brands who can tap into these evolving customer expectations and harness the cultural zeitgeist will be best placed to succeed in the year ahead.

For The Love of ShopS: 5 KEY FACTORS EVERY RETAILER SHOULD CONSIDER

November 28, 2018 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

With recent headlines reporting that over 24,000 UK retail outlets closed during the first 6 months of the year one could be forgiven for thinking our high streets have succumbed to the aptly named ‘retail apocalypse’. It’s been a tumultuous year, with the likes of Toys R Us and Maplin collapsing into administration and department store chain House of Fraser saved only by a last minute rescue deal. As numerous other household names teeter on the verge of insolvency or are being forced close stores, it’s clear that the difficult times being faced by our high streets are far from over.

Yet despite the crisis conditions being faced by real-world retailers, bricks and mortar is far from dead. The retail landscape may be experiencing the most seismic upheaval since globalisation and chain-stores changed the face our high streets 50 years ago, but as was the case then, the best (and most relevant) will prevail.

“Despite the crisis conditions being faced by real-world retailers, bricks and mortar is far from dead”

So while it seems inevitable there will be further high (and low) profile casualties, I wanted to look at the 5 key factors bricks and mortar retailers should be considering, not only to survive but to thrive.

1. Digital is simply no longer an option

As of 2018 only around 12% of retail sales are made online globally. Yet despite this relatively modest figure the impact of ecommerce is already having an unprecedented and fundamental effect on the face of traditional retail. As such, if your brand doesn’t have at least some form of online ‘footprint’, you risk becoming the equivalent of a blacksmith in a digital age.

Not only are brands with ecommerce channels better placed to capture an increasingly digital savvy customer, but they are also helping future proof themselves from the inevitable; the simple fact that within a decade online will eclipse the store as the new flagship. Irrespective of the size of your store, or indeed the size of your store estate, online will soon become the dominant touchpoint for consumers wishing to interact with your brand. The store, as we know it, will become an incredibly valuable yet secondary touchpoint – another marketing stream allowing shoppers to interact with brands in the real world and service their physical expectations. Retail reframed, with online as brand flagship and store as brand embassy.

Yet it’s more than an active online presence brands require to remain relevant in a digital age. From a consumer insight perspective, brands must also leverage and scrutinise data captured from their online platforms to create ever closer and more personal relationships with their customer, to better understand their tastes and preferences and most importantly what they want. Brands should also harness digital technology to help improve how they deliver value to the customer, whether that’s through smarter inventory management systems, a streamlining of the supply chain or by bringing convenience to the customer through faster delivery options.

So whether it’s a seamless online Flagship that captures customers or sophisticated back-office analytics that help improve the bottom line, the fact of the matter is – investing in digital is simply no longer an option.

2. Think “Venue” rather than “Store”

You would need to have been locked in a lead-lined box for the past couple of years not to have heard the words ‘retail’ and ‘experience’ used together in the same sentence. The fact of the matter is that stores can no longer simply operate as rooms filled with rails as the focus of shopping moves away from buying things towards how the customer experiences buying those things.

In an age when you can purchase a luxury handbag from your sofa at 2am, why bother going to a store at all? Bricks and mortar retailers should therefore move away from having a commodity focussed mindset to an experience focussed one. Real-world stores need to be reimagined as ‘Venues’, in essence physical brand manifestations which offer customers unique sensorial experiences, purposeful interactions and impeccable service led connections – fundamentally those things which cannot be found online, or at least not yet.

A perfect case study example here is the digital-native beauty brand Glossier who just opened their largest physical store in New York City this November. Decorated in muted pink tones and with soft lighting, the space was designed to create the “feeling” of the online brand in a real-world environment. Staff, called ‘offline editors’, are on hand to help and advise the brand’s devoted customers as they test and play their way through the sanctuary like space. Crucially, the whole experience focusses on interaction, escapism, belonging and a chance to hang out with like-minded individuals. And why rush? For that you can shop with the brand online.

3. Know your customer now and know your customer next

At the heart of every successful retail brand lies an innate understanding of the customer and thereby the best way to satisfy their needs and demands. But a long-standing and trusted methodology can sometimes be the very thing that blindsides a business from what’s on the horizon and ultimately derails that understanding. Particularly in a world where customer loyalty is increasingly fleeting, brands are at risk of suffering from a success induced blind spot.

If we consider the likes of Blockbuster Video or famously Kodak, these once hugely successful brands were ultimately blindsided by their single minded, narrow-focus approach. Their hugely successful business strategies, no doubt established when times were good, ultimately became their undoing as they failed to foresee and ultimately respond to the prevailing shifts in technology and the consumer’s appetite. These are easy observations to make with the view of hindsight, nevertheless having an ear to the ground for shifting trends in consumer behaviour and the wider marketplace plus the foresight and agility to adapt will be key to the future success of any retail brand.

4. Speak with confidence

Influenced in part by the single-minded way in which online brands often engage with their audience today’s consumers have become acclimatised to (and expect) a strong and confident point of view from the retail brands they interact with. Don’t be mistaken, we’re not talking about traditional advertising or marketing here, we’re talking about a brand’s specific point of view on seasonality, style, social conscience, quality, or simply the products they stock, in order to convey a sense of purpose to the customer. This proposition then needs to come to life with consistency across all touchpoints in-store and online. Most importantly however it has to be relevant and 100% true to the brand’s DNA. It goes without saying that a cynical approach to this strategy, aimed solely at attracting customers or increasing revenue is likely to do more harm than good.

So whether it’s a unique conversation around product (think Eytys’s unisex take on sneakers and apparel) or a disruptive approach to promotion (think Selfridges ‘Rocks Christmas’ campaign) or a staunchly ethical approach to the supply chain (think fashion brand Everlane’s ‘Radical Transparency’ mantra) customers crave a point of difference. Today, consumers are increasingly demanding an ever more curated take not only on what they’re buying, but why they should be buying it.

5. Embrace innovation and change

Never before have retailers needed to be so able to weather the storm. In a time of such unparalleled change, brands need to explore new and innovative ways of interacting with their customers and in doing so strive to forge new and lasting relationships. Today, bricks and mortar retailers should aim to adopt a new mindset by thinking of themselves more like “software” that can be updated to respond to shifting consumer trends, rather than “temples” primarily housed in physical spaces that have a fixed and immovable point of view. The time to embrace innovation and change is now.

Nordstrom, the legacy American department store chain is in the process of doing just that. By way of re-imagining its business model, Nordstrom has both re-engaged its customer and increased its bottom line. Furthermore, in doing so the Seattle based chain has set itself apart from its embattled peer group. This year Nordstrom saw profits rise after investing heavily in its ecommerce (with a 23% increase in sales) and launched an inventory-free concept Nordstrom Local. In addition, the brand has opened a dedicated men’s store in Manhattan where online purchases can be collected from the store’s location 24-hours a day and plans to follow suit with a women’s location in 2019.

So while our embattled high streets may be currently undergoing a crisis of confidence, I truly believe that as long as retailers create reimagined environments that speak to their customers with consistency, that foster a sense of community and purpose, that understand their customer inherently and are brave enough to innovate in the face of change, we will once again be reminded why we love to shop.

Amazon’s Fashion Faux Pas

October 28, 2018 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

Last week London played host to Amazon’s latest venture into bricks and mortar with the opening of a week long pop-up on Baker Street. Open between 23 – 27 October, the fashion focussed store was the first of its kind in Europe and the latest example of the brand flexing its muscles in the physical retail world.

The store offered Londoners an edited range of women’s and men’s apparel with the assortment rotating throughout the pop-ups duration alongside a calendar of talks and events. Autumn/winter ‘18 trends were the focus of the first two days, with fitness taking centre stage on the third followed by street and party wear throughout the final few days. Events included yoga sessions with Ella Mills founder of Deliciously Ella, panel discussions hosted by Vogue and product customisation with Pepe Jeans in addition to a host of DJ’s and acoustic music sets.

As one might expect, the store also featured a digital component in the form of Amazon’s braded QR code technology ‘SmileCode’ which allowed customers to purchase products either online or in-store simply by scanning coded tags with their phones via the Amazon mobile app. Conspicuously though, the store lacked any additional meaningful digital clout, which seemed a distinct oversight given the innovative real-world tech of some of its predecessors. Compared to the likes of Amazon 4-Star and Amazon Go (discussed in my previous article, The Digital Feedback Loop) this latest Amazon store could be considered practically archaic. Notably, even last year’s Amazon / Calvin Klein Christmas pop-up collaboration in New York City had Echo speakers in its fitting rooms which allowed customers to select music or control light settings. Plus given Amazon’s next generation ‘Echo Look’ is being billed as a personal ‘style assistant’, inclusion of at least some of the Echo’s functionality would have positioned the pop-up lightyears ahead of its legacy bricks and mortar peers. For a brand so pioneering and disruptive in its application of smart technology, incorporating so little in the way of meaningful digital experience seems a missed opportunity to engage with expectant new customers

“For a brand so pioneering and disruptive in its application of smart technology, incorporating so little in the way of meaningful digital experience seems a missed opportunity to engage with expectant new customers.”

Similarly, while the might of Amazon’s growing own-brand portfolio should by no means be underestimated (the store stocked Amazon’s Truth & Fable, FIND and Meraki brands alongside Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s and Puma), the frequency with which the product offering changed combined with the pop-up’s limited life span meant the assortment looked confused rather than curated, thereby missing the target of any particular consumer group. While there’s no denying that the immediacy of fashion’s ‘see now, buy now’ and ‘drop’ culture are becoming the norm, this lack of focus could again be seen as an opportunity missed.

Described by Amazon as a “big learning experience for us to understand how Amazon fashion translates into physical retail” this store was clearly a milestone for a brand keen to take the next step towards repositioning itself as a serious fashion contender, rather than a commodity driven retailer known for cut-price clothing and repeat purchases. Yet despite the lofty aspiration, this “learning experience” approach appeared to focus more on post-delivery insight gathering than the creation of a truly remarkable future-proofed fashion retail experience. While Amazon’s appetite to further permeate the physical retail world should not be underestimated this latest bricks and mortar expression points to an online brand that’s not always entirely sure of its place in the real world.

The Digital Feedback Loop

October 12, 2018 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

By leveraging their own consumer data, savvy retailers are putting the customer at the heart of the shopping experience by offering hyper-personalised in-store experiences.

This September Amazon launched 4-Star, its latest physical store venture in New York’s SoHo neighbourhood. The concept which follows on from their Amazon Go and Amazon Books outlets differs from these previous forays into bricks & mortar by stocking a varied product mix, with each item being rated 4 stars or above by Amazon customers. This means that only the best, most highly rated and trending products will be available in-store. Amazon 4-Star will also contain products trending in the store’s local area as well as customer’s “most wished for” items as part of the changing product assortment.

What’s interesting about 4-Star though is that while Amazon’s previous physical retail ventures have mainly positioned innovation and technology centre stage (think the automated ‘just-walk-out’ payment story surrounding their Amazon Go stores) here it is the customer, and community of customers that sit at the very heart of the retail experience. By leveraging consumer data to stock products they know their customers already love, Amazon 4-Star both democratises the physical retail experience and creates the perfect retail feedback loop. Here Amazon’s customers have total control, as they directly influence and endorse the offering, which in turn directly influences and endorses other customers’ purchase decisions. To further validate the assortment, digital shelf-edge strips display reviews plus the in-store versus Amazon Prime pricing – which is always lower – meaning Prime members benefit from being part of the Amazon community, even in the real world.

Digitial shelf-edge pricing. Source: Amazon

Yet presenting relevant, engaging and curated product to the customer is hardly new news. Historically, the role of retailer has always been to anticipate demand in order to satisfy a need with customer feedback and the popularity of an assortment often benchmarking the success of a merchandising strategy. Over time, subsequent improvements to stock inventory systems, market research and customer loyalty schemes ultimately allowed retailers to better anticipate customer demand as they leveraged these more sophisticated tools, but winning decisions were still usually based on hindsight and the merchant’s experience. More art than science, and often based on a product centric approach rather than a customer centric one.

“As ‘retail prophet’ Doug Stephens eloquently puts it, “if media has become the store, now the store has to become media”.”

What 4-Star so articulately demonstrates then is that by leveraging customer data, Amazon has shrewdly given the customer that control – they become the merchandising strategy. It is the customer’s tastes and favoured products that are on offer rather than anything dictated by the merchant. The benefits of this methodology are obvious; not only is customer engagement and experience bolstered, but stock inventories and the supply chain can be streamlined to cater only to what the customer actually wants, all benefitting the bottom line. This retail approach also plays into the immediacy with which consumers are so used to shopping online and crucially connects the online / offline experiences into a single unified expression. As ‘retail prophet’ Doug Stephens eloquently puts it, “if media has become the store, now the store has to become media”.

Farfetch Store Of The Future. Source: Farfetch

Advancing this thinking further is luxury fashion marketplace Farfetch, another example of an online retailer making its mark on the physical retail landscape. By leveraging their access to big data (15,000 data points are collected in an average 5 minute online shop according to industry insiders) Farfetch aim is to provide an unparalleled level of personalisation via engaging digital interactions at key touchpoints throughout the store. Described as an ‘operating system’ for physical retail, RFID enabled rails, magic mirrors and existing customer data will help guide customer’s in-store selections and close the loop on Farfetch’s omnichannel experience by creating a complete online / offline ecosystem for the brand.

The retailers who will thrive in the coming years therefore will be those who redefine and reimagine their store experiences in order to build more personalised relationships with their customer. In a post digital world, the adoption of consumer data and analytics to help facilitate this and streamline business decisions is vital. And while data privacy and GDRP are quite rightly of paramount importance, the use of customer data to enhance the physical shopping experience is becoming less an option and more a necessity.

Think Pop-Up

October 08, 2018 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

The term ‘Pop-Up’ has been around for decades but could the ideology behind these short-lived concepts be the long-term savour of our high streets?

Believed to have started in LA in the 1990’s and quite possibly the first examples of ‘disruptive’ retail, Pop-Ups reflect a moment in time, showcasing newness and innovation allowing brands to build interest with customers and test the market before deciding whether to commit to anything more permanent. They are frequently differentiating thereby creating a strong point of view, invariably targeted engendering a tribal ‘collective’ sentiment, almost always experience driven encouraging customer engagement and by nature ‘nimble’ reflecting current trends and tastes.

Despite their ephemeral nature Pop-Ups are also big business and contribute upwards of £2 billion to the UK economy a year. They have also been identified as one of the largest opportunities for growth in retail today. As such, these temporary retail outposts and their power to resonate, should by no means be underestimated.

With traditional retail in such a state of flux, isn’t it time to think a bit more Pop-Up?

It’s clear that generational changes in shopping habits and the relentless rise of ecommerce are having a profound impact on the state of physical retail. Unlike online only brands, many legacy bricks and mortar retailers lack a direct line of sight to their target customer and are increasingly struggling to justify their relevance on our high streets. Yet while online brands may benefit from an unimpeded relationship with their audience it is often entirely virtual and our interaction with them is usually limited to the cold touch of a screen with ‘customer experience’ often missing from the equation entirely.

“With traditional retail in such a state of flux, isn’t it time to think a bit more Pop-Up?”

Therein lies the opportunity for traditional retailers to play their trump card. By leveraging their physical space on the high street, bricks and mortar stores need to harness the unique DNA of the Pop-Up in order to offer the agility, newness and immediacy which can be found online by a consumer increasingly acclimatised to instant gratification.

Taking this idea to the extreme is STORY in New York which every four to eight weeks reinvents itself in order to showcase a new brand or trend within a Pop-Up ‘retail magazine’ store environment. Since it’s launce in 2011 STORY has become a multi-million dollar business and has partnered with the likes of Pepsi, Target and beauty brand Coty with founder Rachel Shechtman admitting "I don't think in terms of sales per square foot. I think in terms of experience per square foot.”. Given STORY’s recent acquisition by American department store chain Macy’s in May 2018 followed by Shechtman’s appointment as in-house Brand Experience Officer, there is clearly a growing appetite to offer an increasingly nimble approach to retailing even amongst the most traditional bricks and mortar stores.

But adopting a Pop-Up mind-set doesn’t have to be about total store-wide reinvention, it’s about establishing the appropriate proportion of ‘fix and flex’ and building the ability for iteration and change into the store’s DNA, regardless of scale. Most importantly though it’s about giving people a reason to return and leveraging the Pop-Up’s philosophy of presenting an agile, curated and relevant point of view is universally engaging, powerful and (so far) largely untapped by physical retailers.

Establish the relevant proportion of ‘fix and flex’

If the stores of the past were rooted in steadfast continuity and consistency, then the stores of the future must have agility and dynamism at their core. They must look to fulfil the expectations of a demanding consumer whose constant appetite for what’s new and what’s next is being satisfied digitally, but so often missed physically. Thinking ‘Pop-Up’ then and harnessing the dynamic energy of these short-term entities might just be the key to unlocking the long-term potential of our high streets.

Store? Installation? Gallery? Who cares?

September 30, 2018 by Adam Shilton

Adam Shilton

Among the shows and parties of this September’s New York fashion week, the headline for me was new accessories brand A.Human who created an immersive showroom aiming to throw a spotlight onto our preconceived ideas of beauty while showcasing their Spring/Summer ’19 collection. The brand which disrupts traditional perceptions of beauty and fashion, has already created social media excitement with the likes of Kim Kardashian and model Chrissie Teigen sporting their body-modifying designs. The immersive space labelled “a fashion showroom of the future” took guests through a series of atmospheric, sensorial rooms in which motionless human mannequins wore prosthetic pieces from the collection - we’re talking rhino horn-like shoulders, biological snail like ‘heels’ and gill like necklaces - set against a darkly theatrical backdrop. While the pieces were only available for pre-order, ahead of the Spring/Summer launch, the immersive experience culminated with an inevitable merchandise opportunity where (as online) guests can create a personalised A.Human tshirt printed with their bespoke design.

How then, does one define this experience? An experiential retail showroom? A multisensory store? A prosthetic pop-up pavilion? Or does it in fact even matter?

“Retailtainment” the namesake used to articulate the blurring of boundaries between fashion, retail, art and culture is by no means a new concept. In his 1999 book “Enchanting a Disenchanted World: Revolutionizing the Means of Consumption” George Ritzer described "retailtainment" as being the "use of ambience, emotion, sound and activity to get customers interested in the merchandise and in a mood to buy." While creating captivating and unexpected real-world experiences to attract customers is by no means a new concept for retailers (think online mattress retailer Casper and their touring ‘Nap Truck’ offering sleep pods to customers or online fashion retailer Everlane’s immersive Shoe Park pop-up in New York) it is a relatively recent phenomenon that sees these experiences being presented as front and centre.

“In his 1999 book “Enchanting a Disenchanted World: Revolutionizing the Means of Consumption” George Ritzer described “retailtainment” as being the “use of ambience, emotion, sound and activity to get customers interested in the merchandise and in a mood to buy.”

Unquestionably at this experience-first end of the spectrum is the new Gentle Monster flagship in London’s West End which opened earlier this summer. As with the brand’s other outlets in Asia and the USA, the store offers a single-minded theatricality to the customer experience. Upon entering the two floor super-boutique you are met by an army of motionless extra-terrestrial-kung-fu-warriors instead of anything resembling a retail fixture. Every 3 minutes a gong, sitting atop a quasi-lunar lander, crashes causing these static warriors to spring to life and gyrate in synchronicity, it’s a wonderfully bizarre spectacle. Throughout the store, you continue to be greeted by various other ‘monsters’ either sat amongst the exquisitely curated and minimal product, or peering curiously around walls at customers as they browse.

As with the immersive, theatrical experience created by A.Human, a pertinent question therefore hangs in the air - is this a store that contains an art exhibition or a gallery that contains a store? To today’s Millennial and Gen Z consumers these distinctions increasingly matter less and less. Unlike previous generations where art, design and fashion occupied distinct silos within the cultural psyche, today’s consumer’s (in part fuelled by the cross-pollinating effect of social media) recognise these distinctions less, what matters is if something is interesting or not, the level of engagement and a tribal desire to belong.

The Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco taps deeply into this desire for tangible experiences where guests can have their photo taken amongst giant Gummy Bears, swing on a giant banana split, ride a Unicorn or, of course, just eat ice cream. Realising a childhood fantasy of jumping into a pool of ice cream sprinkles, founder and creative director Maryellis Bunn conceived of the idea in order to offer guests an immersive and escapist experience which plays to our universal joy of indulgence and pleasure, regardless of age. Despite its namesake though, the Museum of Ice Cream is more an immersive lactose-fuelled joyride than a museum, blurring the line between shopping and entertainment by offering guests something that not only saturates the senses but also offers the opportunity to spend. And at the Museum of Ice Cream spending is big business. Aside from the $38 ticketed entry, they offer their own label ice cream in addition to a line of accessories and apparel. Not to mention recent exclusive collaborations with both Target and Sephora who stock limited editions of clothing and makeup respectively. With other outlets planned for 2019 it seems the Museum of Ice Cream is uniquely poised to bring retailtainment to the masses at a time when ensuring that consumers are in “a mood to buy” in physical stores is more poignant than ever