London – Design studio PriestmanGoode rethinks unsustainable takeaway culture with a range of circular bento-style food containers.

The design concept, Zero, has been created in response to the environmental impacts of the takeaway market, which has only accelerated amid lockdown. The design studio collaborated with six partners to create bento-style containers from materials that are either biodegradable or re-usable, including Piñatex and cacao by-products.

The studio also aims to change consumer behaviour by introducing a small additional fee for the re-usable packaging, which would be reimbursed when returned to the delivery service provider. ‘We have been talking to our material partners about anti-microbial additives that could be applied to our selected materials to enhance safety, without having a negative impact on the environment,’ says Maria Kafel-Bentkowska, head of CMF at PriestmanGoode.

In our Food Waste Innovation market, we explore how the sector is taking a proactive approach to the reduction of food waste.

London – StudioXAG imagines a future retail experience centred around hygiene-first, immersive shopping.

The conceptual project, Feel Touch, comprises five touch-free experiences that respond to customers' collective needs and emotions. Centred around five moments, multi-sensory cues in the space are intended to evoke feelings of calm, gratitude, togetherness, joy and escape.

The experience in each room uses customer data and augmented reality (AR) to show product offerings through individual smartphones, allowing for a curation of items that is personalised to each consumer’s taste. According to the studio, the intention was the answer the question: 'How do you create an experience which is inspiring, encourages interaction and elicits an emotional response without being able to touch anything?'

With consumers hesitant to return to physical stores post-lockdown, future retail spaces will need to cater for viral outbreaks and empower customers with safety-first shopping experiences.

Consumers' purchasing behaviour has transformed during the pandemic, with more than ever feeling confident to shop online in new categories.

According to research by Forrester for Bloomreach in the UK, the US and Germany, half of customers are shopping on digital channels for products they’ve never bought online before, with a particular focus on necessities. Among these items, consumers are primarily buying groceries, household products and children’s toys.

In terms of overall shopping behaviour, more than 90% of customers say their behaviour has changed since before the pandemic, with many avoiding physical stores, putting discretionary shopping on hold and buying almost exclusively online where possible.

As consumers become ever-more receptive to online shopping, brands are refining their digital interactions with their customers. For more, explore our retail macrotrend Feedback Frontiers.