Retail

From groceries to placemaking, retail is becoming more immersive, expressive, dramatic and hyper-personalised.

Behaviours : Markets

State of Luxury: Post-lockdown China

By Sima Bibi, Dan Hastings and Olivia Houghton 08 : 03 : 2023 Luxury : China : Beijing

After contracting in 2022, the most promising market for luxury goods is expected to recuperate quickly while setting new standards across the industry.

Browsing The Future of Bookshops:

While the book economy continues to grow, bookshops must re-invent themselves to remain relevant – but they’re not going anywhere.

Retail : Retail Experience : Online Retail

Next-level Luxury Pop-ups:

Brands are experimenting with niche campaign moments and product drops via pop-ups – with the aim of better understanding regional and...

Luxury : Retail : Advertising

Future-ready Retail:

Retail designer, futurist and author of Future Ready Retail, Ibrahim Ibrahim, is on a mission to reboot physical retail in the face of a...

Retail : Design : Society

So far, so what, Sephora?:

PR and brand-building expert Jo Jones on why the long-awaited and anticipated relaunch of Sephora in the UK created a polite hum not a...

Beauty : Retail : Wellness

Battersea Power Station redefines retail placemaking:

London’s iconic Battersea Power Station is giving UK shopping malls new agency with its mix of cultural and historical relevance,...

Retail : Placemaking : Architecture

Future Forecast 2023: Retail:

From the growth of Web3 retail to expanding phygital opportunities, hyperphysical spaces and exclusive spaces for VICs, we look ahead to...

Retail : Ecommerce : Design

Supermarkets in 2050:

In just 30 years, we can expect supermarkets to facilitate bio-hacking, offer store-grown personalised foods and provide planet-friendly...

Food : Health : Wellness

Retail’s New UX Sustainability Hubs:

As consumer demand for value-driven retail increases, a new wave of Hyperphysical Stores offering sustainability-focused customer...

Retail : Sustainability : Fashion

The Awe Economy:

Brands are harnessing the science behind awe to create experiences that invoke wonder and awaken self-transcendence.

Travel & Hospitality : Design : Architecture

Teen Fashion Market:

Brands are re-imagining teen fashion with engaging activations spanning physical retail and the metaverse as the sector undergoes a...

Youth : Fashion : Retail

De:Store brings Web3 retail closer:

Former Japanese fashion influencer Datz Itsuki Daito hopes to create a decentralised retail model for a Web3 world.

Retail : Media & Entertainment : Technology

Resale Redux:

The resale market is enjoying a resurgence, taking on fast fashion as a (mostly) guilt-free alternative, and allowing younger consumers...

Retail : Fashion : Sustainability

Meta-phygital Retail Market:

By hosting events and product launches that bridge the gap between the physical and virtual realms, digital-first brands are unlocking...

Web3 : Metaverse : Retail

Open-door HQs:

Retailers are opening their HQs to the public, turning them into destinations for storytelling, transparency and deeper customer...

Retail : Transparency : Hospitality

Five retailers embracing hyperphysical store design:

Retailers are tapping into elevated store design concepts to create memorable and meaningful customer experiences.

Retail : Architecture : Design

Gated Retail:

As the race to court very important clients (VICs) heats up, luxury brands are opening private boutiques for their top-spending customers.

Luxury : Retail : Fashion

Inflationary Loyalty Market:

As inflation increasingly affects customer spending power, brands are having to innovate and develop new strategies to boost loyalty.

Retail : Finance : Society

Neo-collectivists:

As we move from an individually minded society to a collective one, we meet the community championing new ways of sharing, caring and...

Community : Neo-collectivism : Network

Membership Retail:

A wave of apparel brands are shunning mass selling in favour of membership models, in turn reducing product waste and cultivating...

Retail : Memberships : Loyalty

Retail-flation Responses:

Amid rising inflation and the knock-on effect of the war in Ukraine, retailers are innovating to support consumers’ tightening purse...

Retail : Society : Technology

Budget Bots:

With consumers financially challenged due to global inflation they are turning to financial apps and services that automatically...

Finance : Technology : Retail

Selfridges’ Andrew Keith on retail’s hyperphysical future:

The managing director of Selfridges examines the ways that retailers can create immersive, engaging and Hyperphysical Store experiences.

Retail : Stores : Department Stores

Hyperphysical Stores:

In a post-Covid landscape, changing consumer needs are driving retailers to rethink bricks-and-mortar stores to be more engaging,...

Retail : Bricks-and-mortar : Stores

Retail Therapy:

Stores and retail experiences are leaning into mental healthcare in order to de-stigmatise, elevate and boost the accessibility of...

Retail : Health & Wellness : Society

Next-door Commerce:

Having re-engaged with their local communities, neighbours are inspiring new retail models based on hyper-local trading and sharing of...

Retail : Placemaking : Local

Why retail requires long-term metaverse strategies:

Justin Hochberg, CEO of Virtual Brand Group, explains the untapped benefits of the metaverse, from R&D to phygital marketing and avatar...

Retail : Metaverse : Virtual

Crypto-and-Mortar:

With more consumers investing in virtual assets, bricks-and-mortar retailers are exploring ways to market and sell NFTs in physical...

Retail : Media : NFTs

How STH BNK is nurturing retail’s Eco-venient future:

It’s time for landlords to embrace experimentation, flexibility and transparency, says David Monaghan, general manager of commercial and...

Retail : Sustainability : Health & Wellness

How fashion NFTs can spark eco-action:

Brad Morris, founder of digital fashion house MYAMI, shares how NFTs can be used as virtual tools for prompting environmental action.

Fashion : Metaverse : Climate

Five ways retail can maximise the metaverse:

The buzz around virtual worlds isn’t waning. For retailers, it’s providing space for novel marketing, brand education and alternative...

Retail : Media And Entertainment : Technology

Rewilding Retail Market:

The retail industry is implementing greener infrastructural strategies that benefit, shoppers, workers and the environment on a wide scale.

Retail : Nature : Health & Wellness

Play-tail:

Retailers are targeting families with interiors dedicated to children’s play and engagement that help to ease shopper pain points and...

Retail : Architecture : Design

Situ Live’s storytelling is augmenting physical retail:

Situ Live’s playhouse is a home-like space where technology, gadgets and exercise equipment are brought to life, giving brands a direct...

Retail : Technology : Customer Experience

Five ways automation is boosting physical retail:

As retailers work to future-proof stores, technology and automation are helping brands to provide convenience, problem-solve and fill...

Retail : Technology : Automation

It’s time to wake up to the metaverse mall:

With Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox thriving, the metaverse’s doors have been flung open. But when will retailers start building their...

Retail : Technology : Gaming

Alco pop-ups:

Retailers are driving customers to bricks-and-mortar locations through alcohol and nightlife partnerships that capitalise on the...

Retail : Drink : Alcohol

David Rockwell on turning constraints into dramatic retail opportunities:

Following the publication of his new book Drama, the architect discusses why limitations and impermanence will underpin a more human...

Retail : Architecture : Placemaking

Five influ-seller platforms for next-gen retail:

The apps and platforms helping retail brands seize the reach of influencers and celebrities by transforming them into sales people...

Retail : E-commerce : Marketing

Curator Kids:

As young people navigate an age of information overload, they are revolting against the relentless creation of content – and choosing to...

Youth : Media : Alternet Economies

Contemplative Stores:

Taking cues from places of tranquillity and contemplation, retailers around the world are altering interiors to re-introduce shoppers...

Retail : Health & Wellness : Covid-19

Fashion Rental Market:

Fashion rental services are evolving to benefit brands and consumers, providing new revenue streams, peer-led style inspiration and...

Fashion

Galaxy’s live-stream app animates fashion resale:

Danny Quick, co-founder of retail app Galaxy, explains why live video selling will foster a community-led future for fashion resale.

Retail : Fashion : Sustainability

Retailers must think beyond the category to compete:

It’s no longer enough to offer local events at flagship stores – now, retail must take inspiration from other sectors entirely, from...

Retail : Customer Experience : Leisure

Coterie Consumerism:

As e-commerce booms, Generation Z fashion brands are turning our digital habits into physical activations to make the shopping...

Fashion : Retail : Youth

Barter Brands:

Inter-Covid, bartering is gathering pace, giving retail brands a chance to explore systems where customers trade items for access to...

Retail : Society : Payments

Next-gen Grocery Market:

Amid soaring online grocery sales, nascent food shopping services are stepping up to offer a higher level of speed, speciality and even...

Grocery : E-commerce : Sustainability

We’re living in the age of the Meme Brand:

Welcome to kamikaze capitalism, where business rules are inverted, creative destruction becomes destructive creation and brands compete...

Branding : Advertising : Gen Z

Destination Retail Redux:

New opportunities are emerging to transform retail hubs into community-first assembly points that offer more diverse activities for...

Retail : Architecture : Society

Criteria Retail:

From groceries to homeware, retail brands are communicating their social and eco-values to customers by setting strict criteria for...

Retail : Society : Sustainability

Fashion rental’s future is locally peer-to-peer:

Jen Charon, co-founder of Loanhood, explains why local communities and peer-to-peer interactions will drive the future of fashion rental.

Fashion : Retail : Sustainability

Why brandsplaining is retail’s new battleground:

Brands continue to market to women using sneaky sexism and corporate feminism tactics, say Jane Cunningham and Philippa Roberts,...

Advertising : Retail : Society

Eco-venience Retail:

Accelerating e-commerce and demands for expedited delivery are forcing a new framework that puts eco-conscious practices at the centre...

Retail : Sustainability : Technology

The rise of retail’s third-space storefronts:

Brands are commodifying outdoor space to create retail destinations that blend into the urban fabric while fostering play, exploration...

Retail : Architecture : Design

Subscriptions Market:

Offering convenience, discovery and a way to support local businesses, retailers are seizing upon subscription services as a...

Retail : Subscriptions : Sustainability

Offset Sellers:

Amid accelerating e-commerce, new services are helping retailers to make carbon offsetting a more accessible and convenient part of the...

Retail : Sustainability : Carbon Offsets

Interactive Eco-labels:

To inspire greener behaviour among customers, fashion brands are elevating their product labels to promote transparency and product...

Fashion : Sustainability : Retail

Five pioneers promoting cause-driven retail:

In 2021, retail is about much more than acquisition and profit – for these five innovators, it’s a chance to make a positive difference...

Retail : Society : Sustainability

Evrythng’s quest to make a trillion products traceable:

Niall Murphy, CEO and co-founder of Evrythng, is on a mission to give every item manufactured each year a unique ID that will bring...

Retail : Technology : Traceability

The Urgent Company accelerates sustainability:

Industrialised food systems are broken. Paul Kollesoff, co-founder of The Urgent Company, explains how a more intelligent CPG eco-system...

Food : Sustainability : Drink

China Green Retail Market:

Propelled by the impact of the pandemic and shifting mindsets of Millennial and Gen Z consumers, China’s tone is changing when it comes...

Retail : China : Sustainability

Micro-mmunity Retail:

Retail brands are swapping flagship and big-box store formats for downscaled neighbourhood shopfronts with services curated to the needs...

Retail : Customer Experience : Local

Augmenting Automotive Retail:

In the pandemic age, luxury car retail is driving in a new direction, turning to virtual experiences and anti-sales showrooms to win...

Luxury : Retail : Automotive

The hyper-local services levelling up logistics:

From ride-sharing retail to community collection points, third-party services are elevating, expediting and securing the delivery of...

Retail : E-commerce : Logistics

Moral Commerce:

In the wake of Black Lives Matter, consumers are seeking brand allies and making shopping decisions informed by their socio-political...

Retail : Finance : Sustainability

Dematerialising fashion:

Marjorie Hernandez de Vogelsteller, co-founder of The Dematerialised, examines the future of clothing and the potential for digital...

Fashion : Retail : Digital Fashion

Four ways social media is reshaping shopping:

Social networks and gaming environments are opening up as shopping platforms, prompting retailers to take their strategies into new,...

Retail : Ecommerce : Online Retail

MetaFactory creates internet-owned brands:

Drew Harding and Hammad Jutt, co-founders of MetaFactory, discuss how cryptoculture and decentralised brand economies are redefining retail.

Retail : Cryptocurrency : Fashion

Luxtainment:

As spending moves online, luxury brands are exploring new content marketing opportunities that combine entertainment with expertise and...

Luxury : Retail : Entertainment

Second-hand Brands:

Brands are taking back control of their second-hand stock and launching dedicated platforms and spaces to sell pre-owned products.

Retail : Resale : Fashion

Repurposed Retail Market:

As Covid-19 hits real estate, vacant department stores, shopping malls and their car parks are being given a new lease of life.

Retail : Architecture : Fulfilment

The digital evolution of neighbourhood stores:

With Covid-19 bolstering spending in local stores, new platforms are emerging that digitise independent retailers and boost access for...

Retail : Technology : Food

How The Yes is re-imagining algorithmic retail:

Julie Bornstein, co-founder and CEO of The Yes, explains her vision for intelligent e-commerce and the importance of curated online...

Retail : Media And Entertainment : Fashion

Off-price Retail Strategies:

To counteract the surplus stock resulting from Covid-19 closures and slower spending, brands are innovating with new off-price retail...

Retail : Pricing : Luxury

Deadstock Designers:

As the pandemic leaves fashion brands with a glut of unsold apparel, designers are shifting focus to dead stock and agile new waste...

Fashion : Retail : Design

DIY Dressing Market:

With sustainability increasingly front of mind, consumers are getting creative with their clothing and opting for DIY fashion over new...

Fashion : Sustainability

Inclusive exclusivity is the new retail experience:

With retail experiences limited by the pandemic, brands are driving desire by creating secretive spaces for those in the know.

Retail : Fashion : Marketing

Agile Artisans:

Revealing a more resilient business model, ethical fashion and homeware brands are supporting their artisan suppliers during the...

Fashion : Homeware : Retail

Studio Stores:

Faced with declining footfall and fallout from coronavirus, retailers are reclaiming their stores as multimedia hubs for content creation.

Retail : Media : E-commerce

Four ways retail is becoming a phygital playground:

Innovative applications of established technologies are creating multi-layered, mixed-reality retail experiences that merge digital and...

Retail : Phygital : Fashion

Squadded recreates the mall effect online:

Elysa Kahn, co-founder of Squadded, highlights the potential for the new social e-commerce solution and the difference between shopping...

Retail : Fashion : E-commerce

Makers Market:

As craft culture and the hobby renaissance build momentum, retail opportunities abound for a wave of consumer businesses founded by makers.

DIY : Retail : Craft

Flagship Fulfilment:

As consumers continue to value speed, retail brands are doubling down on the ways supply chains, logistics and fulfilment can enhance...

Retail : Technology : Logistics

Digital Architects:

A new community of consumers are curating fresh digital eco-systems to create new opportunities to engage with brands in a meaningful way.

Retail : Communities

Feedback Frontiers:

As communications with consumers become more circular and conversational, brands are treating every micro-interaction as a valuable...

Retail : E-commerce : Digital

Discovery Grocers:

Online grocers are putting personalisation at the heart of their offering, from curated shopping baskets to SMS advisers.

Retail : Food : Technology

Eco-ambitious Retail:

Brands are self-imposing sustainability goals on their businesses that – while initially financially impactful – validate them as...

Retail : Sustainability : Brand 2020

Consumer Surveillance Market:

Originally created as a means for retailers to generate targeted ads, consumer surveillance has evolved into a lucrative eco-system to...

Retail : Data : Surveillance

How circular retail could create new cashless economies:

Fashion futurist and professor Karinna Nobbs proposes that digital retail experiences can be exchanged for unwanted physical products.

Retail : Sustainability : Circular Economy

SMS is changing the face of customer service:

Brands and retailers are using SMS to offer their expertise as a personal service rather than to simply encourage customers to buy more...

Retail : Customer Service : Technology

Experiential luxury malls:

Shedding their teen hangout reputation, retail centres are being given an experiential upgrade as operators set their sights on affluent...

Luxury : Retail : Architecture

DTC Directories:

A crop of third-party platforms are offering new ways to filter through the growing number of digital and direct-to-consumer brands.

Retail : DTC : Shopping

Generation Z Stores:

A youth boom is set to shake up bricks-and-mortar shopping, so retailers must adapt their strategies to meet the unique preferences of...

Retail : Generation Z : Shopping

Diving into Lush’s phygital experiments:

Charlotte Nisbet talks about the brand’s phygital retail experiments, from packaging-free stores and recyclable shop fit-outs to machine...

Retail : Beauty : Technology

Accessible Retail Market:

Retailers are investing in the accessibility of their physical and digital channels to support the needs of disabled and neurodiverse...

Retail : Inclusivity : Implicit Inclusivity

Obsess is upending the e-commerce interface:

Neha Singh, founder and CEO of experiential e-commerce platform Obsess, on the power of discovery to shape the future of retail.

Retail : Youth : Technology

Circular store design:

Consumers’ increasing interest in sustainable living is reflected in new retail destinations, where materials, design details and...

Retail : Sustainability : Design

The frictionless future of grocery retail:

In the wake of Amazon Go, grocery retailers are exploring how in-store technology can streamline the purchasing process.

Retail : Supermarkets : Technology

The anti-choice homeware movement:

Overwhelmed by choice, Millennials are turning to brands that offer a streamlined, limited approach to homeware shopping.

Retail : Sustainability : Homeware

Secondary Waste Retail:

New retail systems are professionalising the waste sector, transforming it into a consumer-facing currency and future new economy.

Retail : Fashion : Sustainability

Re-usable Packaging Market:

Growing concern about the environmental impact of plastic packaging is driving innovations in re-usable and refill concepts among...

Retail : Packaging : Sustainability

Peer Platforms:

A trust deficit between shoppers and brands is driving the rise of community-led platforms where purchasing tips and style advice are...

Retail : E-commerce : Peer To Peer

Streamlining phygital retail:

Brian Bolke, founder of The Conservatory, on this tech-enabled store’s strategy to assimilate the changing retail landscape.

Retail : Luxury : Digital

Eco-logistics:

In a bid to reduce the growing environmental impact of e-commerce, retailers are rethinking their logistics and developing new...

Packaging : Sustainability : Retail

How mobility is transforming last-mile delivery:

Autonomous driving technology promises to have a transformative impact on how we receive our purchases.

Retail : Delivery : Automotive

Community Commerce:

A new wave of decentralised retail concepts are transforming e-commerce as consumers look for alternative ways to access and exchange...

Retail : Media : Entertainment

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Stat: What matters to online shoppers in the US

With over three quarters of online shopping baskets being abandoned, a new report explores how retailers can change this narrative and incentivise conversions.

Retail : Finance : Society

Markets

Chinese Outdoor Fashion Market

Propelled by Covid, China's surging interest in local outdoor sports hints at new opportunities worth billions of yuan for the fashion industry.

China : Global Fashion And Style : Moncler

News

Pop Up Grocer opens a permanent location in New York

Pop Up Grocer has been a destination on wheels for food enthusiasts, influencers and retail buyers to discover emerging brands since 2019. Now, the retailer is settling down with a permanent location in New York.

Food & Drink : Retail : Advertising & Branding

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Ebay to host sneaker swap pop-up in London

Online marketplace eBay has announced it is opening a first-of-its-kind pop-up sneaker swap shop in London.

Fashion : Sustainability : Retail

Futures 100

Futures 100 Innovators : March

We look at 10 more innovators to watch as part of our Futures 100 Awards, which highlight those brands, businesses and individuals innovating for a better future.

Futures 100 Innovators : F100 : Beauty

Viewpoints

Future Airport Commerce

A new report by Kinetic Consultancy explores how digital enhancements and new concept developments can improve the airport customer journey.

Airports : Commerce : Retail

News

Savage X Fenty partners with Fit:Match for tech-powered fittings

Lingerie brand Savage x Fenty has partnered with digital twin platform Fit:Match and Intel to launch a new tech-powered fitting room experience.

Fashion : Technology : Retail

News

On opens shoppable science museum

On has introduced a retail-meets-museum concept at its first London outpost. The sports brand is using its store to educate shoppers about the science behind its technical running shoes and apparel.

Retail : Fashion : Sports & Leisure

Markets

State of Luxury: Post-lockdown China

After contracting in 2022, the most promising market for luxury goods is expected to recuperate quickly while setting new standards across the industry.

Luxury : China : Beijing

News

Jacquemus takes over Paris department store

French fashion brand Jacquemus has been given free rein over the iconic Galeries Lafayette Haussmann department store in Paris to showcase its latest collection.

Luxury : Fashion : Retail

News

Stat: GCC’s spending power on fashion hints at female cultural shift

A new report by The Business of Fashion Insights reveals that 50% of high earners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia spend more than £830 ($1,000, €938) a month on average on fashion.

Fashion : Youth : Retail

News

Ecoalf opens 3D-printed clothing store made of 100% recycled plastic

Conscious fashion brand Ecoalf and Nagami, a design studio specialising in sustainable architecture, have opened a 90-square-metre store made entirely of 3D-printed recycled plastic.

Retail : Sustainability : Technology

News

Kering to name brand safety chief after Balenciaga ad mayhem

Kering, the luxury conglomerate that owns Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, among others, has announced it is to appoint a brand safety chief.

Luxury : Fashion : Retail

Big Ideas

Stockholm Design Week 2023: Sustainability in goblin mode

Swedish designers face the challenges of circularity, reducing CO2 footprint and repurposing waste.

Stockholm Furniture Fair : Design : Society

News

Pangaia drops sustainable denim jacket powered by cotton waste

The fashion brand and innovation platform Pangaia has joined forces with textile tech trailblazer Evrnu to drop 20 ground-breaking Renu denim jackets made of 100% recycled fabric.

Fashion : Sustainability : Retail

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Retail

State of Luxury: Post-lockdown China

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Why retail requires long-term metaverse strategies:

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Play-tail:

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Five ways automation is boosting physical retail:

It’s time to wake up to the metaverse mall:

Alco pop-ups:

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Curator Kids:

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Galaxy’s live-stream app animates fashion resale:

Retailers must think beyond the category to compete:

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Next-gen Grocery Market:

We’re living in the age of the Meme Brand:

Destination Retail Redux:

Criteria Retail:

Fashion rental’s future is locally peer-to-peer:

Why brandsplaining is retail’s new battleground:

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Offset Sellers:

Interactive Eco-labels:

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Evrythng’s quest to make a trillion products traceable:

The Urgent Company accelerates sustainability:

China Green Retail Market:

Pangaia drops sustainable denim jacket powered by cotton waste