REIMAGINING STORES
From department stores to discounters to home improvement chains, nearly all retailers are engaged in the same game: trying to imagine what stores of the future will look like in an increasingly digitized world.
Chain Store Age asked several industry experts to offer their insights on the future of bricks-and-mortar retailing. Their responses run the gamut, but a common theme emerged: The age of brick-and-mortar is far from over, but the rules of the game are changing fast. Going forward, most retail stores will no longer have the luxury of just selling products. Determining and filling a larger purpose, and shaping the physical space to it, will be essential.
Lee Peterson
EVP Brand, Strategy and Design WD Partners
The showroom concept is the store of the future for digital natives. What is it exactly? Well, imagine a store where instead of wandering around trying to find the items you want, you browse for them all on a tablet, or in singular fashion on a series of tables. After scanning your choices, you simply pay using a credit/debit card, or your phone, right at the terminal next to the items (similar to a self-checkout experience), or wherever is most convenient for you in the store. Employees are then signaled in the stock room, where they pick the purchased items and bring them to you or ship them to your house — on the spot.
A “showroom” store indicates that there would be minimal SKUs on the sales floor, whose purpose will be to allow customers to touch and feel, try on or just play with the merchandise. We know from our own experience and have learned from past research that touch and feel is a critical aspect of buying at a physical retailer.
In the store of the future, you would also be able to buy online and pick up at the store. There would be individual, designated customer service areas specifically designed for engaging with staff, online pickups and returns, and other customer service needs. This is far different from today’s dominant setup, where BOPIS customers wait in long lines with customers who have complaints or a myriad of other issues to work out. Also, no more waiting for what you have already decided you want. You check out and go. The goods are on the way.
If you do buy in the store and have to wait a short time to have your items collected, there would be a leisure area where you can sit and use your smartphone, grab a snack or coffee, or just get to know your kids again. The thought behind this concept is to combine the best of online and in-store shopping and let you have an enjoyable experience while someone else does the work. And young people love it.
Maris Cohen
Director of Content Marketing The NPD Group
In an effort to lure shoppers back to the physical store, retailers from Bloomingdale’s to Topshop have deployed augmented reality technology in stores, allowing shoppers to see how products look — without physically trying anything on. From Microsoft Kinect-powered 3D virtual dressing rooms to Panasonic smart mirrors, fashion and beauty retailers have gone to great lengths to expedite the offline consideration process.
But while certainly engaging and fun, digital dressing rooms and mirrors don’t provide much more insight than holding up an actual shirt against your body or holding up a blush compact next to your face. Though additive online, offline these technologies don’t seem to add value. Moreover, they can’t offer much insight into how something fits or feels. From the consumer’s perspective, it might just be worth it to endure the dressing room queue to avoid a future return.
Given that, what will the physical store of the future look like? Retailers who seem to get it are those who have extended the perks of online shopping to the physical store. For example:
Sephora and Pantone teamed up to create Color IQ, a digital device that scans your skin and matches you with the right foundation color.
Software company Zugara’s technology enables shoppers to physically try on one apparel item and digitally view how it looks on their bodies in another color or style.
Bloomingdale’s and Kohl’s have added touch screens to some of their fitting rooms, enabling shoppers to browse customer reviews and request sales associate assistance — without ever leaving the room.
Rebecca Minkoff allows shoppers to search products in different sizes and colors from dressing room “magic mirrors” and sales floor touch screens.
Lowe’s introduced an in-store navigation augmented reality app that helps customers locate products in stores on their smartphones.
Israeli mobile app Zikit pushes mobile coupons from retailers to shoppers who walk by stores, allowing stores to tailor personalized suggestions to customers after repeated app use.
With e-retailers such as Amazon now opening physical store locations, the age of brick-and-mortar is far from over. The store of the future will seamlessly integrate technologies such as those outlined here. The next chapter in brick-and-mortar success will largely depend on deploying omnipresent solutions that address customer pain points to create more efficient, personalized and hassle-free shopping experiences.
Ken Nisch
Chairman JGA
The store of the future will be smaller or bigger, simpler or more experiential, just around the corner or a destination, and focused on “everything” about something, or “certain things” about everything. In short, it will be different. The difference might come in terms of functioning as a guide shop or web room — a place that deals primarily with the logistics of consumption. That could mean addressing customers’ needs after ordering online, or responding to their curiosity around fit, quality, texture and inspiration before they order online.
The SOTF might be bigger to address the customer’s need to be inspired, or create and manufacture self-designed products onsite. This “store” could operate 24/7, teaching customers how to make items just for themselves, or for their own micro-business (think Etsy). Or it might house a gallery to showcase their capabilities to share with others. Customers could share their expertise, trading it for new skills, or even offering it on a subscription basis.
The SOTF might be the world’s biggest walk-in closet to provide an opportunity for the sharing economy (think Rent the Runway). Customers may “shop” weekly to borrow, based on a subscription format (think library) related to what they are going to wear next week for work, travel or a wedding.
The SOTF may be simpler, because it’s just about things needed for outfitting — based on a passion (fishing, exercise), or a need (new baby, a change in climate), functioning in the way that a general store used to, albeit one targeted to life stage and/or lifestyle. It might be highly experiential, perhaps like a mini-vacation, or an adventure augmented by AR/VR — full of taste, scent and sound.
And finally, what SOTF won’t be about is storage. No more massive inventories or front door commerce. It will be about having many “doors,” be they social, digital and even self-commerce.
Interesting times? Certainly. Business as usual? No.
Jill Standish
Senior Managing Director of Retail Accenture
Changing consumer spending habits and the digital explosion means retailers need to rethink and reimagine the physical store and its value propos