Retailers are doubling down on technology and redesigned stores that fuse digital and in-store experiences. Here’s an overview of retail trends witnessed by Mood Media, global specialist in elevating the customer experience at the point of sale.
World Retail Trends July 2023
UK
EE says just chill out
EE has launched a flagship store with a difference at Westfield White City. It has all the product demonstration facilities you might expect from a mobile phone and broadband network but there is one area that may surprise. Customers wanting to get away from the stress of everyday life are being invited to sit in the store’s meditation area where no phones are allowed. To do so, they will have to walk past a large window with a large digital display showing the latest mobile, tablet and smart home appliance launches. In addition to a chill-out zone, the flagship store features themed rooms, such as a smart kitchen, a kid’s bedroom and living room with superfast broadband. The store is promising workshops on using the latest gadgets and claims this store is larger than any other opened by rivals.
Rent and recycle with Rixo
Female fashion store Rixo has launched a new flagship concept on London’s trendy Kings Road. It is the first to feature its full range, dubbed the “House of Rixo” and debuts fashion rental. Rixo Rental offers customers a choice of 26 styles in a full range of sizes and colours with options to rent starting from £39 for four days. They also have an option to bring back items they own so they can be sold on to a new customer, in return for a voucher that can be used in-store. These initiatives are supported by Mood Media’s Charting in-store trends research which found two in three customers say sustainability practices are now a top priority when they decide which store to buy from.
France
Luxury in the metaverse
Luxury retailer LVMH is focusing attention on unique interactive experiences after signing a deal with Fortnite creator, Epic Games. The retailer has not revealed too much detail but expects its brands, or ‘Maisons’, will be able to use the technology for allowing people to explore product ranges in the metaverse. Given that live capture technology is being used, customers can also likely expect to be offered experiences where they try on and try out products in 3D virtual settings. A previous partnership with Epic Games created a Virtual Rome experience.
Norway
Beauty launch in Oslo
H&M Beauty has launched its first flagship store in Norway. The Oslo store features a full range of products and offers customers one-to-one consultations in a beauty bar area modelled on a cocktail bar experience and spa-like aesthetic interior design. The 300 sqm space will also stock 80 Scandinavian and world-leading beauty brands, including Huda Beauty, Wishful, Kayali, Smashbox, Anastasia Beverly Hills, KVD, Origins and Emma S.
China
Sephora rolls out AI in Shanghai
French beauty giant, Sephora, has launched its store of the future concept in Shanghai, following the brand’s first launch of the concept in Singapore last year. The retailer, owned by LVMH, will sell a full range of products from more than 36 global beauty brands. The store says the future concept is all about providing customers with an experience, including using AI to offer look analysis as well as a personalised gift packaging service. Mood Media’s Charting in-store trends research has shown that 85% of customers in China are attracted to a physical store which offers digital technology like this.
Hong Kong
Fly me to the moon
DJI, the drone manufacturer and Hasselblad a Swedish company that specialises in cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners have joined forces to launch a concept store laid out over two storeys. As you can imagine from a drone maker and a camera manufacturer used by NASA, the main theme is aerial photography with the strapline, “From the first moon landing to every lift.” The ground floor is dedicated to product display while the upper level is being used for demonstrations. The store is promising to host discussions and talks for people who are interested in aerial photography, so it will serve as a social hub for enthusiasts as well as a retailer business.
Australia
Adidas doubles up on physical retail
Adidas has launched a huge two-floor flagship store in Sydney. It features the full range of Adidas sports and fashion ranges as well as clothing from Stella McCartney. The second level is dedicated to Adidas’ Originals range with a blue room to reflect its signature blue range. The brand says it wants to fuse fashion and sportswear and is also using the space to include artworks which depict views of Sydney as well as the Australian outback. The Sydney Morning Herald writes that Adidas is adamant people are returning back to the high street and want to feel and try on clothes and footwear in a live environment — hence the two-storey giant store which is twice the size of any of its other shops in Australia. Mood Media’s Charting in-store trends research backs this up with 71% of shoppers globally saying they now visit stores more frequently, or with at least the same frequency, as before the pandemic.
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As Director of International Marketing at Mood Media, Valentina is in charge of shaping and driving the marketing and communication strategy for the company across its international markets. She also contributes to columns and blogs in several markets writing about retail technology, global retail trends, customer experience, sensorial marketing, and sustainability.
