• Sayduck is an app that uses augmented reality to allow you to see a product in situ. You can even take a picture of it and share it with your friends on Twitter or Facebook to see if they like it.
Image credit: Ergotron
There are still a lot of creative opportunities for retailers to explore in terms of adding value to their service. A good example of this is high-end American clothing retailer Nieman Marcus. Nieman Marcus launched an app last year which allows customers to find out who is working in a store, message them, and even book appointments. It also allows Sales Associates to see which pieces of clothing customers have been looking at. Using in-store sensors that pick up when a customer walks around the shop with the app open, the app delivers personalised content on all the new arrivals, the designer and the fabric. This type of information adds more worth to the products. And if you would like help from a member of staff, you’re able to just ‘check in’ and they will automatically know where you are, and what you may want help with.
Another good example of innovation in the retail space is Audi City London. They have designed a car showroom on a much smaller scale. Using giant screens you can take the base model A3, for example, and add on all the features you want. The specific; wheels, interior, colour and then have the car digitally rendered in 3D life-size. This frees up a lot of showroom space without the need for all the different configuration Audi models and colours.
Shopping malls. While typically seen as an outdated shopping environment, latest trends show otherwise. With rent increasing by 5-6% per year and 3 megamalls set to open in the UK in the next 5-10 years, the increasing popularity of these locations for retailers looks set to continue. Shopping is becoming, once again, a day out filled with recreational activities that malls can offer such as; cinemas, galleries, restaurants, Laser Quest, etc. Okay, maybe not the last one.
Trinity Leeds. Image credit: EG Focus, via Flickr
I’ve only really scratched the surface of the possibilities for the future of shopping. With stores on the high street up for grabs there is a gap open for innovative companies to create something new, just like Audi have done. Unfortunately the need for so many retail stores will continue to decrease. However, if companies embrace the paradigm shift and work to collaborate with online shopping rather than oppose it, then there is an opportunity to make the ‘showrooming’ (viewing products in store and buying online) more customised. People may still make their transaction online but could be persuaded to buy from the same store they have seen the product if they are incentivised by value adding services