What:  a new concept for a beauty store in Mumbai, India

Why it is important: it includes novel ideas and processes that could be reproduced by department stores

GDR UK, a retail intelligence agency based in London, spotted the new store opening by MyGlamm, an Indian beauty brand, in Mumbai. It is centred on safe product trial, social media and co-creation on 300 sqm:

• Safe product trial: each customer is given a sanitisation kit to clean products before and after trial, in addition to virtual tutorials and try-on apps,
• Social media: customers find content creation booths to use products and take selfies
• Co-creation: a secret lab, only open to members of the brand's community, allows them to test crowdsourced innovations.

In this store, retail merges with digital to appeal to Gen-Z customers in a very efficient way.

mumbai beauty store focuses on co creation and social media

Co-creation and social media in Beauty Store (pictures)

Hermès has announced the opening of a new address on Tokyo's Omotesando avenue on 28 February 2021. This new 488 sqm flagship store is the house's first free-standing store in Tokyo since the opening of Maison Hermès Ginza in 2001.

The store's façade incorporates the historic stone wall of one of the area's most notable buildings, which has been preserved by the Parisian architecture agency RDAI. The façade is given a contemporary look with a copper-toned stainless-steel grid.

Upon entering, on the right side, customers can peruse the colourful women's silk collections. Further on, fashion jewellery, beauty, and perfume. On the left side of the entrance, home collections including tableware and men's silk are introduced. A leather section at the back of the store welcomes bags, small leather goods, and equestrian collections.

Walls are covered in wood panelling and bamboo marquetry, accented by fluid curves, and a selection of women's shoes is displayed on wooden shelves. The floor is covered with two shades of greenstone, sourced in Asia and laid in a pattern resembling Japanese tatami mats. Behind the staircase is a refined area for watches and jewellery.

Light filters down from the upper level to the ground floor are inviting customers upstairs to discover women's and men's universes. On the second floor, mobile partitions create an intimate space for each métier while giving the illusion of transparency. There are large fitting rooms for both men and women, the latter designed to incorporate made-to-measure orders in the future.

Hermès opened a new flagship store in Tokyo

Under Robert Buchbauer's direction, Swarovski is seeking to nudge the brand upscale, moving away from the competitive, accessibly-priced space with a more timeless approach and creative director Giovanna Engelbert overseeing creative direction.

Engelbert likened her involvement with the house to have the keys to a crystal Willy Wonka factory. Merchandise is presented in sections swathed in pale green, pink or yellow and wall-to-wall carpet octagon-shaped compartments reminiscent of retro jewellery boxes. They line the walls, each compartment filled with a piece of jewellery or a figurine – or shiny, miniature statues of people in real-life situations, layered with jewellery.

Customers are invited to sit on a sofa while salespeople bring the products on trays for a personalized experience, Buchbauer and Engelbert explained, noting that the current set up serves as an installation to show the new branding. Engelbert said the idea was to appeal to a wide audience, "from the grandma to the kid to the mother to the fashionista."

"If you ask us about store metrics, we could tell you it's being received really well and we're happy with the results," Buchbauer' said, cautioning that it is still early in the process.

"These few stores have the main task of showing what we're up to, there's something entirely new at Swarovski and the starting point was to artistically curate our offering," he added. The pair opened the first store with the new concept in Milan last month; New York is the next stop, slated for April.

Rolling out the concept into hundreds of locations would call for a certain amount of standardization and sales processes, which they continue to work on. The brand began testing new omnichannel services before the pandemic hit, an area it intends to continue developing. Digital channels add convenience to the sales process, in how products and services are presented, as well as interaction with customers, noted the executive.

Swarovski has outfitted a second store for its brand-reboot project


Harajuku is known as the centre of Japanese young fashion and culture, and it's the location where Uniqlo's first central Tokyo branch opened back in 1998, and closed 8 years ago.

A new bigger, more stylish, and edgy Uniqlo Harajuku store opened its during summer 2020. The store is located inside Harajuku shopping complex and is designed to attract the younger generation, offering products that allow customers to experience the culture through the latest digital technology.

The two-storey Harajuku flagship allows for customers to listen to Spotify playlists curated by style influencers, and to look out for a 3-metre-tall statue of Billie Eilish by Japan's leading contemporary artist Takashi Murakami. But the most unique feature of the store is The Outfit Library of the future. Review.

Floor 1

UT POP OUT: new and popular items


When customers enter to the store from the street level, they find the UT section which is dedicated to UNIQLO T-shirts and UT items. This floor is filled with T-shirts from collaborations with various popular artists and brands.

As part of celebration of its inauguration, Uniqlo released a new UT collection teaming up with Billie Eilish and Takashi Murakami.

Under the UT brand, the store also sells lifestyle merchandises such as bags, stickers, ceramic dishes, stationery items, notebooks and a variety of new items.


This futuristic space was created by the total creative director Kashiwa Sato, best-known for designing the UNIQLO logo.

First basement floor

Main floor


As customers go downstairs, the basement will come into view where all the newest items are sold. This floor was designed to facilitate the shopping experience for the customers. Indeed, all the clothes that are on the mannequins have a reference, so customers know where to find them in the store. Also, some items are mixed in the assortment to find one particular total look; for example the mannequins' denim and tops are stored together in the store to facilitate the re-creation of the look"


Something that characterise Harajuku store is the "genderless" style, as the male mannequins wear oversized tops paired with women's wear.

The Outfit Library of the future


Perhaps the most notable feature of the store is "The Outfit Library of the future", created in collaboration with StyleHint (an App that allows user to find looks from pictures saved or taken on their mobile phone).

The style search engine application was developed by Uniqlo and GU. This "library" links up with StyleHint to provide a fusion of physical and digital shopping experience. With 240 panels displayed on the wall, customers can use a touch pen to browse and search the latest clothes posted by Uniqlo influencers. It helps to view the store's stock in real time, figure out where to find specific clothes at the store and see what the seasonal outfits are. This concept is referred to as a "library of future clothing" and customers can also download the app and make online purchases later through a QR code.

*Other features*

Other aspects specific to the store are displays of books on Tokyo and Harajuku's unique culture and history, a flower stand, a listening corner in collaboration with local musicians and Spotify, a sustainability corner with clothing recycle bins and displays showing Uniqlo's environmental efforts.

*Covid measurements*

Rather than using fingers on the touchscreens, customers will use pre-sanitised stylus which will then be returned to a separate container to be re-sanitised. The staff will monitor the number of customers inside the store and will be wearing masks all the time.

Uniqlo Harajuku website

More pictures

What: A new concept enhancing the sales process via the use of invisible technology

Why it is important: Unlike in Nike stores for instance, the customer is not overwhelmed with technology, which is used only to serve him at best

IADS' partner retail intelligence company GDR has spotted the new On running shoes in New York, emphasizing the way technology is used to ease the customer's journey. A wall with sensors is able to propose the best 3 shoes model after analysing how the customer is running for 3 seconds. Once the style has been selected, special tiles on the floor measure with 99,5% accuracy the customer's feet size, and all colours and sizes are available within the wall, helping the sales associate to stay with the customer at all times.

See more here

GDR: On NYC's invisible technology streamlines the process of buying a running shoe

For the first time, U.S. retail group VF Corp has opened a multi-brand space in Milan featuring three brands from the group' portfolio: Timberland, Napapijri, and The North Face. The space successfully mixes physical and digital experiences, showcasing new ways to do retail in the covid world. Review.

The assortment

The ground floor of the 2040sqm, two-storey store features a space called The Lab, where are showcased special collaborations and limited-edition collections from the three brands. The first floor is divided into spaces for Timberland, Napapijri, and The North Face, each with their own identity; the idea being to get the best of each brand.

Digital activations

Opened at the end of 2020, the concept emerged in a world still deeply deepen by the coronavirus crisis. Taking into account that the store might experience period of closure, it has been conceived to allow for the physical and virtual experience to collide.

Features include in-store POS mobile device, mobile check-out, click-and-collect, instore reservation to collect products at another store, and from-store shipping throughout Italy.

A virtual visit of the store is available from the website, with point stations that include video explanations and information.

Other digital activations include live-streaming events.

CRS and sustainability

The store has been built around core values common to the three brands: circular design, sustainability and exploration. The space has been conceived using of low-impact, environmentally-friendly materials and finishes, and features bottle refill fountain for clients.

The multibrand space also aims to act as a platform where the group can present innovative and sustainable initiatives in line with the values expressed by the three brands.

Store design

The store design incorporates diverse references to the city's architecture history such as green ceramic tiles, concrete bollards, and steel stairs (reminiscence of Milan's industrial DNA).

More

Listen to VF Corp. President of the EMEA region Martino Scabbia Guerrini in a podcast presenting the store:

VF Corp. President of the EMEA region Martino Scabbia Guerrini

OREFICI 11

In recent years, Nike has been upgrading its experiential game both digitally and physically, successfully mixing the two through different concepts and formats. Nike House of Innovation, its flagship concept in key urban areas such as New York, Shanghai and Paris, is an immersive brand temple that seeks to redefine the retail experience. Nike Live is a small-format neighbourhood concept and Nike Rise concept -launched in July 2020- is improving the front of Instore Experience by making the digital enhancements while also serving as a platform for their customers' needs in sports outside the store. Adding to these innovative retail concepts, Nike introduces Nike Unite as an attempt to reflect the "heart and spirit" of the local community.

Nike Unite is the brand's newest core retail format focusing on the physical and digital shopping experience for local customers. The store also continues its path of reducing its channel partners by designing their spaces as "community centrepiece" and providing more valuable services and opportunities to the locals. That is why it offers "new in-and-out-store experiences rooted in serving people the most valuable sports destination in their community" and has been designed to connect locals more closely with sport.

Throughout the retail space, the store highlights its staff, local partnerships and the story of the community by including local landmarks and hometown athletes; the store is designed in such a way that the local residents feel represented. Each Nike Unite reflects what the community is interested in by its locally curated product range offer. The store features seasonal products and everyday essentials.

Another trend that has been rising in the retail industry is sustainable products and services. In the case of Nike Unite, the store offers reusable shopping bags and Nike Reuse-a-Shoe takeback service. Not forgetting their CSR that aims at contributing to local schools and nonprofits through the Made to Play program and the Nike Community Ambassador program, encouraging to children to stay active.

The Nike Unite stores are already open to the public in the following locations:

• Namyangju (South Korea)
• Portland, Ore. (United States)
• East New York (United States)
• San Antonio (United States)
• East Kilbride (UK)

Coming Soon:

• South Chicago (United States)
• Atlanta (United States)
• Beijing – Jingliang (China)
• Beijing – Jingzang (China)

What to Know about Nike Unite

Nike Unite concept (pictures)

What: a Japanese beauty brand launches a virtual version of its Tokyo flagship

Why it is important: as demonstrated in IADS exclusive piece "Virtual Store: the future of retail?", virtual experiences could be a good way to support retailers, especially department stores, in the future

Using their smartphone, customers walk through the store virtually with the possibility to move forward, back, left and right thanks to 360-degree augmented reality. Customers are greeted by a virtual staff member, and they can tap any item to get more information, watch videos and add them their online basket.

GDR: Japanese beauty retailer creates realistic virtual walkthrough of its Tokyo flagship

video: cosme's tokyo virtual store

New venture Green Pea, opened in late 2020 in Turin (Italy) is a mixed-use centre gathering under one roof fashion, food, culture and leisure with one common motive: sustainability.

The project is carried out by Oscar Farinetti, the business man who created famous food chain Eataly. It is actually located next to Eataly Turin, the very first outpost of the brand that opened in 2007.

The idea behind the project is to encourage people to stop overconsuming and to start consuming more respectfully and with less environmental impact, based on the notion of respect.

The services

The five-storey, 15000 sqm space only features eco-friendly products related to energy, movement, interior decor, clothing and leisure created in harmony with nature:

• The ground floor dubbed "Life" hosts partners such as car, energy and communication companies
• The first floor, "Home", features home décor and domestic appliances
• The second floor named "Fashion" hosts sustainable fashion brands including big name such as Timberland, Patagonia, and K-Way.
• The third floor hosts "Beauty" and is also home to food and restaurant concepts, and to a selling space for books, culture and food products.
• The rooftop floor is called "Ozio" (laziness) and features "creative idleness" activities such as a wellness centre (including a spa and a swimming-pool), a cocktail bar and a roof garden that reduces the building's environmental impact.

Sustainability

The building itself is an example of sustainability. Located inside a former Fiat factory, it has been remodelled using only recyclable materials such as steel, iron and glass and it can be completely dismantled. Part of the wood use for the floors comes from Val Di Fiemme and Belluno areas' forests that were destroyed during a storm in 2018, and part is recycled wood from the Cuneo valleys. The building is painted with a special paint (Airlite) that reduces air pollution by 88% and kills bacteria by 99.9%. More than 80% of its energy comes from renewable energy (including hot water generated by a geothermal plant, the thermic energy and the electric energy come from photovoltaic and solar panels).

The brands were asked to furbish their shops respecting the same criteria of sustainability used for building Green Pea, which has given life to numerous synergies among partners: the Fashion and Beauty floors decorated their shops-in-shop using the decor pieces sold on the Home floor.

Inside Green Pea find also the GP Discovery Museum that reviews and explains how all the energy solutions and technologies used in the building work. The museum is suitable for all ages.

Digital

The Green Pea App helps users improve their sustainable behaviour day-by-day through challenges, quizzes and gamification mechanisms. The Green Pea Members are part of a community, and can access to exclusive advantage such as discounts, dedicated prices and promotions. Options such as smart payment are available through the app.

A Short Édition project also features on the app: it acts as "mini story vending machines", available in Italian and English. Users can discover narratives from great Greek philosophers, or original texts on the Green theme. Through the Green Pea App, all GP Members can submit their writings, which eventually become part of this shared storytelling project. It is another way to feel part of the Green Pea community.

Even the website is sustainable: when opened on your computer, if you don't interact with a page for a minute, the website will automatically switch to an energy-saving mode until you come back on the page.

Conclusion

The idea of an eco-friendly mall is not new: ReTuna Återbruksgalleria, located in Swedish town Eskilstuna, is a shopping mall filled with recycled, upcycled, and sustainable products. That's where Ikea opened its first second-hand store. We can also mention Burwood Brickworks shopping center in Melbourne, Australia, which opened at the end of 2019 and uses renewable energy inside and on the rooftop farm.

Yet the covid-19 crisis are reinforced even more people's will to consume more responsibly and to turn to more eco-friendly way of living and Green Pea is the latest big green project that might pave the way to more.

Sustainable mixed-use centre Green Pea

Green Pea website

In December 2020, French-born and Italy-based luxury winterwear brand Moncler has opened it biggest store worldwide on the avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris. The store has been imagined like a Parisian flat, with a corridor leading to several rooms. Architectural firm Gilles & Boissier designed the store using noble material such as marble, wooden floor and moulding ceilings. The two-floor, 1000 sqm store features the full range of the brand, and collections for women, men and children. Each room showcase one particular collection.

The assortment

The ground floor is dedicated to women. The floor is divided into several rooms, each of them dedicated to a particular collection. It features an immersive room with a giant screen from floor to ceiling. For the opening this immersive room hosts a limited-edition unisex collection inspired by the Paris rooftops and available only at this flagship. It may hosts other limited-edition collection in the future. A second immersive room showcases the collaboration of Moncler with suitcase brand Rimowa.

Clients have the possibility to privatise two rooms on the ground floor for private shopping sessions.

On the first floor also features the room dedicated to kidswear, and an area to display the exclusive collaborations of the brand with niche artists and designers.

The basement is dedicated to menswear and is organised similarly to the ground floor: several rooms hosting one collection per room.

The features

The space that hosts special collaboration on the ground floor has been constructed with a light elevation gain that reminds a ski slope, a nod to the brand's origin.

There is a room for exhibition and creative sessions (in the basement). For the opening its hosts a series of portraits from celebrities wearing Moncler gear in the streets of Paris. After that, the brand will showcase a short film that it has commissioned to French cinema school Kourtrajmé.

For the opening, the store is also showcasing a human-size sort of igloo that the brand used in one of its campaigns. It was imported directly from Italy. Customers can use the immersive area as a selfie station.

The brand also offers instore service such as beverage served by staff members.

Digital activations

Beside the two immersive rooms, the store also features iPads to help customers order a particular product or size that is not available in the store.

Covid-19

No particular changes were made to the store design and purpose in relation to the Covid-19. Safety measures such as limited foot traffic and mandatory are implemented, and the grand opening was delayed.

Moncler Champs-Elysées

One of the biggest trends that 2020 brought is stores implementing more locally curated experiences, considering customers started to buy items in their local area. Therefore, Foot Locker has launched its first Canadian Community Power Store in Vancouver and Toronto, a model that allows to scale its consumer connectivity into more markets. This follows the openings of the Power Stores in New York, Hong Kong, Liverpool, London, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Compton. Foot Locker's footprint in Canada now includes 119 stores.

Vancouver's new 1400 sqm store provides a three-floor retail experience which includes an activation space where events can be hosted for the local community with key brand partners (considering the Covid-19 government measures).

The shop provides an assortment of products for men, women and children from Nike, Jordan and adidas. The exclusive COLLABORAID merchandise from Foot Locker will also be available in the shop: it is a giveback effort that brings together more than a dozen notable creatives with a shared goal to help rebound from COVID-19 through sneaker culture.

Supporting the surrounding communities, the store has committed to hire local residents who are directly connected to the sneaker culture in the area. They also plan to have a diverse staff that can speak different languages such as Korean, Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese and more. These actions show how the community's needs become the core of the retail experience for these Power Stores.

The Vancouver Community Power Store offers a full-family shopping with exclusive products. For the opening they showcased custom artworks by two local artists (KC Hall and Tierney Milne) and an activation space for the people interested in the sneaker culture. The store partnered with Canadian influencers to engage with customers online, with sponsored publications in their Instagram accounts they showcasing outdoor activities they offer such as a music performance by @zachzoya, backyard movie night with @kayla_grey and a podcast with @extragravyshow while using the hashtag #takeitoutside.

Foot Locker Inc. family includes brands such as Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Runners Point, Footaction Sidestep, Lady Foot Locker and Eastbay. It has about 3,100 retail stores in 27 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Foot Locker Community Power Store

Foot Locker Expands Community Power Store Concept to Canada

What: a multi-concept space where brands and artists showcase their work.

Why is it important: there has been an emergence of physical market-places worldwide -look at Neighborhood Goods, Naked Retail and Showfields in NYC for example- as a way to support DTC brands and  local brands, and to cater to the local community. With, most of the time, exclusive brands and items, these locations are the new type of department stores.

Berlin's Alhambra building is an architectural landmark known for the local community located on the Kurfürstendamm luxury shopping mile of the capital with a nearly 100-year history. It has grown into an interactive multi-purpose co-retailing space where brands, artists, and designers will showcase their products. Stretching over 1 100 sqm across two floors, the concept should open in Spring 2021.

Alhambra Berlin provides a full-service amplification kit for emerging brands by offering a space, a built-in social media campaign, impressive staging, as well as professional salespersons and event managers. They intend to make things easier for local brands that are looking for more exposure by eradicating the time-consuming and money-intensive exercise of finding the correct venue.

Space & concept

The store will emphasise each partner brand story by giving them individual stages. dividing the space into small corners for both pioneering and leading brands, in order to keep the location attractive.This new form of retail space will benefit both the creators of Alhambra and brands as it will grow customer traffic for experiential shopping and offer an easy long-term rental contract.

This crossover between shopping and experience will bring emerging talents together. Pioneering brands will have the opportunity to get enough exposure and test if their products could be successful in a competitive market.

Experience

The assortment is an important experiential feature since it is always rotating, nothing in the shop is static. All the fixtures are made to be conveniently moved and exchanged allowing consumers to interact with the products. The store can turn from a fashion destination to an exhibition venue as works from local artists are also on display, instore and in the 17-metre high windows which face the city's most frequented retail area. The creators of the store vision it as a social hub were visitors can engage with their surroundings.

The Alhambra new concept store will implement mall intimate events, bringing brands and products together where they can interact. The store offer features fashion + accessories, interior + living, beauty + health, travel + leisure, tech + mobility, art + design.

Local

The location is an architectural landmark well-known in the local community; and with new shopping behaviours from the German consumers favouring local business accented by the crisis, retailers are rethinking their assortment. As people spend most of their time at home and will not be travelling soon, they are looking for stores near them, even if they order online.

Adapting to new consuming habits and identifying the new trends is key in these uncertain times when many of the flagships depends on tourism sales. The local retail has its advantages such as increasing quality offer, better customer relationship, developing loyalty and supporting the local economy

Technology

The store will provide real-time feedback thanks to their guest management system that can track the activity of the visiting crowds while respecting the policies of data privacy and protection. With the gathered information they can curate the visitors by age range, how much time they spend instore and even if it is a unique visit. The system gives unique information for future store strategies and releases information the consumers such as: "Do they try the product?" or "Do they interact with the sales team?"

The store also plans to develop more functionality over the next year through an app to customise the experience for customers. Their communication tools will meet the evolving preferences for digital-to-physical interaction by knowing in real-time what the audience and guests want to see and hear about. With this information customers can schedule and entirely customise their visit to Alhambra Berlin to suit their own tastes.

By optimising the shopping experience with an efficient distribution of the space and an analysis of real-time content, the store becomes the perfect landscape for digital strategies to meet physical retail.

The store also take care to deliver brand messages across relevant media channels such at their public website, social media networks, magazines, etc.

Alhambra Berlin's Concept for Retail in a Post-Covid Era



What: Asia's largest smart-commerce online platform opens its first physical pop-up store at IFC Mall, Hong Kong.

Why is it important: though online shopping has been rising in the past few months, this opening shows that physical retail remains relevant. Physical stores complement marketing efforts implemented on the online platform; in this case, increase the visibility of  Shopline seller's products. Will this strategy pay off? Are physical marketplaces the next step toward a more agile brick-and-mortar retail?

Addressing new retail trends and consumer behaviour, Shopline is an omnichannel solution that provides total customised services (marketing tools, CRM, inventory management, etc)  and commerce solutions to DTC brands to support businesses of all sizes to go online and go global. Powered by Shopline will give the opportunity to its merchants to showcase their products physically in the first pop-up store, set to run for six months.

Opened in October 2020, the items are selected and displayed according to the theme set for the month. This facilitates purchasing decisions for customers who can now see the products that were only available online, giving them a sense of security on the product.

Plato Wai, General Manager of Shopline Hong Kong said, "The integrated O2O model has become an emerging concept for businesses globally." Online-To-Offline business model identifies potential customers in the online space, through emails or ads, and then with different approaches and tools convince the customer to purchase in physical store.

Wai also said: "Our e-commerce Whitepaper H2 2018-2019 revealed that 20% of online merchants surveyed consider the O2O model, such as opening pop-up stores, as a key component of their future plans". This type of strategy includes techniques used in online marketing within brick-and-mortar marketing, for example, pick-up of items purchased online allowing the return of the articles at the physical store and encouraging clients to place online orders while being in the physical shop.

With the opening of this store, the sellers can experience a hands-on opportunity to get to know what multi-channel retailing is and, at the same time, see how mixing digital and physical strategies perform. For example:

• Use digital signage: inside the store, digital displays will show product information and brand videos to promote the items. For instance, Hiwalk is a popular Taiwanese snack brand and is the first merchant to set up in the store. Customers can get an exclusive look at the new items the merchant sells and learn about their nutritional value in detail and the origin of ingredients.
• Click-and-collect service: an EF locker is installed exclusively for Shopline sellers and serves as a pickup option for the online customers who can collect heir orders physically and then explore the store. It gives them the opportunity to discover the other products displayed and experience the new environment.
• Live streaming booth: brands can use the Shopline Live feature to interact with customers, during the non-peak hours.

On the other side, to generate more traffic, they will invite popular local Key Opinion leaders to the store. This strategy will respond to the current trend of livestreaming-driven online shopping by joining merchants' livestream in store.

In order to understand consumer behaviour, sellers can control sales information and customer databases. In terms of providing their sellers one-stop management, the company utilises the Shopline POS (point of sale) system which ensures that they can know their inventory, shipping status, stocks, prices, and order.

Powered by Shopline is not the first physical store that gives space to DNVBs. Dallas-based Neighborhood Goods is presented as a "new type of department store" and offers the possibility to online brands to showcase their products physically. The rotating assortment is carefully curated in order to cater to the local community.

Not to mention Showfields and Naked Retail with stores located in NYC. The first one is envisioned as an "immersive retail experience" that combines popup shops with art exhibitions and theatrical experiences, and the second one as a showcase for DTC brands.

Powered By Shopline Website

What:  Lab stores from 7-Eleven to test upgraded versions of their concept.

Why it is important: Apart from the merchandising and product offering innovations, the evolution always relates back to the same points: safe means of payement, queue and customer experience management, integration into local communities

7-Eleven has opened 5 Evolution stores in the US, the latest to date being in Lake Highlands, near Dallas in Texas. Each of these stores are stocked with innovative products and technology to track in real-time best sellers. The specific features include:

• Self-serve bean-to-cup coffee with touch screen ordering
• Walk-in beer cooluer
• On-site restaurants and food to-go
• Mobile technology to allow customers to skip queues
• Decoration made by local artists to make each store recognizable and integrated into local communities

Testing Ground: 7-Eleven Opens Dallas' Second 'Lab' Store in Lake Highlands

What: The new Levi's flagship store concept

Why it is important:  Fully addressing millennials shopping habits (visibility, customization, online look and feel) and integrating lessons learn from Covid-19 (distantiation protocols and alternative shopping methods deeply integrated into the store mechanisms), NextGen stores come as flagships completing a territory covered with smaller stores and e-commerce, like seen at Nike, Ikea and others. It is clearly an alternative worth being explored by department stores with many regional, smaller, locations.

One month after opening in Shanghai the first Chinese Levi's NextGen store, following a 6 store opening roll-over in Europe and Asia that started in 2019, Levi's has opened its first Next Gen location in the US, in Palo Alto. Levi's seems to pursue a strategy similar to Nike, with a few highly experiential and connected stores, in flagship locations, coming as a complement of a dense network of smaller locations and efficient e-commerce. As stated by Levi's, NextGen stores are "not about transactions, they are about an experience". Specificities of this concept are:

• Tailor shop in store, with machines allowing to receive the input from customers and produce on-demand and ready to go customized Tshirts, in addition to the existing possibility to craft unique creations on a longer production leadtime
• Design is inspired from the digital identity of the brand: lighter, more impactful, simpler. The goal is to bring the same look and feel offline than online, and completement the experience with the assistance of personal stylists helping throughout the customer journey,
• All safety measures are deeply rooted in the store processes and infrastructures: BOPI (buy online, pick up in store), curbside pick-up, in store personal shopping appointments are all standard proposals in the store.

Levi's® NextGen Stores Come to North America - press release

Levi's NextGen

The NextGen stores feature bolder designs

Shoppers can get clothing customised at the Tailor Shop, and work directly with a tailor on their creations.

Digital signage provides shoppers information about the available fits and styles

The fitting rooms are meant to be more open and offer what Levi's calls an "endless aisle" experience: the possibility to try on items in their size and then it if the store does not carry full inventory of that particular fit or style

What: the industrialisation of a new store experience mixing local and resale.

Why it is important: An example to have in mind for department stores wondering how to address new retail trends and consumer behaviours: resale, proximity, food and beverage, all at the same time in the same space. It is all the more important as the stores are seen by the company as "an accelerator" to e-commerce in terms of business, by bringing a lot of consignment (dropping easily the product you want to sell) and allowing entertainment, thus repeat visits.

The RealReal, an online marketplace for authenticated and consigned luxury goods, has announced the opening of a 5th store in the US, in Chicago. More than a second-hand platform, the group has developed an experience suitable to all kinds of customers:

• Sellers: from "drop off" to white gloves estimate at home with experts, getting access to the products is key and The RealReal eased to the maximum this part to make it painless and frictionless to sellers, including with making experts accessible to improve the quality of the product evaluation,
• Buyers: the unique nature of products sold encourages repeat visits, and The Realreal pushed the model quite far as everything in the store is for sale (including furniture), therefore sticking to the new customer's trends and interest in the home. They also sell art made by local artists, local food products, and opened a café on the premises. Services on site are provided: watch expert, tailor, and advisors.

The RealReal has a model mixing e-commerce and boutiques, and the latter is seen as the ideal way to encourage interactions with experts, which in turn encourages sellers to come and propose their products.

The RealReal performed a turnover of €269m in 2019, with a €171m gross profit and a total inventory worth €851m. The second quarter ended in June showed a revenue decrease of -21%.

The RealReal Opens Midwest Flagship Store 

The RealReal opens its biggest flagship in Chicago Pictures

Off-White opened its latest Bangkok location in EmQuartier Shopping Complex. Both Menswear and Womenswear collections are sold in this new concept, on a 174 sqm space.

This Bangkok's store embraces organic shapes with a touch of inspirations from nature. The interior of the store consists of curved wood - working as racking systems and modules for product display, a feature solely created for this location. Soft grey granite display tables and plinths possess Off-White's fresh, new logo concept, achieved through hole detailing on the bases. Velvet benches capture an element of sophistication intertwined with modernity.

Off-White opens a new monobrand store in Bangkok, Thailand

Off-White

EmQuartier Shopping Complex, Building B, M Floor

693 Sukhumvit Rd, Bangkok, Thailand

+66 2 003 6168

The Body Shop is bringing a truly unique experience to its shoppers in Vancouver with its new store concept. The original Body Shop location, at the CF Pacific Centre, has been transformed into a space that encourages visitors to explore recycled products and offers a more environmentally progressive way to shop. Store features include a shower gel refill station where consumers can purchase refillable 250mL aluminum bottles and fill them with shower gel favourites, as part of The Body Shop's new refill program.

The store has also been outfitted with sustainable store fixtures like reclaimed wood and recycled plastics to help minimize its environmental footprint.

Moreover, the new store location features an activism corner, where consumers can discover the brand's activist roots, as well as campaign for social change around issues ranging from gender equality to fighting cosmetic animal testing. Consumers can also find out how they can get involved and take a stand with The Body Shop's global and local collective of fearless activists.

The revamped Vancouver location also continues its 'Return. Recycle. Repeat.' program. The program, in partnership with Terracycle, encourages shoppers to return their empty bottles, jars, tubs, tubes and pots in exchange for a future purchase voucher.

The Body Shop

French sports retailer Decathlon has unveiled a new concept dubbed Decathlon DX: D for Decathlon, X for exploration, experience, excitement. The concept was born in three months over the lockdown period. Charles Felgate, in charge of the project, indicated that his team reunited 'not to imagine the store of the future, but to imagine the store in a new way'. The new concept is half-way between a boutique and a showroom.

Assortment

The change is noticeable from the outside as the logo and façade differ from other stores and are presented in a more design-like navy blue. Inside the 800sqm space, the first breach from the original concept is that this store only offers socks and shoes for kids. In the middle of the back-to-school period, it is timesaving for parents to find all items in one place, while in a traditional Decathlon store all items are classified by sport, not by type. A foot scanner allows for kids to get information on their feet size, and as all shoes instore have been identified by the system, it can recommend the best item for each foot morphology. A way to avoid for clients to buy the wrong size, and to save Decathlon from returns.

However, the new concept is not a kid store. In a few weeks, the assortment will rotate to focus on winter items such as coats, gloves and hats for the whole family. The foot scanner will be replaced by a morphological scanner.

Community

In the concept, Decathlon advocates for community through its membership program. Only the members will be able to enjoy the experience by scanning a QR code in the App when entering the store to notify Decathlon they are in and get access to the new payment system: Decath' Go. No need to pass the cashier to pay for items, members can just pass through 'tunnels' equipped with an RFID reader, press 'pay' to validate the transaction and walk out. Traditional cashiers are also available instore for credit card payment only, allowed by the law.

Decathlon also wants its members to get more involved in the co-creation and design of items. The store is equipped with 3-D printers for clients to customise bike handles for example. There is a chilling place in the store that resemble stadium rows for people to meet up, and attend conferences and events organised by Decathlon.

CSR

Decathlon is also committed and wants people to know. On the outside windows, the retailer shares details of manufacturing modes. Videos highlighting the brand's engagements and manufacturing modes are displayed inside the store.

In summary this new concept focuses on technology and community; and it surprisingly gives no space to digital nor omnichannel. The concept is located in the North of France, close to Decathlon head office, and has a dedicated website and dedicated social media accounts.

Decathlon DX

4 Boulevard de Mons

59650 – Villeneuve D'Ascq, France

Decathlon DX

What: another physical retail location for DTC brands to showcase products

Why it is important: department stores used to be the place where small new brands and designers went to show their work. Will the new players replace the old guard?  Supplant the old business model by their own?

Naked Retail started with two designers who were already running their respective online brands and who needed a physical space to showcase their products. New York City rents being very high, they decided to come together to reduce the rental costs. The Naked Retail concept store was born.

The business model in itself is not revolutionary. Indeed, in the old days department stores used to be the incubators for new brands and designers. Now, instead of showing drawings or samples for attractions, brands showcase their work online before eventually landing a physical space. The means are changing, but not the purpose.

Naked Retail is a brick-and-mortar retailer that showcases online brands' products, allowing for physical interactions with customers. With two locations in New York City (in Soho and in Nolita), it faces competition such as Neighborhood Goods and Showfields. Is this concept different from its fellow competitors, or is it just another variation of the same business model?

What's more to it?

A curated assortment

Assortment is key at Naked Retail, and therefore is carefully curated. The idea is that every brand showcased needs to seamlessly fit in with one another. Each batch of brands comes with aesthetics and a tone that have to do be respected in order to offer a consistent storytelling to customers. Reasons of possible inconsistencies are numerous: price points, manufacturing stories, sustainability engagements… It all relies on the narrative chosen at one moment of the year, and brands depend on that. The idea is to make people feel like they are part of one lifestyle, one space, one brand.

There is an another strategy behind the curated assortment: mixing brands that are already established within their community with lesser-known labels. Having big names draws people in the store, and eventually boosts the more obscure labels who only have a short list of online followers. This is a collaborative space before anything else.

Creative agency

Naked Retail also works as a creative agency for brands that are looking to physically establish themselves, either through a pop-store, or in the long-term at their own location (and not inside one of Naked Retail's locations). Some  of their projects include working with Bose and Tupperwares.

Naked Retail response to covid-19: being local

Before the pandemic, sales were split between 70% local customers and 30% out-of-towners. Now local customers represent almost 100% of sales. Upon reopening, the store reviewed its assortment and searched for wellness and home brands, and also for beverage brands. The idea is to be consistent with what the local customers crave at the moment, without relying on tourism.

What does it mean for department stores?

As mentioned above, department stores used to be the place young brands turned to for visibility. Nowadays, they still host various pop-up stores and brands, but this does not seem to have the same impact as it does for the new retailers. But there are some solutions. For example, in order to get around the problem of competition in that field, Macy's invested in retail concepts b8ta and Story, which both work with a similar business model involving hosting dedicated brands for a limited time. Entering partnerships with the newcomers could be a way for department stores to stay in the business.

naked retail - website

Naked Retail Pictures

(Credits: Louise Ancora)

Following the acquisition of Whole Foods Market three years ago, Amazon is opening its first grocery store dubbed 'Fresh'. The new 3250sqm Amazon Fresh supermarket is located in  Woodland Hills, CA (part of the Los Angeles metro area).

The new store takes elements of all Amazon previous concepts, such as micro-fulfillment, contactless features, a curated assortment of premium and conventional products, highly personalized service, and mixes them into one innovative store.

The new Fresh store introduces the Amazon Dash Cart: customers place their bags in the cart, sign in using their Fresh QR code in the Amazon app and skip the checkout line. Sensors automatically identify all items in the cart and payment is processed using the shopper's credit card on the shopper's Amazon account. However the store is not 100% checkout-less and offers traditional checkout carts, checkout lanes and point of sale.

Customers can use Amazon's Alexa technology to help with their shopping lists and better navigate the store's aisles.

The store also offers same-day delivery and pickup, as well as Amazon.com package pickup and free package-less product returns.

Amazon Fresh features a wide assortment of national, private and local brands, and high-quality produce, meat and seafood. It also includes private brands from all of Amazon's banners, including Amazon and Whole Foods.

discover a more detailed visit of Amazon fresh here

Pictures here!

What: a digital playground for the American beauty brand.

Why it is important: in times of pandemic; MAC Innovation Lab blends together the physical and digital retail experience perfectly.

The beauty brand opened last month its MAC Innovation Lab in the Queens neighbourhood in New York City. The store is a digital playground for beauty lovers and boats community-centric looks and assortment. It follows the opening of a first MAC Innovation Lab last year in Shanghai, and is a good example of how to mix physical and virtual retail.

Digital

The Queens store features various omnichannel experiences. At the centre of the store is the Art Studio, with 16 stations furnished with augmented reality virtual try-on mirrors to experiment make-up in a safe way, especially in a pandemic. An infrared touch-screen matches every shade of skin, even the most unique, to try and test foundations, making it an inclusive tool. There are also plenty of digital touch screens and QR codes to navigate MAC's mobile store portal, mixing the physical and digital experience.

Instore x online experience

Indeed, the instore digital experience continues online as, once customers have tried on some looks virtually, they can save them on their mobile. Once home they can review them, research for products and eventually make an online purchase.

Exclusivity

A great attraction in the store is the "Design Your Palette" station, which allows customers to choose from more than 100 eye shadows to make their very own make-up palette. This is not completely new as some other brands offer the same services; such as ByTerry which even offers the possibility to mix up to three pigments in one pod (the brand launched in Le Bon Marché earlier this year). Getting even more personal, a printing station is available for customers to customise their products packaging with images, text or emojis.

Community

The real asset of MAC Innovation Studio is that it prides itself on being hyper-local and community-centric. How? By offering content and looks that echoes within the community. The assortment has been organised to cater for the locals of Queens, and the virtual looks to try on, created by MAC makeup artists, are based on what is popular in the store vicinity.

Community, and to by the same token inclusivity, have increasingly become a subject of interest in retail and especially in beauty. Singer Rihanna was the first to advocate inclusivity through her Fenty Beauty line and now many other brands are following her lead.

What to learn from MAC Innovation Lab

With this new store, MAC Cosmetics proves that it is not impossible to link the physical, virtual and online experiences to make it a complete one. Becoming omnichannel has been a subject for years and is still very topical, especially in the current health crisis.

MAC Cosmetics also integrates the importance of community at the centre of its project. Diversity is on every lips at the moment (review IADS Exclusive piece: Diversity: a strategy of silence), retailers are starting to understand how important it is to cater to all communities, which eventually leads to a wider customer audience. The topic of community is also intimately linked to the local tendency that is trending at the moment. Nike is reaching out to the people of Paris directly through its House of Innovation 002 and for the past months many retailers had to count on their local clientele to stay afloat. Chances are that the trend will continue after the pandemic and retailers and brands need to be thinking already of what it means for their current business (review IADS Exclusive piece on local retail)

(Article credits: Louise Ancora)

MAC Innovation Lab

What: a new adidas concept store in London, just a year after the opening of the Oxford street's flagship.

Why it is important: the store focuses on Gen Zs and picks up on all the codes dear to the heart of the next generation of consumers.

The latest venture of the sports retailer, dubbed "Home of Originals", has opened on Carnaby Street in London's Soho neighbourhood. The store carries adidas' Originals, the lifestyle brand it launched in reference to the vintage styles that made the reputation of the brand in the 80s-90s and which is supported by the famous Trefoil logo. The agile location features interchangeable spaces that can evolve with the city and brand stories.

The concept store is aimed at the 18 to 24-year-old, or Gen Z, customers and for that it gathers the various tendencies driven by this category of consumers: exclusivity, community, sustainability, and gender-fluidity. The store also emphasizes creativity.

Exclusivity

The store doesn't carry the full line of adidas' products, only the most in-demand items from the Originals brand and exclusive collections from the adidas x Ivy Park collaboration, and from Yeezy  ̶ the fashion collaboration between adidas and American rapper Kanye West.

There is an area dedicated to the Spezial collection, where a custom-designed Spezial pool table is available for anybody to use; and a limited-edition adidas Spezial pool set will be available later this year, to be purchased only at the Carnaby store.

If the Soho space stocks hype products and exclusives that are usually meant for online dropping, it is to create an IRL experience of the sneaker culture and to keep on building its community.

Community

The brand called on local artists to create art installations exhibited throughout the store, to reflect on the cultural aesthetic and design of the Soho neighbourhood.

A DJ set up and vintage-encased speaker system is available for any customer to use and play music. The concept store hosts live and digital events, including broadcasts and digital workshops in compliance with the latest COVID-19 guidelines.

Sustainability

To support the brand's commitment to sustainability, the store features reclaimed wooden flooring and upcycled furniture, and was created with BREEAM certified materials (world's leading sustainability assessment method for masterplanning projects, infrastructure and buildings). The store's also includes an eye-catching Stan Smith 3D printed trefoil mural containing living plants,  a nod to the brand's ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050. Not to mention the fact that the Originals line is associated with Better Cotton Initiative to advocate ethical and sustainable production patterns.

The brand recently placed its first sustainability bonds on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Proceeds from the offering will be used in accordance with adidas sustainability bond framework.

Gender-fluidity

The store follows a gender-inclusive pattern, where women and men collections are seamlessly positioned next to one another. Mixing merchandise organised by theme rather than by gender allows for "cross-buys" (buying an item outside of the customer's gender range) and eventually reaches out to a larger consumer range. This is a growing criteria for Gen Z, who are more open and more willing to explore their options when it comes to gender neutrality than Boomers or Millennials.

Originals yes, but unique?

adidas has competition in the Carnaby Street area as Urban Outfitter just opened a store dedicated to its loungewear line Iets Frans. This is the first brick-and-mortar location for the unisex lifestyle brand, offering elevated sportswear basics and technical fabrics. The store also features a free embroidery personalisation service and exclusive Iets Frans product drops. Word is that the label is exploring wholesale relationships as a way to reach out to a more global audience.

Citadium, the youth chain owned by Printemps in Paris, is rethinking the layout of its Haussmann flagship in order to offer a gender-fluid environment with neutral brand corners instead of women's floor and men's floor. The retailer also recently opened a corner in the Printemps du Louvre store, noting that younger customers were coming a lot to the museum in the absence of tourists and that the corner was performing well since opening.

Not to mention Galeries Lafayette Champs Elysées concept, which targets a younger audience and where assortment is organised by brand and not by gender.

Could, and should, department stores start implementing brands and spaces that cater to Gen Z and gather all the thing they respond to such as exclusivity and gender-fluidity?

The turnaround Printemps is operating with Citadium is an example of how department stores can be agile, and respond quickly to new needs. UK-based Selfridges dipped a toe in the gender-fluid fashion in 2015 with its Agender pop-up store. Now could be the time for department stores to start betting on Gen Zs through assortment and immersive in-store spaces conceived especially for them.

Adidas Home of Originals

(Article credits: Louise Ancora)

Canada Goose has opened its first inventory-free concept store in Toronto. Dubbed 'The Journey: A Canada Goose Experience', the store is an experiment designed to push the boundaries of e-commerce and retail.

Customers are able to shop Canada Goose performance luxury apparel through digital content, interactive product displays, and its award-winning Cold Room with the promise of same-day home delivery.

'The Journey' begins as guests step through a two-story glacier façade. Next, guests walk through the Crevasse, which features digital panels made to create the sound of ice-cracking beneath their feet. "You're entering a new world. You're entering the world of Canada Goose. You're entering the Arctic." according to Dani Reiss, president & CEO of Canada Goose.

Then there's The Elements Room, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling screens projecting videos of wilderness scenes, changing with the seasons.

From there, customers put on some of the only parkas in the store and move into the Cold Room, where products can be tested in temperature set at -12 degrees Celsius, while being surrounded by floor-to-ceiling Arctic landscapes – and real snow.

The experience ends with an employee, who's been acting as a personal tour guide, helping the customer shop online via touchscreen.

"In retail, experience is everything – and trying on a Canada Goose jacket for the first time is a powerful experience. This new store amplifies that moment by creating an environment that digitally and physically transports people into the Arctic in innovative, surprising, and inspiring ways," said Dani Reiss, president /amp] CEO, Canada Goose, in a statement.

The Journey: A Canada Goose Experience

Canada Goose

25 The West Mall

Toronto, Ontario M9C 1B8