21 minute read
Innovative Retail Trends
Scott Kohno
Scott Kohno is an entrepreneur and an expert in retail marketing and the creation of unique, identifiable retail environments that build corporate brands.
New Retail Trends in the Face of Covid-19
by Michelle Hespe SCOTT KOHNO
“There has been no doubt about it,
businesses across the world found themselves in trouble. As countries went into lockdown, people were—and are—scared, and so their habits changed almost instantly,” says gia Expert Juror Scott Kohno. But just like the many other ups and downs that Scott has seen in retail, innovation will prevail and the ability to adapt to what the customer now needs is crucial.
“There is less contact with other people now, and also a shorter time in which to connect with people when they are out and about,” he says. “And so businesses need to offer an almost instant sense of warmth and emotion in the short period of time that a person is in their space. Starbucks has been doing this for a long time—creating welcoming environments that people want to visit. Even if they are there for less time, you can still engage them.”
In March 2019, Starbucks announced plans to “reimagine” the third place, a concept that has long been the chain’s guiding force.
The third place is a sociology-inspired concept that refers to another place outside of the two main places in most people’s lives—home and work—where people can gather and be a part of a community. Long-time Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz applied the concept as a cornerstone in the creation of Starbucks’ image. He wanted the coffee chain to be a place where people were happy to pay a bit more for coffee because of the potential connection that comes with the purchase. And it has worked tremendously.
STARBUCKS, CHICAGO
STARBUCKS, CHICAGO
Starbucks was able to adapt more
easily to Covid-19 as the company already had plans in motion for investing in drive-through and home delivery, as well as new technology and product innovation to better meet customers’ needs. They were already well into testing new types of store designs, such as locations that exclusively offer mobile order and pay.
This third place concept has not died; it’s well and truly alive. Scott says that people will still crave human touch and emotional contact, and sooner perhaps rather than later, as so many people have had to be locked in their own home without the usual contact with others that they have come to expect. They still want to buy things. People still want to spend money on things that make them happy. But first, you need to get their attention.
A trend Scott has noticed to gain a potential customer’s attention is the use of high quality, feel-good videos and photography that virtually take people to the place being advertised, even for a business such as an American grill selling great burgers.
Videos of fat, juicy burger patties being flipped, shiny ripe tomatoes and fresh lettuce sparkling with water drops being cut. There’s sizzling sounds, laughter and smiles, food that looks delicious and an atmosphere that people crave and want to be a part of.
“These kind of videos make you feel as though you are right there—that you can touch and eat those burgers. The videos and imagery make you want them,” Scott says.
Regarding another trend, Scott refers to the “cocooning” concept that was coined in 1981 by Faith Popcorn, futurist, author and CEO of marketing consulting firm BrainReserve. In the early 1980s, Faith noticed a deep shift in the way people were living their lives. In the 1970s it was all about night partying and eating out and then in the ‘80s, she saw that people were worn-out, over-stimulated and exhaustion became an actual “thing.” Technology was about to soar, and cable TV meant that people could watch movies in their own homes instead of going out. Then the Internet arrived and suddenly people could research and order things to be delivered to their homes.
STARBUCKS, CHICAGO
The term “cocooning” took off in popular culture and even ended up in the dictionary.
“Today we have been forced to be more cocooned at home than ever before,” Scott says. “There is no international traveling, no meetings across the world and people have more time on their hands. They’re spending money on doing up their homes, as they want to be comfortable and live well at home. Businesses need to take advantage of that.”
Scott also points out that before Covid-19 happened, retailing and food outlets were already beginning to downsize. “Places were too large—the rent, labor, staff, fit-outs—it was all too much,” he says. “There’s no need now for 50,000-square-foot spaces and huge billion-dollar shopping malls. It’s not what people want now, and in a time when people are avoiding crowds and social distancing, there is even less reason to go somewhere like this.”
The world has changed forever. And yes, some days it’s downright scary as this new reality was thrust upon everyone so quickly; it’s often hard to know what to do first, and how to keep up. But here’s something that Scott reminds himself and his clients every day—a new world means new opportunities. You just have to seek them out. “Retail is not going away,” he says. “We are just in a new cycle, and we are excited. Let’s see what we can do!” |•
Anne Kong
Anne Kong is an educator and designer specializing in Visual Merchandising, Exhibition Design and Special Events.
Inspiring Consumer Confidence: Show That You Care
ANNE KONG
The Covid pandemic may have transformed the physical retail experience overnight, but the urge to return to stores to experience what we once knew as normal is still alive and well in the hearts and minds of consumers.
Consider “pre Covid,” when stores were at their height of doing everything right; integrated technology, a multitude of product offerings and a wide range of consumer activities to engage and delight. In the waves of recovery, what will it take to make the shopper feel assured again? It might be simpler than you think— pure unadulterated confidence.
CONFIDENCE TO TOUCH CONFIDENCE TO TRY CONFIDENCE TO BUY
Stores that institute safe practices and demonstrate their promise to provide a healthy and sanitary shopping experience will lead in winning over tomorrow’s shopper. Working out the woes of occupancy limitations, accuracy of stock and contactless checkout will take innovation and a tempered approach, but it begins by giving the shopper the choice of how they want to engage with your brand.
Consider some of the following trends:
Events Reimagined
The combination of virtual and in-store events is a great way to jumpstart confidence, and you can test this out by using employees as attendees. Engage the consumers at home by mailing necessary items before a virtual event like a product testing or a cooking class. Keep the event content more bite-sized, smaller snippets of information that are easier to comprehend. Consider engaging consumers in-store with those watching virtually by hosting a roundtable or “shark tank.” Try a game show style trivia event that tests knowledge or a poll that allows everyone to vote on his or her favorite product. Local celebrities, a spokesperson or educational session may be a great way to pique interest too.
ARTILLERIET - THE KITCHEN, SWEDEN Even though the touch and feel experience has diminished, sight, smell and sound can be used to activate the retail environment. The Canada Goose store in Toronto serves up a great example with its “cold room” to try on coats. Customers get the warmthfactor instantly.
Beautiful displays, savory scents and relaxing music welcome the shopper. Implementing visual merchandising techniques and display strategies will be more important than ever in the next phase of revitalizing the retail store. Product displays require storytelling to captivate consumers and tantalize their senses. Static product placement without rhyme or reason is not acceptable—product placement must communicate the store image, brand intent, idea or store philosophy in one quick glance.
Equally, the customer journey can make or break the experience. The floor plan regulates the passage—establishes a route that stirs up emotion much like a thrilling rollercoaster ride. The customer’s voyage must undulate, flicker, flutter, oscillate and wave. The placement of tables, endcaps, risers, fixtures and visual spectacles establish the highs and lows.
ARTILLERIET - THE KITCHEN, SWEDEN HANSEN & CO., NORWAY
Lastly, empathy in service will slowly rekindle confidence; however expect emotions to be high. Offer channels for both employee and customer feedback. Quickly eliminate obstacles or procedures that cause shopper frustration.
Increase Signage
Consider a popular strategy used in museum exhibition. Museum displays are designed to be viewed and understood in a short period, allowing the visitor to move on to the next showcase and ensuring a steady flow through the space. Museums maximize communication through signage that employs titles, captions, quotes or a brief description alongside objects to provide a quick understanding of the content. Stores must do the same. Provide all of the necessary information about the product—near the product. Price, size, color, availability and a short description of the item will limit the need to locate a sales associate rather than backtracking on the given floorplan. Visible wayfinding hung from ceilings or floor decals can direct the consumer through the space more comfortably, widen aisles by rearranging fixtures to provide passage and consider using a chime or signal to help shoppers request sales assistance.
Reimagine the Floorplan
Try to reimagine the store’s floorplan in sections or quadrants that allow for individual experiences. Incorporate sensory cues, impactful displays, height and vibrant color stories that build in strength along the floorplan. This will promote more movement and interest; shoppers can’t resist ogling the next big display around the corner. Disperse scents and sounds in display areas to inspire curiosity. Remember, sanitizer should be plentiful so consumers feel inclined to touch if desired. Don’t forget to reward the consumer for coming out—share a recipe with a scannable code, host a raffle to benefit a local community group. If your business is dependent on touch screens, consider providing your shopper with a disposable stylus while they shop. Shoppers are more receptive to take-away style samples rather than testers during this time, be sure to consider your method of dispensing them. There are endless ways to engage customers—let your team partake in the process of innovating safe merchandising practices.
Herald Holiday 2021
Prepare your customer for the holiday season early, the last-minute hustle and bustle no longer signifies Christmas cheer. Provide opportunities and incentives for shoppers to explore products in-store before shopping online. By offering pre-order sales, stores can account for inventory, avoiding the frustration of not finding the product upon arrival to the store. Entertain with holiday displays that inspire consumers to “take it home.” This year, appeal to a variety of looks and styles—country, rustic, boho, industrial and modern. These types of displays help shoppers visualize products in their own home. Create a vignette for each style and curate each display with a color/pattern/texture story. Use imagery or banners to enhance each scene. Combine holiday greens, foliage with a hint of something shiny and festive. |•
HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY, CANADA
KITCHEN SHOP, MALAYSIA HARROD’S, UNITED KINGDOM
LEFT: ANTHROPOLOGIE, NYC | TOP: RALPH LAUREN, NYC
Henrik Peter Reisby Nielsen
Henrik Peter Reisby Nielsen is an entrepreneur, former gia-award-winning retailer and the CEO of Reisby Consult.
#SomethingToLookForwardTo
by Michelle Hespe HENRIK PETER REISBY NIELSEN
“You need to be a positive force for others.”
The most important advice that gia Expert Juror Henrik Peter Reisby Nielsen has had for retailers during the Covid-19 pandemic is to give customers something to look forward to. Something larger than them. In hard times, people need positivity, hope and a sense of a strong community. “If you give them these things, they will stay with you,” he says.
Henrik believes that during times like this, uniting people and businesses is more important than ever. And so, during the first lockdown in Denmark he worked with a group of more than 25 stores from a certain shopping area, asking them to come together to be stronger and to give their customers something to look forward to.
“During all of this, when there was bad news every day, it was important to make your customers feel happy to be alive and well, to create things for them to look forward to and keep people dreaming,” he says.
Henrik encouraged the group of retailers to give their customers virtual experiences so that they were still engaged with their favorite stores and products, advising them to have fun with social media and other communications.
“The key was to keep the connection between your store and the customer alive, even if they were stuck at home,” he says. “To keep people’s dreams alive. To get them visiting your store online and aim to create viral loops where people tag family and friends and spread the word for you.”
Some nice examples of fun and engaging posts that retailers created were: “We want to make gin and tonics in these beautiful #Riedel glasses for ‘@the person’s name’ when we are allowed to party again” and “I want to have a dinner with ‘@the person’s name’ when ‘@the restaurant name’ opens again. We can’t wait!”
Throughout the campaign, the hashtag #SomethingToLookForwardTo (#NogetAtGlædeSigTil in Danish) took off and reached more than 35,000 people. Posts were things such as: “I want to fill up the picnic basket from ‘@ the name of store” when we can go the park with friends and family!” #somethingtolookforwardto
Continued...
Covid-19 has created a new reality with a focus on convenience, health and safety for shoppers. “Things have changed and they won’t go back to what we knew before,” says Henrik. “Curbside pickup, for instance, is the new normal now. People have become accustomed to this kind of thing and expect it now. Remember that you can’t go backwards once you have offered someone a service that they like. You can’t take it away, as the customer will remember the things they like. Now that they know a particular option is available to them, retailers can’t get away with not offering it or they will lose them.”
“Since Covid-19, there’s also been a really dramatic change in the way people think,” says Henrik. “People have realized that they don’t need as much as they thought they did, because they have been fine without some things while in lockdown. So that’s created a shift towards more conscious buying. And so as a retailer, you have to be better than ever at telling a story to gain their attention and ensure that they buy what they do need, from you.”
Always the one to see opportunity in difficult circumstances, Henrik and his team have been focusing on creating an online universe that morphs the real world with the virtual world.
“One billion people a month are using Google,” he explains. “So we should be taking advantage of that. As a retailer you should be regularly adding great images and videos of your store to your online hub. Create visual tours and engage people by being there personally for them—welcoming them as you would in real life. A store owner can pop up online and say ‘Hi! Let me take you on a tour of the store and show you our new products!’ A customer can start off in the showroom online and end up in a brick and mortar store. We need to blend the two worlds.”
A good example of a beautifully executed virtual store tour is one by a previous German gia winner and Global Honoree S-Kultur. Their tour highlights the various areas and services of the store, drawing attention to brands and specialties. Embedded videos and descriptive texts add to the experience information and interaction.
Henrik says that when access to stores is limited, it is more important than ever that you do not lose contact with your customers. “In a normal situation, they could walk into a store and try some new sunglasses, look at themselves in a mirror and talk to someone about how they look and what other ones there are,” he says. “You can still do that online. Try new technologies where your customer can virtually put those sunglasses on and your sales assistants can still have contact with that person in your virtual store. They’ll stay with you if you don’t lose contact.”
A concrete best-case example of how to be agile and how to stay connected comes from a local clothing store in Henrik’s hometown of Roskilde. “They succeeded in staying connected and keeping their customers’ focus on their brick and mortar store intact throughout the lockdown,” Henrik tells. “They quickly learned how to offer Facebook auctions and every week they updated their window displays, posting teasers about the new displays on SoMe. This led to people frequently stopping by for window browsing and to SoMe shopping.”
“What you are saying is: ‘Our physical stores may be closed, but we are still open and here for you.’” |•
HENRIK PETER REISBY NIELSEN
The founder of ReisbyConsult, Henrik Reisby helps retailers and cities with creative and innovative customer-centric solutions that ensure that you are worth the visit. He is also a popular international keynote speaker. You can connect with or hire Henrik Reisby via LinkedIn.
Wolfgang Gruschwitz
Wolfgang Gruschwitz is the owner and managing director of the Gruschwitz Corporation, which offers full-service retail store design and visual merchandising expertise to retailers.
Emotive Retailing and the World Beyond Covid-19
by Michelle Hespe WOLFGANG GRUSCHWITZ
Since the day Covid-19 hit the world and began ripping its way through societies big and small, it created a seismic shift in every business because, as with any great change, people’s emotions and habits change.
People’s lives are no longer the same, and retailers have to face the fact that, as consumerism has so been so dramatically and irrevocably altered, the “new normal” will not look anything like it did before January 2020.
The most successful retailers that survived the initial impacts of Covid-19 and continue to surf the new waves created by consumer behavior, are the ones that predicted the change in human behavior and acted quickly.
“The retailers ahead of the curve ball knew that their customers had changed, but one thing remained the same: retailing is still an action and an experience rooted in emotions. Maybe more so than ever before, because when humans can’t have things such as the freedom to move, socialize, dine out and travel, then it’s fair to assume that they might try and buy things to keep them happy, and even sane,” says gia Expert Juror Wolfgang Gruschwitz.
Getting It Right
“The future of retail will be service- and customer-orientated, with fascination and convenience also crucial to success,” Wolfgang says. “Retail will be everything besides the pure selling of goods. Physical retail stores need to be a real place for the exchange of information and ideas. Customers want these things from real people who they can (maybe) trust, rather than from an avatar from the Internet.”
He says it is imperative that retailers have a strong digital presence and a good suite of the typical digital services that customers now expect, such as a great website, click and collect facilities and a solid social media strategy.
Visual merchandising will always be a major element of retailing (in-store and online) but now retailers need to also think about new trends such as offering networking with customers, partners and service providers; recycling programs and carbon-zero activities; the leasing of products (not everything must be bought) and membership solutions–such as paying once a month for a bundle of things rather than buying one object at a time.
that stores that help people to make something by themselves—with expert guidance and the opportunity to try new products—are doing well, as are stores that offer art, theatre, entertainment and fun, fair-like socializing areas—in person or in a virtual space. Kindness and a focus on humanity is more important than ever, and stores that are seen to be supporting struggling communities or doing something to help others also get the thumbs up. As are retailers that offer customers solutions for a better, healthier life—such as stores selling herbal tonics and supplements, skincare and sporting accessories.
Wolfgang says that after difficult times where the brain is challenged and the body is tired, people tend to focus on searching for purpose and motivation, as well as relaxation and a sense of safety. “So retailers can incorporate esoteric solutions to their offerings, such as soothing and inspiring scents, warm, healing colors, music and good vibrations,” he suggests.
“Make your store magic with music and fragrance and try to stimulate the senses,” he adds. Create social media posts from within the store to show clients outside that your store is still alive and the mood of you and your people is up, not down. Remind them that it is no-one’s fault that there is a pandemic. As a retailer, you have to show your customers hope.”
Wolfgang says that many successful retailers recognized that single people want to be in social environments, and that they can create places for connectivity, creativity and networking. “For instance, Rapha (an upmarket store for cycling gear) is now organizing bike rides for different skillsets and physical status. They also organize experience days for their clients, where they can match people together,” he says. “They are giving their clients the chance to be a part of their brand and a part of an established community.” |•
Wolfgang’s top DOS + DON’TS for retailers taking on the brave new world DO...
>> Accept and respect Covid-19 rules and restrictions.
>> Be extra aware of your customers’ needs—ask more questions and look deeply into their wishes.
>> Help satisfy your customers’ wishes—they are coming to you, so appreciate that.
>> Provide unexpected services that surprise and delight—such as allowing people to try things out before buying, offering personal advice, offering other payment and communication systems such as Apple Pay and WeChat.
>> Be tolerant with returns. See it as a chance to sell again.
>> Stay simple and authentic on social media.
People are overloaded but honesty and authenticity is still valuable. Honesty will always be a unique selling point.
DON’T...
>> Tell the client to “Go on to the Internet”— they are coming to you for service.
>> Run out of popular products—keep a close eye on stock levels.
>> Promote something that is not available, as it will only cause disappointment.
>> Leave your customer alone with their thoughts— be there for them and help them.
>> Be in a bad mood—your customers want to be lifted up, not dragged down.
>> Blame the customer for anything. Make them happy and they will come back.
