062115_Retail Report draft_d9_interactive-test2

Ideas Insights Inspiration Retail Report Summer 2015



Ideas Insights Inspiration Retail Report Summer 2015



This is an age of blurred 01boundaries: the bordersbetween lifestyleindustries, between workand leisure, and betweenart and entertainment arebecoming increasinglytransparent.This melding of industriesis challenging brands toreach further afield todefine themselves, createnew cultural connections,and captivate audiences byappealing to the senses.Nike’s insider-only “45 Grand” offersexclusive classes with the world’s besttrainers wearing the latest collections—in a high-end architect-designed,notably retail-free space.

Convergent Collaboration Embedded within a larger ecosystem of lifestyle products, services, and cultural experiences, today’s trip to the store might include having a cocktail, getting a haircut, taking a yoga class, picking up a bouquet or a new independent magazine. These diverse collaborations have transformed the retail landscape into a hybrid marketplace of products and experiences— redefining the store as somewhere to visit, not just shop.

“People will remember anexperience more than theyremember a product, so if wecan link the two together thatadds meaning.”— Haider Ackerman, Delvaux 03 Theatrical storytelling creates memorable moments for shoppers at Man on the Boon, Korea.

Cultural Shopping Perhaps most remarkable in this new model is that the customer journey may not even include the purchase of a product made by the parent brand. In this new store-as- cultural-hub, one might be just as likely to come across an artist-in-residence, magazine stand, or a running club, as the traditional shirting, suits, and shoes. In a mash-up of mainstream and local, Club Monaco’s flagship on 5th Ave in New York City offers a library, courtesy of the venerable Strand Bookstore, lattes by Toby’s Estates, and a part-time flower shop—all as a gateway to shopping their own store. At a new space in Nolita, TOMS (known for its sustainable shoes) offers coffee and light fare in rustic digs alongside products from like-minded “brands that give back.” With coffee as its new centerpiece, TOMS is re-styling itself not only as a globally conscious brand, but as a social lifestyle movement. As artist’s-in-residence, Faye and Erica Toogood transformed the mezzanine of Hostem’s Shoreditch boutique into a temporary studio space showcasing a range of their own one-of-a-kind art, clothing, and homewares alongside the mess of their production.

“We wanted to create aspace where you don’t justcome to buy a sweater, butare getting an educationon art and culture.”—Allison Greenberg,Club Monaco 05 At Acne Studios London, a grand piano instantly transforms an atmosphere from “shopping” to “lounge.”

Retail Escapes Retail escapism is about creating space for individual experience, as seen in this modern smoking room in the Grand Tree Musashikosugi Mall, Japan. “The Magic Hour” online pop-up store is activated by GPS, and is only open for one hour twice a day in the magic hours just before dawn and dusk.

Some retailers are going so 07far as to push customers awayfrom stores towards purephysical experiences.Swedish outdoor brand PeakPerformance connects cus-tomers with sublimity via “TheMagic Hour”—an online-onlystore that can only be accessedonce a customer reaches apre-determined and hard-to-get-to location.On a more restful scale,un-branded, shoeless spacesthat are acoustically designedto calm the senses and providerespite from “retail fatigue” arepopping up in malls in Japanand even Selfridges in the UK—reminding us that a busy lifedemands space to rejuvenate.In facilitating escape, brandsare seeking to showcase prod-ucts in a way that integrateswith daily life, satisfying anemotional need to to recharge.

Community Hub Developer attitudes are also turning outward to make malls more relevant to daily life. More than a pastiche of the main-streets of yesteryear, these neighborhood hubs aim to become centers of commu- nity, not commerce, offering drugstores, post offices, edu- cation, and health facilities in a centralized location. In Osaka, a 300-foot running track crowns a fitness-orient- ed mall development, while in Bangkok, Emquartier’s devel- opers are going the extra mile to add greenery that benefits a neighborhood notably lack- ing in green space. In Fuzhou, China, a new mall rooftop is linked to a neighboring public square using a giant outdoor stair. “We didn’t want to just build an ordinary shopping center— we listened to what residents wanted.” — Akiko Hayashi, Tokyu Fudosan, Morinomiya Q’s Mall Base

“Malls are becoming ‘alls’…the mall of tomorrowwill have all the apparel,consumer-electronicsand general-merchandiseoptions, but alongsideit will be gyms …fitnesscenters, medical servicesand even schools, grocerystores and luxury spas.”— Paco Underhill 09Emquartier features greenery-filled open spaces for shoppers andtheir families to spend time in.

Sensory Storytelling In a world where people can get nearly anything delivered anywhere, anytime, the challenge lies in finding novel ways to cap- tivate. Those who do visit stores need to be convinced the trip is worth their time, and offers something that can’t be accomplished or experienced online. Material culture is meaningless until it is put into action. Visceral installations animate the inanimate world of objects and bring their innate stories to life. New Luminous Textiles integrate multi-colored LEDs seamlessly within acoustic panels allowing for subtle store-wide shifts in mood, and atmosphere. RFID Technology is at the same time helping put consumers in control of complex stories and messages—revealing new layers of infor- mation only as needed. The concept of Retail Theater is not new, but with the development of olfactory Virtual Reality and techno-fabrics, the highly se- ductive idea of a wholly interactive, tangible media environment is now within reach and ripe for innovation. New Balance’s “The Line Up” experience uses embedded RFID tags to trigger content on in-store screens when shoes are picked up from a wall display, or placed on a featured display area.

UK-based Inition installed OculusRift headsets at Topshop’s OxfordCircus flagship that live-streamedthe brand’s catwalk show takingplace at the Tate Turbine Hallacross the city. 11“What data is—is changing; it’s a socialmedia feed, it’s a physical sensor,it’s a house plant, a novel, it’s openaccess to oceans of digitized archivesand more and more APIs… Ones andzeros float all around us just waiting todeliver the next new interaction.”—Eyeo festival 2014, Minneapolis

On the Line “We realized that shopping online, if you know exactly what you want—it’s fast, it’s cheaper …But it’s not about the enjoyment, the hobby, the sport.” — Katia Beauchamp, co-founder of Birchbox Mobile pavilions and temporary structures, like this 3D-printed environment produced by 3M, are one way bridge the digital/physical gap, and to instantly create a novel event space.

Consumers and brands are acutely aware 13of the drawbacks of purely digital shopping,and recognize the credibility a physicalspace conveys.Inspired by Airbnb-like innovation of thenew sharing economy, young entrepreneurslooking to gain visibility in new marketscan instantly rent temporary retail spaceson sites like The Storefront, Spacified, andAppear Here. Now that anyone can buy into ahip locale risk-free, more established brandsknow that the key to their retail future may liein how they can apply what they’ve learnedin the digital realm back to brick and mortarstores.The idea of competition between physicaland digital is a misnomer. In a bid to attractMillennials back into shopping centers inthe US, Simon Property Group teamed upwith fashion website Refinery29 on a seriesof pop-up stores in its malls. The success oftheir collaboration proved that people usedifferent retail channels at different timesfor different purposes—even though desiremay be sparked through online content, evenMillennial shoppers still prefer the physical,tactile experience of trying on clothes andshowing what they are buying to friends. Thekey to a healthy retail future will be in findingways for digital and physical retail channelsto fuel each other.



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Takeaways

1. Create a sensory experience: Showcase the kind of storytelling that the internet can’t provide. Consider novel ways to use technology to delight customers’ senses, rather than transparently pushing them to buy more.2. Collaborate outside your industry: Behave less like a stockist and more like the hub of a lifestyle movement. This includes products, but also art, performances, food, printed matter, and thought leadership.3. Engage the whole consumer: 17 Customers have become accustomed to one-stop-shopping—offer related products alongside services that satisfy daily needs, whether it’s a haircut, concierge services, or simply a charging station.4. Connect onsite and online: Learn from what works online and find ways to connect online content and interactions to physical experiences instore.5. Give your audience a break: Know when to pull back on messaging and let users discover your offering on their own terms—after they’ve had a chance to reset.

Rockwell GroupBased in downtown New York with offices inMadrid and Shanghai, we specialize in a widearray of work from luxury hospitality, cultural,and healthcare projects, to educational, product,and set design. A combination of interactivetechnology, handmade objects, customfixtures and furniture create environments thatseamlessly integrate technology, craftsmanship,and design.Crafting a unique and individualnarrative concept for each project is fundamentalto Rockwell Group’s successful design approach.From the big picture to the smallest detail, thestory informs and drives the design.Rockwell Group LABThe LAB explores the intersection of physicalspace and the digital world. Here, immersiveenvironments come to life through a collaborativeapproach—as designers, strategists, creativecoders, and technologists we tell stories andcreate places, activities, and events that bringpeople together.Insights Inventory ReportsProduced seasonally by Rockwell Group LABusing on-the-ground research, interviews withindustry leaders, and other research gatheredthroughout the year, each Insights InventoryReport explores insights, ideas, and inspirationwithin a specific market area.Produced under the direction of Melissa Hoffman and Caroline KimWritten and edited by Shannon HarveyAdditional research by Noah Edelstein and Abigail Smith-HanbyConcept and Design by Project ProjectsCopyright Rockwell Group LAB 2015