Concept Stores and Virtual Innovation

MEET ME AT THE CONCEPT STORE?

This year we are expecting to see growth within concept stores and popup shops, with retailers shifting attention towards the idea of temporary retail and reimagined physical spaces.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Ecommerce has rapidly accelerated consumer buying habits through a rise in omnichannel networks, including social media brand advertisements to meet the ever-changing demands. Whilst this remains a prevalent trend, innovation is being captured through changes to in-store experiences, with individuals seeking traditional ‘try before you buy’ shopping methods.

The emergence of concept stores relates to ‘experienced-based retail formats’. Instead of wanting direct sales, retailers tend to channel their energy towards customer satisfaction and needs, which are identified through loyalty and time spent understanding what type of audience the brand has obtained overtime, and how the customer journey from entering the store, looking at products and purchasing items can be associated with a theme or concept, creating ‘touchpoints’ across their journey.

As mentioned earlier in this blog, people still value traditional shopping and thrive for social interactions with retail employees, because it builds a relationship based upon shared goals and commonalities with the brand. This is where concept stores and popup shops offer sociability and personalisation, whilst adding a fun temporary infrastructure in-store, which is consistently being changed and filtered to offer multiple ideas and renovations that shift in line with the consumer, and can be tested at locations before deciding to commit to a permanent space. ?

For example, high-end fashion brand Louis Vuitton recently collaborated with Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama to create a polka-dot limited-edition collection of clothing, alongside life-like animatronics of Kusama herself broadcast on billboards worldwide, alongside showcasing Kusama painting within multiple Harrods and Selfridges display windows, also visible at the Louis Vuitton boutique on New Bond Street, London. Temporary pop-up installations such as this provide consumers a rare insight into Kusama’s fascination with polka-dot designs, and the chance to purchase items from her collection.

ANYA’ZZZ…HOW TO SLEEP

British fashion designer Anya Hindmarch first created her business at aged 18 and has come a long way since. Known for building her business by tapping into consumer emotions, along came the much-anticipated launch of ‘The Village’ on Pont Street, Chelsea, London in May 2021.

The Village comprises five unique storefronts, including staples such as ‘Anya Café’, ‘The Collection Shop’, ‘The Labelled Shop’, ‘The Bespoke Shop’ and ‘The Village Hall’.

It is worth noting that recently a sixth store titled ‘The World’s Smallest Department Store’ received its debut in The Village, launching on February 3rd providing nostalgic classic luxury items, comprised of British essentials spread out across multiple floors within the store, featuring iconic brands for everyone.

Wittingly, each store adds a unique value, such as ‘Anya’zzz – How to Sleep’ currently on display in The Village Hall. Prior to this, the ever-changing concept space was first dedicated to ‘Anya Hair Salon Shampoo & Therapy’ to celebrate the launch of ‘If in Doubt Wash Your Hair’, which truth be told is not really about washing your hair but offers guidance to women in business from non-other than Anya herself.

Soon after, the store was transformed into a sustainable concept called ‘The Plastic Shop’ to showcase sustainable ideas through collaborations with other artists and Anya’s own ‘I Am a Plastic Bag’ products. During January 2022, ‘The Dry Drinker’ off licence concept idealised alcoholic-free alternative beverages, as part of a month-long pop-up venture, and classic stickers were displayed on windows labelled ‘No shouting, no swearing, no standing, no drinking’.

In the midst of summer 2022, one other concept was well underway, dubbed ‘The Ice Cream Project’, which not only celebrated some of Anya’s favourite cult food brands but thrust consumers into all the nostalgic feels of experiencing and tasting assortments of ice cream, from household names like Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, PG Tips, and Kellogg’s Frosties amongst others. ?

I decided to take a dive into ‘Anya’zzz - How to Sleep’ store, a chic immersion of beds and pyjamas which highlight real-world issues concerning consumer nutrition and sleep. The ability to tap into this area is high on the agenda for retailers in terms of consumer buying behaviour changes, pushing towards more focus on health-related products. Overall, the store theme is decided based upon incorporating what consumers want, setting themselves apart from other retailers through creating different concept spaces.

After visiting the store and speaking with employees, it became apparent customers are loyal to the concept/pop-up space, often joining the first day of each new launch to have a look around, enabling consumers to experience something new. Customer desires are very much taken into consideration, including what products are most suitable to the desired audience and how they will be received during the product building to marketing phase.

With just a few days left before the pop-up ends, if you’re in need of a good night’s kip, this store could provide all your heart desires, so head on down to Pont Street and experience the concept in person!

HARRODS & LABELHOOD

Stepping inside Harrod’s fifth floor, the cultural presence and sense of community was represented through its overall aesthetic, amplified by the colour red as symbolic in Chinese culture. A range of clothing products showcasing well-known and respected brand LabelHood were on display, offering a space to emerging fashion designers in China and first connected with Harrods in 2019.

The immersive space inside Harrods aims to offer ‘fun for everyone’, including sessions for customers to capture this unique pop-up in person and celebrate the Lunar New Year. The campaign is titled ‘‘兔?be with you’ (rabbit be with you), with clothing pieces from Chinese designers ‘The Flocks, M Essential, Ruohan, Soft Mountain, and Nan Knits’.

Harrods created and continues to offer a collective space to new brands and upcoming fashion artists as part of their ‘Hive’ incubator program launched in November 2021, with LabelHood actively building strong partnerships across the luxury retail brand space in China.

LabelHood, originally called ‘Dongliang’ burst onto the retail scene in 2009 as a boutique in Beijing’s Wudaoying hutong neighbourhood, becoming known as a niche store for hosting only Chinese designers. Soon after, Dongliang expanded its stores to other locations in Beijing and Shanghai, gaining further attraction during the prestigious Shanghai Fashion Week in 2016, thus LabelHood was conceived and has since continued to establish itself as a forward-thinking entrepreneurial company for future designers to get involved.

The studio space in Harrods, which is kept for pop-up and innovative visionaries, invites Harrods consumers to shop selected items from LabelHood. In addition to the pop-up space, Harrods is hosting an exclusive Spring Festival afternoon tea, inspired by the Year of the Rabbit offered in the Tea Rooms until Easter.

WORD ON THE WATER - THE LONDON BOOK BARGE

Leading American book shop retailer Barnes and Noble, have revealed plans to open 30 new stores in 2023, as part of a ‘big-box revival’ that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Noticeably, avid book lovers across the world began reading during their free time at home, causing an uptick in the market and potential new avenue for book-themed physical spaces to emerge.

At the same time within digital channels, a shift in interest from consumers relating to reading began to take shape on social media through the hashtag #BookTok which since the pandemic gained 1.5 million views incorporating a sub community of TikTok, focusing on new books and literature lovers. Overall, this has impacted sales alongside the literacy community landscape.

To test this idea, I decided to venture out to a 100-year-old book barge called ‘Word on The Water’ floating on the regent’s canal in London. ?

What did I discover?

From Charles Dickens ‘The Origins of a Species’ to Sara Gay Forden’s ‘House of Gucci’, there isn’t a genre Word on The Water can’t meet. This intrinsic space filled with a cosy fireplace, vintage typewriters, and classic grandad armchairs made myself and I’m sure other visitors feel at home just by stepping into its environment. ?

Word on the Water is London’s most fascinating Dutch book barge, which sells used and second handbooks, whilst offering live jazz music on the roof; underpinned by future aspirations to host in-person literary events such as poetry readings and book clubs.

After speaking with one of three owners of the lavish boat called ‘Dianti’ which has been open 12 years, it became apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown not only accelerated Ecommerce but allowed people to slow down and pick up a book once more, triggering a book epidemic filled with people suddenly wanting to read. What better place to do this than within one of London’s hidden gems mirroring rising literary, whilst creating exposure and visibility towards the boating community, representing a platform to build a culture surrounding the canal.

RISE OF VIRTUAL INFLUENCERS

Alongside concept stores and pop-up spaces, the retail industry is experiencing shifts within a combination of physical and digital innovations. Consumers are utilising online platforms to research products before they buy in store and vice versa. Likewise, consumers are being immersed into ‘influencer culture’ which like an uptick in book readers, took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was accelerated by changing consumer demands and buying habits.

The UK influencer market has captured attention within retail digital marketing, shifting the landscape in accordance to a rapid incline of users across social media. Therefore, it is understandable that retailers and brands have decided to take advantage of this to formulate promotions, live ad streaming, influencer campaigns and raise brand awareness to boost revenue generation amongst growing buying power.

According to Statista in 2023, the number of social media users in UK stands at 61.67 million, whilst the global influencer market size estimated value is US $16.4 billion, Instagram’s market share falls just behind at US $13.8 billion. Between 2016 – 2021 the influencer marketing grew 400% in the UK, and is expected to continue upstream reaching US $1.72 billion by 2027 globally. To give an example of this digital shift, well-known American grocery retailer Wallmart which has over 10,500 physical stores and clubs in 24 countries alongside its Ecommerce websites, decided to launch a ‘Creator’ platform in October 2022 to provide space for creators and influencers. Resources are made available and a ‘one-stop portal’ to monetise products from Wallmart including shoppable livestreams to meet customer needs and inspire collaboration. ?

One other area within influencer marketing that has taken shape over the last years specifically within luxury retail campaigns, is the rise of ‘virtual influencers’ created through computer-generated imagery (CGI), considered to be the future of digital clothing brands helping connect to audiences through online personalities. These are typically created by media agencies and/or brands who identify and elaborate on the virtual influencers background, allowing consumers to relate with products on an emotional level. At present, we have seen virtual influencers appearing in luxury ad campaigns for designers such as Balmain and have interacted with real models such as Bella Hadid with Lil Miquela for Calvin Klein. In October 2021, Prada revealed their new virtual ambassador for perfume ‘Prada Candy’, opting for a CGI influencer to promote the fragrance pillar, targeting Gen Z/TikTok-native audiences.

Virtual influencers are taking to market within the UK high-street space, such as well-known fashion retailer Marks and Spencer who introduced their own virtual influencer; a computer-generated character called ‘Mira’ in October 2022. Mira is the first virtual insider, as part of ‘M&S Insiders’ which launched in 2018 made up of colleagues for sharing style inspiration and product finds. Mira has been chosen to appear on behalf of the brand, often featuring on Instagram to communicate with the M&S community.

In turn, we can expect to see bolder experimenting with emerging technologies in the future by other retailers, inspiring customers through live trends and conversations in both physical and virtual realities.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CYBER SECURITY?

Ecommerce and online retail businesses saw an increase of 264% in ransomware attacks over the last 12 months, and Europe witnessed a 63% increase overall. Because retail involves a mix between concept stores and ecommerce, there can be misconceptions surrounding how much security is needed, and what assets are a top priority such as securing point-of-sale (PoS) systems during the checkout process, for example. This can lead to weaker security, while cyber criminals are becoming stealthier in their targeted campaigns to maximise rewards. Another point to consider is protecting operation technology (OT) environments that monitor hardware and software. Given the rise in internet-of-things devices creating a more connected world, retailers are urged to think about software security for CCTV monitoring, and smart shelving to stock products. British electronics retailer Curry’s just launched their first artificial intelligence (AI)-based robotic customer service machine in four of its UK stores. Dubbed ‘Kettybot’, this emerging in-store functionality has the potential to widen the attack surface, specifically surrounding privacy of data whilst implementing own security measures for protecting internal IT systems to avoid implications.

According to Ignas Kalpokas author of ‘Problematising reality: the promises and perils and synthetic media’ (2021), computer generated content, referred to as ‘synthetic media’, enables emerging technology including deepfakes, virtual influencers and extended reality (XR) to form life-like environments and personalities for people to relate too. AI and machine learning (ML) have the ability to provide IT security professionals with automated, faster, and structured cyber security practices, to combat the shifting threat landscape and attack surface. However, cyber criminals, and hacktivists groups could employ the same AI techniques to defeat defences and avoid detection. For example, manipulating security algorithms and targeting the data AI is trained to report for suspicious behaviour, while create phishing or malware campaigns to avoid detection (ChatGPT is already being discussed in relation to creating malware for targeted campaigns); resulting in organisations suffering from lack of data privacy and recovery mechanisms in place. ?

Thank you all for tuning in to read about the retail industry. Alongside publishing the blogs, I will be starting to share a list of my top 10 podcasts which will be updated monthly. You can find out more information about this here?and without further ado, enjoy!