Apparel’s future concepts

Today’s TextileFuture Newsletter is flashing on (apparel) retailing and compares with other aspects of sectors. Today we offer two different features, one from McKinsey specialist and one from Samsung. Some of the aspects will differ from the other feature, but in general they are gearing you to the same results. We will offer to you a second part in the next Newsletter, specialising on the necessary technological enhancement to achieve the goals described below.

Ready to ‘where’: Getting sharp on apparel omnichannel excellence

Brands and retailers are moving quickly to provide more seamless omni- channel shopping experiences—but your customers are moving faster.

By guest authors Holly Briedis, Tyler Harris, Megan Pacchia, and Kelly Ungerman from McKinsey. Holly Briedis is an associate partner in McKinsey’s Dallas office, where Kelly Ungerman is a senior partner; Tyler Harris is a consultant in the Atlanta office; and Megan Pacchia is a partner in the New Jersey office.

The authors wish to thank Shruti Bhargava, Courtney Buzzell, Thomas Kilroy, Ian MacKenzie, Jennifer Schmidt, and Tom Skiles for their contributions to this article.

Tectonic forces are roiling the apparel landscape, overcoming companies that can’t keep pace with digital competitors or the customers whose behaviours and expectations are evolving faster than ever. Six out of ten people now use at least one digital channel in their shopping journey for an apparel garment, which has major implications for physical stores. In 2017 and 2018 alone, US retailers vacated a quarter of a billion square feet, and they have announced more than 6,000 store closures so far this year.1

For most apparel companies, however, brick-and- mortar stores are still essential. That is because more of the best customers are using a combination of offline and online channels when they shop. Our new Apparel Omnichannel Survey of more than 3000 US shoppers reveals, why these journeys are so important: the average omnichannel customer purchases 70 % more often than an offline- only shopper, and reports spending more than USD 2000 on apparel each year.2 This is 34 % more than an offline-only shopper—a conservative figure, as transaction data often indicate that omnichannel shoppers spend multiples more than their peers do. Omnichannel shoppers are simply better customers for apparel brands.

The Apparel Omnichannel Survey explored which customer-experience and merchandising factors drive customers to search, consider, and ultimately purchase in a given channel, which are distinct from what drives purchases for a specific brand. Insights in this perspective focus on channel equity—what drives shoppers to purchase, for instance, from a multi-brand apparel retailer (like a department store) versus a mono-brand store, as well as online versus from a brick-and-mortar store.

Notes: 1 Hayley Peterson, “More than 6,200 stores are closing in 2019 as the retail apocalypse drags on—here’s the full list,” Business Insider, May 2, 2019.

2 The 3127 Americans who responded our survey in late 2018 were primary or shared decision makers who had purchased apparel in the previous three months. The women had spent at least USD 500—and the men at least USD 250—in the previous 12 months on casual, non-casual, or athletic apparel. We excluded intimates, footwear, basics (like underwear and T-shirts), and accessories (like socks and hats). We define “omnichannel shoppers” as shoppers who use a combination of offline and online channels throughout their journeys, from initial consideration to final purchase.

3 “Digital-influenced retail sales forecast, 2018 to 2023 (US),” Forrester Research, December 10, 2018, forrester.com; “Forrester data: Online retail forecast, 2018 to 2023 (US),” Forrester Research, May 7, 2018; forrester.com.

In this article, we will discuss how customer behaviour is changing across channels today and how brands and multi-brand retailers can more clearly deliver on what customers value most.

New-age requirements for winning in omnichannel

Omnichannel shopping is fast becoming the new norm. According to our survey, omnichannel shoppers now represent one in three shopping journeys (Exhibit 1). In addition, more than 60 percent of shopping journeys now have a digital component for either research or transaction—a share that is projected to grow at a rate three times that of in-store sales.3 Meanwhile, nearly 40 percent of purchases are still made in physical stores without online research.

Personalization is no longer a nice to have but a must-have

Online leaders in consumer-facing industries, from books and music to insurance, use countless data sources and artificial intelligence to customize offerings to millions of people every day. Sephora—a best-in-class example—takes cross-channel personalization to the next level with features like location-targeted text messages to notify customers that a nearby store has a new, limited-edition product in stock.

Our analysis reveals that personalization, such as “tailored for me” product suggestions and advice, is a key driver of trips for both monobrand and multibrand retailers across online and offline channels. Further, customers indicate that personalization gives an opportunity to differentiate from competitors and delight them. To personalize effectively, however, brands and retailers first must know who their customer is—to link and identify the one in three shoppers who researched online before coming into the store or researched in the store before visiting the website.

Amazon is core to your customer’s journey— take the time to understand it

We believe apparel companies can outcompete online-only giants at specific moments in the consumer shopping journey. According to our research, one in four apparel shoppers visits Amazon early in the apparel shopping journey. That is a huge number. But two-thirds of those visitors buy elsewhere. This tells us that Amazon is critical in the search, inspiration, and discovery phases of the journey (an insight supported by its growing role as a marketing and media platform) but is less effective for evaluation and the purchase transaction itself. This creates an opportunity for apparel companies to differentiate and win the actual sale.

Business-model innovation is essential for the omnichannel shopper—how are you redefining your experience?

Omnichannel customers are hungry for innovation and are more likely to experiment with new technologies and engagement models. As the number of omnichannel shoppers grows, the degree and pace of innovation and experimentation will need to grow to serve them.

Innovative direct-to-consumer apparel companies are gaining real-time insights into what customers want and responding to trends faster than ever.

Reformation, a direct-to-consumer brand known for sustainable sourcing and manufacturing, delivers new products quickly in response to customer insights and feedback. Revolve Clothing, a digital- first company, creates a full-circle loop based on its proximity to the consumer: influencers drive and inform digital content, while consumer-search and -transaction data inform the development of private-label brands and products.

Other retailers are mobilizing on the shopping trends by building or investing in new models to engage with the customer. Stitch Fix offers a virtual stylist and subscription service, while Rent the Runway is building an ever-more comprehensive rental service, expanding to new product categories and services.

Be incisive: Invest in what matters

The evergreen retail framework focused on five primary factors—assortment, service, experience, price, and convenience—still applies in understanding how to deliver a brand or retail experience (Exhibit 2).

What’s changed, however, is how these factors manifest in an omnichannel world and the breadth of new resources, tools, and assets that underlie these factors and enable brands and retailers to act.

A few select examples of how best-in-class retailers are bringing these factors into their day-to-day operations:

— Experience. Rather than relying exclusively on owned transaction and third-party-syndicated data to get a view on a customer, leading companies are augmenting this with social listening. They are also turning brick-and- mortar stores into data-collection opportunities (for example, providing tablets for shoppers to “order” items to the fitting room). This gives a more 360-degree view of the customer and creates a tailored experience across the entirety of the omnichannel journey.

— Service. Rather than investing exclusively in store associates, leading companies are leveraging virtual stylists and chat bots. In parallel, they are sharpening the associates’ tool kits to provide them with the most important information about the specific customer who walks in the door.

— Assortment. Instead of developing assortments based on historical planograms, leading companies are investing in advanced analytics and web scraping to forecast trends. They are doing fast tests and trials with customers to see what sells before committing to space on a shelf or floor.

Consistently, the companies outperforming in omnichannel have a deep understanding of their own customers’ unique expectations across channels, including what matters most to them.

What matters most—and least—in omnichannel equity

Omnichannel customers are hungry for innovation. Why does a customer choose to transact in a department store rather than the owned store?

What makes a customer choose to buy repeatedly online versus going into the store? What are table-stakes factors versus true differentiators in the shopping experience? Against each primary channel, we generated a customer-backed view on the derived importance of each of the five factors to understand what ultimately drives trips at a channel level. While nuances exist by category and for monobrand and multibrand retailers, the following summary holds true in aggregate.

Assortment—the most important factor

Our survey results indicate that assortment is far and away the most important factor in driving trips across channels—spanning brick-and-mortar stores and online, as well as monobrand and multibrand retailers. A broad selection is especially important for multibrand retailers (for example, department stores and specialty wholesalers) that need to carry all the brands and styles a customer typically buys. Tailoring the assortment to a retailer or to a channel (for example, online only) allows retailers to break shoppers’ ability to price reference online and enables price variation by channel.

Experience—a compelling reason to go

For getting the experience right, two levers rank among the top for both multibrand retailers and brands: personalizing product suggestions to customize the experience for a customer and being fun to browse and shop. Shoppers tell us that more practical elements of the experience, such as product reviews to increase confidence in the purchase, being able to reserve items to try on in stores, and the purchase channel meetingexpectations consistently, tend to drive their online trips. Conversely, they suggest that physical stores drive trips by offering immersive environments that are less easily replicated in digital channels.

Elements of these experiences can include offering interactive and engaging ways to navigate products and discovering new offerings.

Fossil and other brands are developing new concepts and store layouts to take the engaging and personalized experience to the next level. Fossil’s Maker concept stores limit assortment to devote more space to enhancing and customizing the experience, such as stations for engraving, mixing, and matching watch straps; repair; and service.

Frye, an experience-forward shoes, boots, and leathers brand, uses its owned stores as platforms for fun, immersive experiences. The brand, known for its popularity with musicians, installed a stage in its Nashville, Tennessee, location. By day, it’s an Instagram magnet; by night, it features open-mic events for emerging vocal artists.

Service—an opportunity to differentiate and delight

For service, the stakes are high: 33 % of Americans say they will think about switching companies after only one poor service experience.4 Meanwhile, the benefits of getting it right are clear: seven out of ten shoppers have spent more for the same item to purchase with a company that provides excellent service. Among all factors available to brands and retailers to compete, service has the most room to differentiate and the ability to delight omnichannel shoppers.

Price—relative to the value of the experience While price tends to be slightly more important in driving trips for monobrand than multibrand retailers, the customer expectation is that products are “priced right”—that price is commensurate with the value of the experience—regardless of which channel they prefer to shop. In other words, customers are willing to pay more for a better experience, which can include the ability to charge different prices offline and online or across different channels if the experience is sufficiently differentiated.

Convenience—a must win, but not a differentiator

Most customers claim that convenience, which includes things like seamless switching between channels, flexible delivery options, and location of store, is the most important purchase factor regardless of channel. It is important to consider differences between what your customers say and what they actually do—our analysis shows that convenience consistently ranks at the bottom of the five factors in driving overall trips to a channel.

The ways to execute against and win in each of these five areas look different today than they did in the past—and they continue to evolve at an ever-rapid clip. Consistently, companies that are leading in omnichannel have a clear point of view on the goals and roles of each channel in their ecosystem, and they design differentiated experiences across these five factors to attract, deepen, and retain the relationship with their omnichannel customer.

Leading the omnichannel revolution

To win in omnichannel, apparel companies should have a point of view on the following areas:

Understanding your omnichannel customers and their expectations:

— How does your company’s omnichannel journey

— compare with those of your peers, what signature moments do you create, and how are you performing against customer expectations?

— Do employees across the organization understand the characteristics and importance of omnichannel customers and build strategies and action plans to address their needs? Is this translated into clear strategies and initiatives across the organization?

— Are you linking and creating seamless cross- channel experiences for your customers?

What points of engagement matter most, and how do they enable or disrupt the shopping experience?

2. Developing an omnichannel merchandising strategy by channel:

— Is your merchandising strategy tailored by channel based on what your customers value and how they shop?

— Is merchandising decision making coordinated across channels to be truly omnichannel, rather than occurring in channel silos?

3. Enabling the organization for omnichannel success and cross-channel performance:

— Can you point to a single person or team that “owns” omnichannel performance?

— How have you designed performance metrics that incent and reward omni- channel or “whole enterprise” success, rather than channel-isolated key performance indicators?

— Is your organization agile enough to adjust to changing customer needs across channels?

The time to act is now

In some ways, the apparel business has come full circle: for centuries, shoppers patronized the dressmakers and tailors who understood their tastes and preferences, provided advice on the latest fashion, and offered special deals for the best customers. Shoppers today expect the same kind of personal touch.

We believe the winners going forward in apparel will be those that listen and translate customer needs and expectations into carefully crafted channel strategies to meet and serve customers where they are—and as they move within and across channels. These winners will know their customers better than competitors and engender longer-term trust and loyalty, deepened through each interaction.

www.mckinsey.com

Play and display: How to win in the new age of retail

Introduction

We are witnessing the digitisation of the entire retail ecosystem, from technology-enabled supply chains and growing e-commerce sales through to autonomous checkouts and in-aisle self-service within stores.

All retailers are somewhere on that journey, and it is significantly influencing the way stores look, feel and function.

Stores are now part of a wider brand experience, as opposed to being the only channel in which to engage consumers – and forward-thinking brands are now piling their shops high with great design, tech, inspiration and expertise, not just endless SKUs.

Here at Samsung, we recommend that retailers wanting to win in the new era of digitisation and “harmonised retail” should concentrate on three main areas:

1. Creating brand differentiation, and bringing the brand story to life in standout ways

2. Seamless customer experiences, which remove friction across the customer journey

3. Transforming the in-store environment, and making it a data-driven sales tool

Digital display plays a central role in this process – it can be used for straightforward marketing purposes, as well as to help brands create the interactive and personalised experiences and provide additional information so many shoppers are seeking.

It is no longer a matter of stores competing with online; it is a seamless merger of physical and digital that retail businesses are working hard to develop. Steve Dennis, an industry analyst at SageBerry Consulting who has held senior tech roles at Sears and Neiman Marcus, describes what is needed as “harmonised retail”.

In a Forbes post, he writes: “A winning customer experience strategy recognises that the blended channel is the only channel and that retailers need to leverage deep customer insight to understand how various customer segments navigate the customer journey across digital and physical channels.”

Over the following three chapters of this Samsung-Retail Gazette report we explore the benefits of so-called harmonised retail and the route to success, using examples and commentary from those at the heart of the sector. We also highlight the overarching impact digital display can have on a brand’s store presence in the new age of retail.

Creating brand differentiation

• Digital and traditional retailers learn from each other

• Brands must practice what they preach

• Using digital display helps brands tell their unique story

For those who get it right and build a suitable proposition for their customers, the in-store experience remains the most engaging way to tell a retailer’s stories.

Despite the power of social media to spread a message and e-commerce’s ability to quickly convert a sale, the store is the only place where a customer can be immersed in the brand experience – where they touch, smell, hear, or even taste, the product.

Retailers looking to get more from their stores in an age where shoppers have the option of buying most items online are seeking ways to emphasise this point of differentiation, as Paula Nickolds, managing director of department store chain John Lewis, explains.

“Commoditisation means that breadth is no longer a differentiator,” she explained at a British Retail Consortium Future Leaders event in January 2019.

“In the world of endless aisles, we’re increasingly overwhelmed by the tyranny of choice. For customers, this is eroding the points of difference between us as retailers.”

To stand out, John Lewis is looking to introduce more US brands that cannot be found in other UK department stores, and create a unique feel through its service proposition – including home improvement, specialist beauty, and personal fashion advice.

For other retailers, technology is increasingly playing a key part in creating brand individuality and differentiation from the competition.

Online retail going physical

There has been a growing movement for online retailers to open up physical space. It is evidence of smart retailers realising a blend of physical and digital has a major impact on sales, exposure and general reputation among consumers.

Furniture e-tailer Made.com currently operates physical space in the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, and these showrooms offer many types of feature seen in Samsung’s physical space.

In its Soho, London showroom – which is viewed by the company as the blueprint for others in its portfolio – big screens dominate the entrance. Smaller more interactive screens towards the back of the showroom also help customers engage with the brand in a more personal way.

Ruth Wassermann, design director at Made.com, says: “We have always thought of ourselves as a tech business, so it’s really important that the physical spaces are reflective of that.

“When people come into our store they are experiencing a physical representation of what we are as a brand – and that is very much about design, but communicated and sold to customers through a digital medium.”

Talking up the benefits of digital display, she adds: “You can change them all the time.

“Generally, it’s displaying the most relevant newness for us – it’s a way to communicate the same kind of things that we communicate through our CRM marketing.”

Made.com is part of a wave of digital native brands such as Glossier and Casper in the US, which have opened stores. Amazon, which often runs pop-ups to push new ventures, and US glasses e-tailer Warby Parker, which operates circa 100 stores, are also part of that movement. Each have spoken about the store’s potential in providing significant opportunities to raise awareness of their brand and strengthen customer relationships.

In June 2019, online beauty brand house The Hut Group announced the acquisition of a standout building in Manchester city centre, which will be its first showroom. It is planning “a new and innovative environment for customers and influencers to discover and fully experience our prestigious brands”, according to CEO Matt Moulding, highlighting the growing trend for new store openings with a significant digital twist.

Practice what is preached

Whateverway retailers choose to bring their story to life, it’s important the company message and customer experience remains consistent across each shopper touchpoint.

Retailers selling highly technical, or luxury products, for example, must ensure that is how they are perceived in their stores. When Harvey Nichols launched its ‘click and try’ online reservation service, for example, customers coming into the store were offered a glass of champagne while they discussed a potential purchase.

Premium consumer electronics retailer Bang & Olufsen has its reputation in mind as it embarks on a journey of implementing technology into the in-store customer experience. Simon Silva, global retail & customer experience manager, has the task of digitising the store further in the 2019-20 financial year.

“The job of the store is not just to convert but also to educate – so there’s a storytelling angle to the work here,” he states.

On tactics to consider when implementing digital screens and technology to enhance the in-store environment, Silva notes the importance of his tech-heavy brand striking the appropriate mood.

“You have to be so careful that the technology is robust enough to deliver a consistent on-brand experience, and to consider the safety nets are in place to catch a store if it goes wrong,” he warns.

• Retailers cannot think about stores and e-commerce separately

• Digital display drives seamless CX between channels

• Stores are no longer just stores

“At the moment we’re half online. The physical presence still has a very important part to play in getting people to shop with your brand even if they are doing it online.”

The words of the chief financial officer at fashion and lifestyle retailer Joules, Marc Dench, who was on stage at eTail Europe 2019 in June to talk about how the business provides a seamless customer experience across channels.

Joules calls its approach to serving the modern digitally-influence shopper ‘Total Retail’, and uses the term to shape all it does. In Dench’s words, Joules has a “digital first” mentality, and opens stores based on their potential to drive e-commerce and click & collect.

Underlining the benefits of its approach, Joules reported a 17.2 % increase in 2018-19 annual revenue to GBP 218 million. In a UK retail environment where the majority of incumbents cite challenging and tough trading conditions, Joules is conversely on the up.

Store of the future

Digital display lights up future store

Retailers opening flagship stores of the future tend to have several factors in common. They will often say that it represents a new direction for their brand, it will be service-heavy to match consumers’ growing demand for in-store consultancy and non-shopping activity, and there will be Instagram-friendly design to encourage social media posts.

Three cases in point which opened in 2019 are Schuh in Livingston, Primark in Birmingham, and Boots in London Covent Garden – all of which opened to much fanfare. Travel companies across the UK are even offering day trips to the new Primark, such is its attraction.

One other common feature among them is they are all decorated and enhanced with digital display at various strategic points around their stores. Schuh says it is trying to attract a younger customer with its digital signage, while in Boots and Primark it is intrinsic to the new design and supports brand marketing, wayfaring, and much more.

Even one of the fastest growing online players of recent years, acknowledges the store’s vital role in today’s retail world.

Farfetch’s vice president of innovation, David Grunwald, says shops are particularly crucial in luxury fashion. Farfetch even acquired boutique brand Brown’s to underline its commitment to physical retail, and developed a ‘Store of the Future’ concept to sell on to third-party luxury retailers.

The initiative is based on the theory that the reinvention of the consumer experience will be driven through online and offline integrations, and it has led to the business launching a new operating system for third-party brands to use in order to drive their shops. It is present in Thom Browne in New York and will be in Chanel flagships of the future. “It really is borrowing the best bits of an e-commerce experience and taking it to a physical store,” Grunwald told the eTail Europe 2019 audience.

“I think there is a lot of room for growth in that concept, especially in the luxury field. We feel very strongly that in-store retail is a fixture and [will support] the vast majority of activity in the luxury sector in the future.”

Lara Marrero, strategy director at the global retail practice of Gensler, a design and consulting agency, says retailers need to “stop thinking of their stores as stores”.

They are the locations for brands to engage with their guests or customers, she argues, adding that in an age of online the physical space is less about consumption and more about “belonging” – but retailers still need to cater for both.

“Stores were originally built around the ideas of consumption and now it’s not so much about buying a product rather than being part of a community,” Marrero remarks.

Screens for storytelling

Retail futurist and consultant Doug Stephens, also known as the Retail Prophet, talks about stores as a retailer’s media. They are no longer a simple place to buy goods or distribute stock from, he says, they are the embodiment of a brand and a place to meet, greet and engage guests with all that is good about the company.

Whether it is Sweaty Betty or Lululemon holding sports classes, Hobbycraft hosting crafting events for its VIPs or Majestic Wine bringing locals in to taste wine, the store is becoming a hub for events and interaction with the customer aside from sales.

Samsung, through its big city flagships in particular, is the embodiment of this retail evolution. In 2019 it will open another showcase site in the exciting Coal Drops Yard development in London’s King’s Cross. A unique, experience-led space, Samsung KX will display devices and services in a distinctive venue that brings technology and local passions to life.

There will be a roster of skills sharing events and workshops, as Samsung aims to develop its community in London with an ideal blend of digital display and the human touch.

Among the features on offer for its visitors will be DJ Galaxy, where people can learn the art of music with each beat brought to life through real-time LED sound visualisation.

Meanwhile, a ‘Collage Me’ touchpoint will let guests turn a selfie into a unique, personalised piece of work which can be taken away or left on KX’s display wall – all part of creating a destination for locals “that truly conveys and fulfils their needs”, says Tanya Weller, Director, Samsung Showcase.

The store as data- driven sales tool

• Minority Report style retailing a possibility

• Retailers needn’t drown in data

• Digital display has a data role to play

During the making of the 2002 science fiction film Minority Report, director Steven Spielberg recruited Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers to envision what the world might look like in 50 years’ time to aid the plotline.

The film, which is set in 2054, features scenes with iris-scanning to recognise customers entering a shop, personalised ads on digital displays, and voice command tech – all things that will be familiar with today’s retail IT teams looking for the latest solutions.

The point is that much of what appears in the film is already available today in some form. Footfall counters, lidar sensors, and Wi-Fi tracking can help retailers gain access to customer behaviour information – and the latter can be conducted via digital screens in stores, including those from manufacturers like Samsung.

Leveraging data in the best ways

Retailers are starting to use stores as sources of customer data to shape multichannel operations, and digital display can play a central role in that process.

Joules – one of the fastest growing UK retailers – is data driven. CFO Dench says it trains staff in how to collect emails and postcodes in a GDPR-compliant and unobtrusive manner, and he claims Joules has a 70 % data capture rate at the till-point in store.

He said the ability to add more data to its operations is one of the key pillars for opening new stores in the first place – alongside boosting brand presence, and driving sales across other channels.

“Generally, because we track all the data, we see once we open a store our e-commerce sales [in that geography] go up by 5 – 10 %,” Dench noted.

“Our hypothesis is people know the brand because they see it and trust it. But, we do see they feel confident, they can return something, try something on, or touch the product to get a sense of the product.”

Retailers working with Samsung can embed screens with video technology, enabling them to capture in-store data which can be linked with data from both in-store and online to aid business intelligence and, therefore, overall strategy.

It is crucial for retailers to link all their various data streams into one central system to truly maximise the benefits, and put themselves in a position to become data driven in their decision making.

Actionable insight

Made.com counts showroom footfall, and design director Wassermann says: “We have metrics on people who make a purchase having visited the showroom.

“We are able to take that data and understand that showrooms are successful for us.”

Retailers and brands’ newfound data expertise provides them with a chance to shape their physical spaces in the way customers demand, according to Gensler’s Merrero.

“We can learn a lot based on how people use space and we can really get ahead of the increased pace of change if we understand what our customers want,” she argues, adding retailers need to design stores and physical space not just “to wow” but to provide a practical function.

For years, retailers have measured sales, year-on-year improvements, and footfall, Merrero says, adding it needs to evolve and that “we need to start changing ‘the why’ behind these branded spaces”.

“Now the store is turning into something that is marketing based and is more about a brand beacon for your guest or customer,” she notes.

“An experience has no purpose if it isn’t about generating some sort of engagement with a customer – whether that is sales, footfall, year-on-year performance, or increasingly now social media uptick, brand awareness or loyalty.”

Using data to evolve the store

Westfield London housed the ultra-relevant The Trending Store pop-up shop in the first week of July. The temporary fashion boutique space sold only goods that were trending in real time, based on tracking 400000 online influencers.

The aim was to get the influencer-endorsed styles into the store merchandise as quickly as possible, and made available for shoppers to buy. Is this the future for more stores? That remains to be seen, but it is certainly showcasing the art of the possible.

Mario Coletti, managing director at Nextatlas, the tech platform supporting the initiative, says: “The Trending Store is revolutionising store management by using Nextatlas’ platform to make stores a destination of data science rather than a source of it.

“It’s a pioneering example of how artificial intelligence will be relevant for customers as well as a way to make stores more effective in generating enhanced customer experiences.”

The concept brings a new meaning to fast fashion, but its very presence underlines how data usage, customer engagement, and the in-store experience has the potential to combine for compelling impact and revolutionise how people shop in the years to come.

Stores are changing purpose and appearance, giving brands so much to consider in the new age of retail. And, so many of them are putting their faith in digital display to support this evolution towards in-store brand differentiation, seamless CX, and data-driven retailing.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies.

The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions.

www.samsung.com

Today’s TextileFuture Newsletter is flashing on (apparel) retailing and compares with other aspects of sectors. Today we offer two different features, one from McKinsey specialist and one from Samsung. Some of the aspects will differ from the other feature, but in general they are gearing you to the same results. We will offer to you a second part specialising on the necessary technological enhancement to achieve the goals described below.