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Design Report
The store of the future
Retail prognosticator Keith
Anderson and creative strategist
Brian Priest have a theory,
which they’ve been sharing with
retailers and shopper marketing
execs at various industry thinkfests.
They’re telling everyone
to start planning now for five
drivers of change set to throw a
proverbial wrench into the works
for retailers designing stores.
They reckon the strongest forces
affecting retail business models – from
merchandising to marketing – are society,
technology, economy, industry and
political systems (STEIP). Within this
framework, Anderson, VP at RetailNet
Group and Priest, SVP creative at
Upshot in the U.S., point to the exodus
of suburbanites to cities, acculturation of
immigrants and high-speed advancements
in technology as a few influencers driving
change on retail store blueprints.
Retailers also need to design their
stores to more specifically target each
of the different generational cohorts –
Boomers, Gen X and Millennials, Priest
says. Expect to see more stores overtly
designed to meet the needs of an aging
population, just as some Asian retailers
have done with shopping carts that
double as walkers or magnifying glasses
on shelves, adds Anderson.
While such offbeat tactics aren’t
as prevalent in Canadian retail today,
strategy looks at retailers that are
introducing more forward-thinking
elements of design in their stores such
as smaller footprint shops, customization
tools and even cultural hubs.
BY JENNIFER HORN
TECHNOLOGY
SPORT CHEK TECHS UP
Sport Chek’s digital haven in Toronto was designed to be a testing ground for new technology in retail.
It’s the end of the brand-driven retail world as we know it.
“Back in the ’90s, it was always about the brand driving the design [of a
store],” says Priest. “Now, it’s the shopper.” Technology has equipped them
with the tools to shop whenever and wherever they please, and retailers
are instinctively responding with retail design that provides the same
fundamental experiences they’d ind in the online world, he adds.
For Canadian retailer Sport Chek, that means constructing a
12,000-square-foot store wired with digital screens from end to end, as
well as installing tools that enable shoppers to design their own products,
such as shoes, sunglasses and hockey jerseys. When the FGL Sports-owned
retailer launched its irst Retail Lab in Toronto earlier this year, Michael
Medline, president and CEO of the company, said the store was built to be a
“conduit between customers and their favourite brands” and a hub for the
retailer to test and learn from the latest in technology.
The store is a digital mecca with its 140 Samsung screens, ranging
from small tiles in tables to larger 55” screens that demonstrate product
features. Consumers can scan for coupons using NFC and interact with,
for example, Adidas-created content such as its Twitter feed and product
features through touch-screen tech.
However, it’s the customization tools, such as the “build your own
Reebok” shoe kiosk where customers can design the look and feel of their
shoe, or the Sidas ski and snowboard boot insert tool that makes a 3D map
of a person’s foot to create a custom-made boot insert, which Priest says
will drive customer “assurance and conidence” in the store’s ability to
provide them with bespoke products. “They’re tools that educate and help
deine choice by making customized products for you,” he says. “It’s the
sort of technology that makes selection easier.”
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