Over the last decade, more shoppers have moved from shopping for gifts offline to ordering gifts online taking advantage of the recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Getting the latest smart watch like the Pebble or an e-book reader like the Kindle is actually trendy and part of many people’s Christmas wish list.
Metalworks, the global R&D division and creative technology unit of Maxus, a media agency, presented a collection of prototypes envisioning future retail environments at the annual WPP Global Retail Forum in Miami, USA earlier in May. It consolidated its notes from research and development into 5 key trends in this inaugural trend report.
According to the forecast, brick and mortar retailers are presented with the opportunity to take advantage of technology in creative ways with existing solutions. The report presents the latest developments in retail technology and concepts, the impact of these developments and a ready to adopt solution to help retail brands lean into change with technology.
Some key findings from the report include:
1. The changing landscape of retail payments where technology like Apple Pay and near-field communication (NFC) payment options are lowering the barriers to entry for small retailers who wish to mimic the shopping experience of bigger retailers.
2. How data delivers insights and untapped possibilities for various functions in a retail environment such as merchandising, marketing and supply chain management.
3. New ways to present products and cut through attention clutter through the creative use of technology such as holographic displays and virtual reality headsets.
4. Creative examples to use retail spaces as media spaces and media spaces as retail spaces in cities like Seoul and London.
5. How storytelling and design collaborations are evolving retail concepts and giving form to new retail models in New York.