6 Examples of the Store of the Future
Picture of Amazon Style
What does the future hold? That’s what everyone wants to know. There are many different theories about how the in-store shopping experience will change over the next decade. Some are imagining robots at our beck and call but many of the changes you will see will be more subtle than that.
One of the areas several retailers are focusing on is the fitting room. If you have ever tried anything on in a store you know this is an area just waiting to be revamped. In light of this retailers are placing technology inside of fitting rooms so customers can do things like check for different sizes and colours, and request them, all without having to peak your head out of your fitting room while you are half dressed.
Scanning QR codes as you shop to retrive product information is another feature of in-store shopping you will see more of. Those are just a small sampling of what features the store of the future will have. For more visions of what the future holds consider how these five retailers are reimagining the in-store shopping experience.
1. Alibaba. The Chinese eCommerce giant made a move into physical retail in 2016 by opening a chain of futuristic supermarkets called Hema or Freshippo in English. For those of you who can’t make the trip to China here’s a quick overview of what these stores are like and why they provide an elevated customer experience:
Scan and go. Customers shopping at Hema can use the retailer’s app to scan the QR code on each item they wish to purchase then the item is added to their digital shopping cart. Scanning a product’s QR code also provides the customer with data on the product including nutritional information, customer reviews, and recipes.
Personalized shopping recommendations. Hema’s app remembers shopper buying behavior and leverages machine learning to make personalized product recommendations for customers.
Digital payments including facial recognition. When customers are finished shopping they pay using Hema's mobile app which is linked to Alipay. Alipay, founded by Alibaba, is an online payment app that has more than 1 billon active users.
Fast shipping. Customers shopping at Hema can have their groceries delivered to their home in 30 minutes for free, if the customer’s delivery address is within three kilometres of a Hema store. This applies to customers that shop in store and want their orders delivered to their homes or if they made the purchase online.
2. Amazon. Last month Amazon opened its first clothing store called Amazon Style. The 30,000 square feet men's and women's clothing store located in Glendale California sells hundreds of clothing and accessories brands. This store only displays one of each clothing style. To help you imagine why this is a good idea, think of a crowded store that has a row of the same denim shirts, with three versions of the shirt in each size from small to 3X. That’s a lot of shirts! And all of those shirts are taking up precious space.
Amazon claims by displaying only one of each style it can have more than twice the number of styles on the floor at one time. “This allows us to offer more selection without requiring customers to sift through racks to find that right color, size and fit,” said Simoina Vasen, managing director of Amazon Style.
In Amazon Style fitting rooms there are touchscreens customers can use to request that a sales associate bring new items, either a different size, a different colour or a new style. As Amazon writes in a blog post: “Amazon Style completely reimagines what’s possible in the fitting room, turning it into a personalized space where customers can continue to shop a seemingly endless closet of great styles. When a shopper enters their fitting room, they will find the items they requested while browsing the store, plus additional options chosen based on their preferences.”
While shopping at Amazon Style to ensure the items you want end up in your fitting room, all you need to do is scan a QR code on the item you like and request that it is sent to a fitting room. While in the fitting room customers can search for other merchandise and rate the items they have selected, then those ratings feed into Amazon’s real time recommendation engine on the Amazon shopping app.
When a customer scans an item’s QR code they are also provided with a number of personalized recommendations for other items they may want to purchase. These recommendations are based on their in-store browsing behaviour and any preferences they have added in Amazon’s shopping app. “Amazon Style is built around personalization. Our machine learning algorithms produce tailored, real-time recommendations for each customer as they shop. As customers browse the store and scan items that catch their eye, we’ll recommend picks just for them. For an even more tailored experience, customers can share information like their style, fit, and other preferences to receive more refined recommendations,” writes Amazon in a blog post. Amazon is clearly trying to use what it’s known for, its data and analytical capabilities, to provide a shopping experience that is different than what is available in a typical brick-and-mortar store.
When a customer scans a product’s QR code they can also retrieve average customer ratings as well as size and colour options. When you are finished shopping at Amazon Style you can choose to use Amazon One, a contactless payment method that allows shoppers to pay with their palm or you can use traditional methods of payment.
3. Adidas. In Adidas’ flagship store on Oxford street in London, customers are treated to Adidas’ vision of the store of the future. If a customer wants to try on footwear they can use the “Bring it To Me” functionality in the brand’s mobile app. All a customer has to do is take a photo of the shoe they want to try on then staff can view the customer’s location in the store in order to bring them their requested item.
Fitting rooms are outfitted with smart mirrors that show what a clothing item looks like on a customer against various real-world backdrops. If for instance a customer is trying on a soccer jersey, they can see what they would look like wearing that jersey while watching a soccer game. Customers can also simply touch the smart mirror located inside of their fitting room to request different sizes and colours.
For customers not content with walking around the store to test out a new pair of shoes, the store has a running lab. The running lab has treadmills facing a London backdrop so that customers can get the feel of what it would be like to run in Adidas shoes in various settings. Finally, the store often has a number of value-added services including: sneaker cleaning, bra-fitting appointments with trained staff and seamstresses to customize purchases.
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4. Burberry is known for being a leader in digital technology especially amongst luxury brands. In the mid 2000s Burberry set a goal to become the first fully digital luxury company and then embraced eCommerce, social media and live streaming long before many other luxury brands. Since then Burberry has continued to have a strong vision for how to use technology to provide a better customer experience. This vision is on display in Burberry’s first “social retail store” in Shenzhen China which opened in 2020. Some of the features of this store include:
The store is integrated with WeChat. WeChat is the most popular messaging app in China with more than 1 billion users. Burberry and Tencent owned WeChat thought deeply about how WeChat could be integrated into the shopping experience at Burberry especially since that’s where so many consumers are spending their time. Customers shopping at Burberry in the Shenzhen location can use a mini program in WeChat to book fitting rooms, merchandise to try on, make appointments with sales associates and share exclusive content with others on social media.
By scanning a product’s QR code customers can access more information about the merchandise in the store.
Customers can book store tours and make a reservation at Thomas, the in-store café, all while using WeChat.
Customers also gain digital currency by playing a game through a WeChat mini program which they can trade in for rewards some of which include exclusive menu items at the Thomas cafe.
5 & 6. JD.com. Chinese eCommerce giant JD.com believes offline shopping plays an important role in its growth and success. With this in mind JD.com opened JD Mall last September in Xi’an China. The five story mall is home to more than 150 brands that sell a range of products including electronics, home appliances and furniture. People shopping in the mall simply need to scan a QR code attached to any item they would like to buy and once they purchase it, selected items can be delivered to their home within as little as two hours. JD.com also offers after sale installation services on a 24-hour basis.
Not wanting anyone to be bored while shopping at JD Mall shoppers are provided with an immersive shopping experience including: “11 themed experience zones and 29 product interaction zones, such as a beauty salon, [an] audio experience area, drone testing, massage [area]…making it a multi-scenario and fun space for customers.” There are also virtual reality experiences customers can take part in. Part of JD.com’s rationale for opening a mall is to allow shoppers to experience products in a way they can’t online. This makes sense since more than 50% of retail sales in China still happen offline.
JD.com also opened its first brick and mortar stores in Europe earlier this year. The two stores named Ochama which are located in the Netherlands are automated stores manned by robots. They sell a range of goods from food to beauty to home furnishings. After placing an order on the store's app your order is picked and packed by robots. Once you arrive at the store to pick up your order all you have to do is scan a barcode to receive it from a conveyor belt. Customers can also have their goods delivered to their home.
The name Ochama is a combination of the words “omni-channel” and “amazing.” “With rich experience in retail and cutting-edge logistics technologies that the company has accumulated over the years, we aspire to create an unprecedented shopping format for customers in Europe with better price and service,” said Pass Lei, general manager of Ochama, JD Worldwide.