It can be hard to find the good news stories in the retail press at the moment. Gloomy headlines continue to dominate, like ‘Retail sales fall off a cliff…’, ‘Retail apocolypse!’…and of course CVAs a plenty!
But we loved this recent headline, taken from The Future Laboratory’s 2018 Retail Futures trends summary:
‘The current retail environment is like a dead sea, killing off existing life but providing a new eco-system in which different organisms can thrive’ Greg Satell, author of Mapping Innovation
We know it’s rather long (and with more than a hint of ‘Blue Planet’ about it) but those of us who’ve worked in the retail sector as long as we have know that it’s true.
The whole retail industry is not collapsing it is just changing and shifting. In fact, PwC’s 2018 Global Consumer Insights Survey reports an increase in weekly bricks-and-mortar shoppers from 40% in 2015 to 44% in 2018.
Yes, some of the giants of retail are failing but plenty of others are working hard to adjust to the new retail reality. They are re-focussing on their core values and aligning their e-commerce and bricks and mortar retail seamlessly together. Jessops are a perfect example that this approach works.
And then there is also the world of energetic entrepreneurs who are reinventing retail for the 21st century, with a focus on authenticity and community, while in many ways, thinking about sales second. A good example here is Dishoom, who were featured in our recent blog ‘Getting it right: F&B Retail’.
Thankfully here at Innovare Design we experience daily good news stories from our retail clients large and small. They are a breed of retailers and brands that are embracing the new retail landscape. They are prepared to think creatively and listen to what their customers want in order to reimagine their retail futures. And we are delighted to collaborate with them on retail branding and store development projects that are delivering great results as well as making the headlines!
So congratulations to these recent retail clients who have dared to ‘innovate to thrive’:
