Retail

The Best of Insider Trends 2019

Retail Strategy – Retail Trends 2020

It has been an incredibly busy year at Insider Trends, so what better than to take a moment and look back at what we’ve been talking about over the past 12 months with our annual round-up?

The blog has been packed with fantastic insights from the world of retail. We have identified and shared the latest and greatest trends in retail and how to apply them to your business. We have sat down with some fascinating retail innovators and discovered lots of exciting plans for the future of retail. We have searched the globe for the most exciting new retail openings in some of the most forward thinking cities around the world.

We’re already exploring new ways to push the envelope even further in 2020 and can’t wait to share everything we have in store with you. If there’s something you’d particularly like us to cover do get in touch and let us know. Or you could join us in person on a retail safari in the city of your choice. Those attending NRF 2020 in January may find our Best of New York retail store safari a good place to start.

Without any further ado, we present some of our very best insights from 2019:

Retail Trends – Retail Strategy 2020

Top Insights

From global searches for the world’s best concept stores to our take on the future of shopping malls, we’ve provided insights in 2019 into how the retail world is changing.

Do you know what the definition of a concept store is? It may not be what you think thanks to changes in recent times as more and more brands race to open concept spaces that grab headlines. Find out just how retail has changed the definition of the concept store.

Tackling omnichannel – that is connecting online and offline retail to provide a seamless, 360 degree shopping experience – continues to be an obsession for retailers. This post looks at how 14 innovative companies are leading the way in omnichannel retail.

With the number of concept stores opening across the world spiralling, keeping an eye out for the best and most innovative can be a difficult task. Our list of the 47 best new concept stores in the world is packed with fascinating examples.

In the digital age, so much more goes into the design of a store than simply the look and feel. The best design agencies today take a holistic approach to retail, and understand consumer trends and tech too. Here’s our countdown of the 38 best retail design agencies on the planet.

Online shopping and changing consumer habits have provided an existential threat to the future of shopping centres around the world. But many are thriving too, reacting positively to challenges and focusing on new and innovative ways of driving footfall. The future of the shopping centre is hard to predict, but here we speculate what that future might look like.

We’re big fans of Tommy Hilfiger, and its undiluted commitment to innovation. From its high-tech flagships to immersive omnichannel experiences like Tommyland, innovation has become part of Tommy’s DNA. Find out just why the brand is able to consistently push the boundaries of retail.

Future Of Retail – Retail 2020

Expert Interviews

Every month we chat to retail innovators and business leaders who inspire us. Here are some of our favourite interviews from 2019.

Back in March, we chatted to Paul West, Strategy Director at Dalziel & Pow, about why experience isn’t just a buzzword when it comes to store design. He discussed lots of fascinating topics, including why brands must think of themselves as an ecosystem.

Hero is a highly innovative business that connects in-store retail staff with online shoppers. We were thrilled to chat with its founder, Adam Levene, about how it works, what omnichannel really means, and how Hero can help retailers to deliver a better customer experience.

We had another insightful interview with Tina Qiu, Senior Associate Partner at PLP Architecture. For PLP, adaptability is the key to building retail spaces for the future, and our discussion examined how retail designers will shape spaces that accommodate changing trends.

What role does retail have in the future of town centre strategies? We caught up with the directors of Urban Shape, a planning consultancy, to see precisely what role retail has to play in the development of urban areas.

In the future, some think that roaming, mobile stores linked to a customer app could offer the ultimate convenient experience for customers. A leading example of this concept is Moby Mart, and we spoke to co-founder Hannah Lina Mazetti about why automated retail could transform customer convenience.

Save Your Wardrobe’s digital wardrobe could offer huge benefits to customers and the wider retail industry. It helps us to better understand our own wardrobes, what we own and how we use it – and therefore helps customers to make better buying decisions. We sat down with founder Hasna Kourda to discuss how this revolutionary technology works.

Finally, we had a brilliant conversation with Mindy Yang, Founder of Perfumarie. It’s a brand known for its highly experiential in-store experiences, and we discussed the fragrance industry, and why education is the key to driving customer interactions.

Retail Innovation – Retail 2019

Best of retail openings

Each month we’ve taken you through the most exciting openings in some of the best cities around the world too. We regularly explore what’s new in London, Tokyo, Paris, and New York, so why not take a moment and catch-up on all the best spaces we spotted in each city?

We also like to find you the most important global retail initiatives and explore the industry’s best and newest concept stores in our regular roundups.

 

Watch this space for more interviews, retail openings and retail innovations. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook or check out our LinkedIn page. See you soon!