Etsy, the global e-marketplace for independent makers, came offline last week with a three-day London pop-up featuring products and workshops – a Holiday warm-up to elevate craft and promote mindful consumerism. Not only did the Good Store put UK makers on the map, it also emphasised omnichannel storytelling. 

Topics: Weekly Stories

Singaporean online grocery marketplace Honestbee has expanded into bricks-and-mortar with a tech-enabled supermarket and dining concept that embraces a convenient, yet slower pace of shopping for everyday necessities. 

Topics: Weekly Stories

 

An insatiable, social-media-fuelled appetite for everything new is driving the value of store concepts that resemble micro exhibitions of hyper-curated edits. Along these lines, Amazon is re-entering the physical retail space with a 370 sq m Manhattan store that makes high online ratings a key selling point – keeping consumers ‘in the know’.

 

 

Topics: Weekly Stories

Repeat customers are the goal of every beauty clinic. New Zealand’s Skinsmiths bills itself as a regular ‘gym for your skin’, opening seven stores in London in quick succession this year – and promoting annual membership packages at the heart of its engagement strategy.

Topics: Weekly Stories, beauty

Western social media channels are learning from their Chinese counterparts, morphing into ecosystems combining search, payments, shopping and social activity. Snapchat and Facebook have both released in-app shopping features to target youth on the go, using engaging content as conversion tools.

Topics: Weekly Stories

 

For non-food retailers, the addition of a café or restaurant boosts dwell time and can provide creative inspiration. We sum up the latest hybrid stores, Instagram-ready culinary hotspots, and concepts using food as design cues.

Topics: Weekly Stories

 

Sneaker giant Nike has collaborated on a geo-smart online flash sale hosted on Snapchat, considered Gen Z’s favourite social media app.

Topics: Weekly Stories

With consumers turning to their phones for information (83% believe this makes them more knowledgeable than store associates – Tulip Retail, 2017), shrewd brands are making mobile the default in-store interface. We highlight 2017’s best innovations for product detection and route navigation.

Topics: navigation, in store experience

Acknowledging the rising value of both an experiential and an assistance-based economy, British department store John Lewis is seeking to maximise the power of its physical stores by ramping up the services they offer.

Topics: customer service, user experience

Pushing the envelope for a service-led retail economy where selling assistance is as valuable as vending products, luxury American department store chain Nordstrom has opened a prototype concept store in Los Angeles that offers nothing but professional services.

Topics: Pop-up Shop, retail