Retail innovation is often credited to the little guys—quirky companies and specialised startups that invent technologies to disrupt an industry. However, several larger brands that have adopted a forward-thinking strategy are leveraging new technologies to enhance the shopper experience and establish a new paradigm in
While new technologies have certainly impacted the customer experience—digital and otherwise—they haven’t completely overtaken the physical retail experience for today’s shoppers. From price comparison and ‘best near me’ apps to digital try-on services, most customers are doing their due diligence and research prior to navigating through
With its clunky headsets and project names like Oculus and Morpheus, virtual reality has so far been the realm of hard-core gamers and other early adopters of cutting-edge tech. Now, retailers are jumping for a piece of VR’s promise to immerse its users in virtual 3-D
Japanese based fashion brand UNIQLO and Isobar Australia have launched UMood, a retail activation that helps consumers select from over 600 T-shirts by identifying their mood with neural technology at UNIQLO's Pitt Street store in Sydney. Customers take a seat in the UMood machine and watch
This is the eight-year-old bumbling ballerina who has stolen the hearts of a nation in the latest moving John Lewis advert. Unsteadily pirouetting her way around a house, schoolgirl Bunny May is the star of the UK high street retailer's home insurance ad which has touched the
While email has long ago settled in, messaging is still growing. Boston-based company InMoji can connect consumers to brands through messaging. Founded last year, the startup offers clickable icons — called InMoji — that live in a message and can connect you to, say, an offer from
Christmas came early as Selfridges launched its Christmas shop on Monday. The central London department store has transformed 3,000 square feet of its fourth floor into a winter wonderland filled with festive decorations. Even Father Christmas was present, to welcome shoppers through the doors 143 shopping
Soundtrack Your Summer is a joint project by ASOS and Google Play to pair fashion items with in-theme sound. The music is provided by Google Play’s free radio available to the US and the songs are expertly matched to the trends soon to dominate the summer
Tiffany & Co. will mark the opening of a new luxury boutique on the ground floor of Selfridges in London with an immersive installation that lets visitors walk through a projected cityscape. Fifth & 57th is a recreation of the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th
Ikea is known for its enormous super stores with a maze-like configuration which can leave even the best of boy scouts lost and tearful. The retailer has now devised a plan, considering the introduction of 12 new ‘micro stores’ across Australia with a smaller, more straight-forward format
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