In-store as the Showroom for Brands RBTE 2017 Live Blog

Live from RBTE 2017, Olympia, London

London’s Olympia was effervescing with new ideas and new opinions about how retail is reinventing itself in 2017 and no more so than the opinions around the in-store experience.

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On the upper tier of the exhibition centre holograms, 3D displays and LED floorings were just some of the ways in which retail design companies are playing their part in the in-store experience. But down on ground level, hundreds of RBTE visitors, exhibitors and speakers were taking about the need to elevate the in-store experience for survival in the future to enhance the customer journey and improve the brand relationship.

It’s clear that retailers are already taking action to accommodate the new shopper who sees no boundaries of physical and digital shopping; only a single brand that should deliver a single and consistent experience across all channels. Scores of retailers have reshaped themselves, overhauled their retail software management systems and multiplied the channels they sell through ranging from eBay, online, catalogues, in-store digital technology, M-commerce and e-commerce.

We’re now in the age of the smart shopper and boundaries have already blurred between physical stores and online as consumers combine their mobile phone into the in-store shopping experience.
Physical stores have already shown signs of condensing, as they converge and often shrink to allow for show-rooming, partnerships and pop-ups, which not only offer customer physical brand engagement, but digital extended aisles and ultimately further choice and convenience.

From the opinions of industry leaders and experts, it’s clear that we will start to see a further focus on the shop floor as ‘the stage’ on which retailers share their key messages, increase dwell time with the likes of in-store cafeterias and comfortable product browsing areas, as well as Click and Collect services.

Imogen Wethered, Qudini

Imogen Wethered from Qudini, a digital queue management system which aims to improve in-store customer journeys, told RetailStore: “Retail is going to be more and more about service. When we started out we were understanding if there was a need for what we were doing what the customer actually wants from the store experience.

“We built an appointment booking platform because more and more retailers are building events and services in store. So, the main difference we are seeing is that stores are becoming hubs for experience and relationships with the customer. We’ve moved away completely from transactional based retailing to service based retailing.”

With a need to true omni-channel retailing – a strong experiential store environment is key to survive, adds Imogen.

“In the next five to 15 years I think retail will be about stores becoming show rooms so whether you will need products on shop floor or that floor becomes more of the experience and a space within itself and they buy the product and pick it up from a back office or they have it delivered to their home.”