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CULTURE VULTURE EDITION 6 – SHOPPING

Inspiring original thinking through a deeper understanding of cultural trends

Everything is ‘shoppable’ From the souk in North Africa via the Mall in the US to the bazaar in India, different cultures have always shopped in different ways, but the power of globalisation is increasingly making eveything, everywhere, anytime and any place, ‘shoppable’. When we talk about shopping we are not referring just to the moment of purchase, we are trying to go further and understand shopping behaviours: the way in which consumers use different sources of information, how they relate to brands and to other consumers, the impact of new technologies and how our shopping habits are being transformed. Most of these behaviours are so strongly incorporated to our daily habits that sometimes we don’t even realise they are part of our lives. According to Mindreader global survey, 70% of the global population is interested in Shopping & Consumer advice – no matter where you live or where you come from, shopping is something that involves all of us in a certain way. With the constant development of new technologies and platforms, shopping is evolving and adapting to new consumer habits and at the same time consumers are generating them. Traditional ways of shopping are revolutionised by new manifestations: mobile shopping, access to product information, digital wallets, consumer communities, real-time conversation, curated and hyper-personalised consumption. Media have never had so much relevance in the shopping process as today. It takes a fundamental part in the shopping process, and as this process changes, the ways in which the shopper consume media also change.

CULTURE VULTURE EDITION 6 – SHOPPING 1

E-commerce has been growing for years, but now shoppers are shifting away from purchasing items from their desktop or laptop to buying via their mobile phone or tablet and using cutting edge technology such as beacons. This is giving place to new opportunities for brands. The number of mobile commerce transactions – stated by Juniper Research – will grow from 72 billion in 2014 to 195 billion in 2019, as consumers increasingly make purchases on their smartphone or tablets instead of traditional computers. Along with technological advances and changes, we are facing some cultural transformations that contribute to the redefinition of shopping: protectionism, fair trade, sustainability, new currencies; among many others. In this scenario we are facing a new consumer, more informed and powerful than ever before; more demanding, smarter and open to adopt new paths in the buying process. Emerging markets are discovering and enjoying new ways of consumption and purchasing. For example, in LATAM and APAC more than 60% stated that they love shopping as a leisure activity (Mindreader). New ways of shopping and the increase access to product information are making these markets more open to new products and retail experiences. Culture Vulture Shopping is a deep dive into the different trends which are affecting the way societies shop. The use of technology and new media platforms together with cultural transformations are challenging not only the way people buy, but also how they relate to brands and other consumers.

Contents

10 Cultural Dynamics

Points of View

04

26

46 The Experts

Mauricio Oppenheimer Punta Carretas

06

30

48

58

Methodology

Smarket

Custom Made

10

Shop and Go

Alex Hole Amazon

57

Gustavo Sambucetti Walmart

Buying Sensations

Social Shopping

34

50 Finlay Clark Google

Rabih Soueidi Mindshare MENA

14

38 Made in…

52

Mike Lynskey Microsoft

60

18

42

53

Play to Gain

Shop at First Sight

Disruptive Retail

Anita Caras Microsoft

22

54

Pure Shopping

Pedro Casquinha Al Yasra Fashion Group

62

Nicholas Russell We Are Pop Up

63

Bryan Roberts Kantar Retail

Charlie Fermor Perry Court Farm

55

64

Bernardo Cordero Linio

56

Eric Fergusson Order Dynamics

2 CULTURE VULTURE EDITION 6 – SHOPPING

59

Marco Quartucci Mindshare Italy

Scout Reports World

APAC

Europe

66

Scout Reports Introduction

76

Hong Kong Mindset Shift

88

104 112

Africa

78

68

Barcelona Loyalty Pays

Latin America

Bogota Close Encounters

90

Berlin Conscious Inspiration

106 114 Buenos Aires Consumer Power

Miami Creative Renaissance

80

92

108

116 118

Shanghai Something Fancy

Istanbul East Meets West

Mexico City Comfortable Experiences

70

Lagos Contrasting Scenes

82

Singapore More Than Shopping

94

110

Middle East

84

96

Abu Dhabi Diversified Souks

74

Dubai Shopping Trip

Los Angeles Exclusive and Ephemeral

Mumbai Here, There & Everywhere

Cape Town One Stop Mall

72

North America

London Deal Hunters

Sydney Australian Made

Milan Coupon Fever

86

98

Tokyo Physical Tech Experiences

Rio de Janeiro Relax and Shop!

Moscow Hypermarket Craze

100 Paris Locavore Love

102 Stockholm Sustainable Desire


Montreal Local Connection

New York Dissolving Boundaries

120 Toronto Small is Big

Methodology Culture informs media and media drives culture. They are intrinsically linked together and to understand the different areas of our culture, the best way is to look at trends. Findings from Culture Vulture’s shopping dossier have been drawn from a rigorous process that integrates desk research, brainstorming sessions and our Culture Vulture framework of Global Consumer Trends (people’s reaction to cultural influences and drivers). Our study has identified 10 Cultural Dynamics – patterns in social behaviour and attitudes that capture the prevailing spirit of the times – that are related to our global consumer trends and reveal how shopping is perceived and experienced around the world.


Global Trends Consumer Trends

Cultural Dynamics Shopping Dynamics

These are the major Global Consumer Trends that Mindshare consider to be a powerful influence on culture.

This is how we see the Global Consumer Trends manifesting themselves in shopping.

Me Nation Consumers are at the centre of their universe and everything should revolve around them.

Custom Made Personalisation from beginning to end of the shopping experience.

Maximising Moments Doing multiple things at the same time.

Buying Sensations Shoppers are looking for experiences not just products.

Power Play The use of gaming system and design in a non-gaming context.

Play to Gain Looking for deals can be challenging and fun.

Visualisation The look and feel of everything is the most important factor in its quality.

Shop at First Sight The temptation of attractive images and designs.

Seeking Authenticity The desire to have a transparent, genuine experience while maintaining privacy.

Pure Shopping Shopping choices are driven by trust and a guilt free feelings.

Simplification The desire to not complicate life.

Smarket Shopping made it easy with the use of cutting edge technology.

Snacking We now consume media in the same way we consume snacks. Curation plays a part in the growing need to have access to anything without purchasing.

Shop & Go Quick, on the go and ephemeral consumption.

New Networking Communities don’t have to be based on location but on shared interests. The power of the community is at an all-time high.

Social Shopping Unified forces give more power to shoppers.

National Celebration Being proud of where you come from and having a desire to support local people.

Made In… Buying local goes global.

New World Order With new global economic powers the world view is shifting so that ideas and products can come from anywhere.

Disruptive Retail Alternative trading is transforming the shopping world.



● Me Nation

Personalisation from beginning to end of the shopping experience.

More than ever before brands are being pressured to prioritise consumer satisfaction. Fuelled by new technology, there is an increasing consumer expectation and demand for immediate and personal brand feedback from beginning to end of the shopping journey. Shoppers are now demanding personalised purchases and retailers are getting better at delivering them. At the same time, consumers are becoming the protagonists in the production process generating their own products in collaboration with brands. Mass personalisation, the new normal Advances in manufacturing process and technology are enabling more retailers to recommend their products based on consumers past behaviours, to provide personal customer service and to offer personalised products for everything from grocery shopping lists to mobile phones. Amazon’s search engine has been personalising its offering for a while – defining a new normal which can be expected by consumers – and today most search engines have evolved to the point in which retailers can suggest products to consumers not only before they start looking for them, but even before they have thought about buying them.

There is no doubt that mass personalisation is transforming customer services. In the UK, Debenhams department store offers a free personal shopper service in most of their stores, a service previously restricted to luxury experiences. Another example is Sonae Sierra’s shopping centre group in Brazil, which offers customer service through WhatsApp for a closer conversation with clients. New technology is key, as it enables more complex and cutting edge mass personalisation. In March 2014 French shopping centre specialist Klépierre unveiled the Inspiration Corridor, a booth which uses facial and body recognition as well as the individual’s purchasing history to make personalised recommendations by iBeacon and GPS. In a similar way, Canadian technology company Unique Solutions developed Me-Ality, a free and non-invasive body-scanning booth designed to measure body shape and suggest apparel to fit customers. Consumers are also producers Brands are not only personalising their service, they are also inviting consumers to become producers. This is generating a value exchange between consumers and brands, which offers consumers control and fun while they shop. They can get the products exactly the way they want them whilst at the same time being part of the creative process. Nike, for example, gives its consumers the option to design their own sport shoes with the Nike ID app. Renault launched an option for customers to buy a personalised cars through the Configurator feature in their website. Motorola developed the Moto Maker app for consumers who want to design their own Moto X, giving the shopper the opportunity to choose between different materials, colours, textures, memory and even allowing them to print their names on the back. Another successful example is Coca-Cola’s #ShareaCoke campaign. Shoppers had the option to create personalised bottles not just for themselves but also for friends and family to ‘spread happiness’.


Curated and personalised solutions While browsing the Internet or posting and liking in social media, consumers express their interests, preferences and taste. Brands are starting to track down and curate this information so that it can be used to offer more personalised purchase experiences. Pinterest has become one of the main sources of shopper insights for different retailers. For example Nordstrom’s Top Pins help the retailer understand their consumer’s preferences. Retailers then use these insights to inform their marketing decisions on what to buy and where to locate the most popular items inside the stores.

rands are not B only personalising their service, they are also inviting consumers to become producers ParknShop, Honk Kong’s largest online grocery store created an app that uses Beacon technology to generate a personalised and unique map for shoppers to easily find the products in the supermarket based on the items on their grocery list and previous purchases. Similarly, Carrefour’s flagship store in Paris offers an indoor geolocation feature called C-où (where is it) which allows shoppers to scan barcodes, search for recipe ideas to build their grocery list and get personalised shopping routes based on what is in their electronic app baskets.

Custom Made

Personalised and dynamic pricing Pricing is also being redefined under the influence of the personalisation trend with retailers offering curated and customised prices. Shoppers today value the ability to find the best deals and discounts through curated automated platforms and retailers are turning to big data to maximise profits, which often means introducing dynamic pricing models both online and in-store. Retailers have always increased prices during times of high demand and slashed them when traffic is weaker, but today’s data allows them to do this in a much more relevant and real-time manner, adapting to individual shopper needs. Google Shopping offers this type of service by curating online shopping and finding the best deals for customers with the recently added feature Google Price Drop alert. The UK’s popular comparison website Moneysupermarket.com is encouraging consumers to find better deals for a wide range of products and services. The American e-tailer ShopSavvy app allows users to compare prices and scan or search for items to find similar products in nearby stores or online. The application has partnerships with over 40,000 retailers including Barnes & Noble, Nordstrom, Sears, Target and Walmart.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Custom Made’ address?

Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Custom Made’?

–– –– –– ––

–– C ollecting and learning information from consumers. –– Intelligent systems to predict consumer behaviour. –– New segments prepared to spend more for tailored products. –– Developed countries are leading in the use of technology for customisation (i.e. 3D printers is taking hyper-personalisation to the next level allowing consumers to manufacture their own products and transforming completely the relationship between brands and consumers, as well as the shopping process which would become more of a designing process).

Human recognition. Reflect status. Express identity. Feeling individual and unique. Personal stories to share. –– Thoughtfulness, especially when gifting. Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Custom Made’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– M ass brands are now personalising, becoming closer with customers and creating more of an emotional connection. –– Globalisation and standardisation of products backlash. –– Reason to increase price with a more customised service. –– Data and technology facilitate customisation. –– Expectations for brands/retailers to be adaptive.

Pricing mechanics are changing the competitive landscape for brands and retailers. For example, big supermarkets are focusing on dynamic pricing models that match prices against their retail competitors in every product category (i.e. Best Buy’s Price Match and Morrison’s Match & More). Personalisation goes beyond pricing with customised discounts and deals. Metro Supermarket from Canada launched its digital metro&moi portal and mobile app which provides weekly tailored coupons. Loyalty cards are also being used by retailers to provide personalised benefits and discounts (i.e. Tesco’s Clubcard in UK, Disco Cencosud in Latin America). US supermarket Safeway’s Just for U program, uses complex algorithms to sift through shopping data to predict needs and produce special customised deals. The incorporation of new technologies such as Beacons and geolocalisation to the pricing model would seem to be the direction in which retailers will offer customised discounts and experiences for each consumer according to where they are and what they are doing.


Tips on ‘Custom Made’ behaviour –– Use personalisation to be innovative and to improve your business. –– Personalisation can be incorporated at any point of the shopper journey. Understand at which stage of the purchase journey you can make a difference for your consumer. –– Create meaningful and relevant customer interactions with real-time personalisation. –– Dynamic pricing can give consumers extra benefits and at the same time optimise your business. The introduction of geotargeting and other technologies can maximise prices based on both location and consumer-purchasing history.

Manifestations

Statistics

Debenhams Free Personal Shopper

Mass-customisation initiatives could be given a considerable boost with the arrival in the mainstream of 3D printing technology. Already we measure widespread latent demand for the nascent consumer technology. 52% are interested in using a 3D printer in the future.

Sonae Sierra Customer Service via Whatsapp Klépierre Inspiration Corridor Me-Ality Body Scanning Booth Nike ID App Renault Configurator Motorola Moto Maker Coca-Cola #ShareaCoke Nordstrom’s Top Pins ParknShop Beacons app Carrefour C-où Google Price Drop Alert

The majority of consumers switch because of poor customer service. 51% stated that in the past year they have taken their custom to a different shop or company because of poor customer service. nVision Global Research, 2014

ShopSavvy App Metro&Moi Portal and Mobile App Morrisons Match & More Best Buy Price Match Tesco Clubcard Safeway Just for U

There is a growing importance in offering personalised online experiences. 94% of companies agree that personalisation ‘is critical to current and future success’. Realities of Online Personalisation Report, Econsultancy, 2013


Consumers are generally positive when it comes to customisation of products – 42% feel positive when a company personalises its products or services. Global consumer study by Adobe, Click Here: The State of Online Advertising, 2013

Consumers are receptive to personalisation; when asked which personalised features they most preferred in the context of brand communications, 48% of respondents said they’d like to receive product recommendations based on their interests. The Economist Intelligence Unit Report, 2013


● Maximising Moments

Shoppers are looking for experiences not just products.

he power and ubiquity of the Internet means that much of transactional retailing can now happen online. In this context, physical stores are not disappearing but are being forced to ‘up-their-game’. The competitive market is driving brands to offer something more, providing different dimensions in the purchasing process – from the use of multiple virtual and physical seamless channels to more immersive experiences which provide moments of entertainment, fun or relaxation. Physical retail experiences Digital technologies have simplified the purchase process to the extreme but still, physical experiences are significant for shoppers. Physical stores are being transformed into richer and more experiential spaces and brands are creating more layered, multi-dimensional and sensorial experiences which, through a more emotional and interactive engagement, bring customers closer to the product. Shopping malls are becoming multiple spaces of entertainment incorporating new and better restaurants, premium cinemas, games arcades, gyms and even bars or discos. Some well-known examples are Westfield London Shopping Centre or Shanghai Times Square. Supermarkets and retailers are organising special events and creating thematic spaces in their stores to attract, tempt and engage customers. Jumbo supermarket in Argentina has been organising the Deli & Wine event, one of the most important wine and gourmet fairs in the country. Physical stores are becoming so multifaceted that they could also be described as art and design spaces. Nike Town in New York is clearly also following this path by integrating art installations, technological innovation and sensorial experiences such as ‘Nature Amplified: The Art + Science of Feeling’, in which media artist Aramique Krauthamer created a special environment combining art and science inviting the consumer to experience sensations related to the technology applied in shoe design

Extra moments Physical experiences are becoming so important that retailers are now even selling them. British entertainment and stationary retailer WHSmith is now selling gift experiences as another product – from cooking courses to hot air balloon lessons to Ferrari drive tests. Some brands are going further offering free entertainment which is not related to their products or sales objective. These ‘extra moments’ are helping them build a relationship with consumers beyond the market exchange. Mobile phone network Movistar is offering free music, preview parties and events for its customers – for example in Peru they organise the most important gastronomic fair in the country and each year they develop a different app for consumers to enjoy the fair in different ways through the use of technology. Another case study is Converse’s #SNEAKERSWOULD campaign launched to celebrate youthful spontaneity and encourage people to embrace exciting, spur of the moment choices. The brand has introduced an interactive platform called The Ticket (a free download extension) for consumers to experience ‘the sneakers online world’ with a combination of films, games and invitations to live shows and events happening in London, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid and Amsterdam.

hysical stores are P being transformed into richer and more experiential spaces


Multichannel experiences Media and technology are also enhancing the shopping journey. The major force of change in retail is the consumer who now shops anytime, anywhere and from multiple devices. While stores remain a destination for physical experiences, the consumer journey can include both online and offline touchpoints. Brands are starting to create multichannel experiences, in which the consumers can shop and access content through multiple channels and devices. The intersection of media and shopping channels can make the engagement with the shopper a memorable experience. Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s largest supermarkets, is fully live with its multichannel grocery platform offering customers better, smarter and more intuitive shopping experience through the store, web, mobile and tablet. S.F. Express Shanghai online grocery store opened offline stores combining a multichannel physical experience, where shoppers can order ‘virtual’ products online with the facility to pay by cash. In Brazil, Hellmann’s created a recipe cart-mounted tablet that detects nearby items and offers in real time recipes to prepare different meals with the product. Augmented Reality is another technology having a great impact on shopping experiences, and not just within retail spaces but also within various platforms. In the UK, Tesco launched the world’s first augmented reality food magazine Real Food which incorporates a technology that allows shoppers to view 3D images of products before buying, both in store and online. The shopper experience can be elevated not only in the moment of purchase but also in the post-purchase through innovation in customer service. For the Kindle Fire HDX tablet devices, Amazon introduced an instant customer service support via free, round-the-clock ‘Mayday’ button. When the Mayday feature is activated, users can expect to start a videochat with a customer service specialist within 15 seconds.

Buying Sensations

Rich entertainment Consumers are hungry for content, never before have they devoured so much entertainment. To keep their interest and capture shoppers’ attention, brands are giving context to their products, getting shoppers involved in stories beyond the purchase experience. Content is taking a big role in the shopping landscape. ‘Click to buy through content’ is a new model that attracts both brands and consumers.

onsumers C are hungry for content, never before have they devoured so much entertainment Shoppable videos are growing fast, using YouTube and other sites as interactive platforms to online retailers are presenting different types of catalogues within short videos or video games to increase traction. A very successful example of this is The Liberation, a campaign by Danish denim brand Only Jeans. The world’s first retail experience within an interactive online video – a movie, music video and fashion catalogue all to be experienced at the same time. In a similar way, the Canadian Olympic Team featured the Adidas High Performance Collection, which could be purchased through Sport Chek e-store’s Watch & Shop short video. Viewers could watch Olympic athletes Jon Montgomery, Maëlle Ricker and Meaghan Mikkelson training for the 2014 Sochi Winter games and buy the clothes they were using by clicking through the video.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Buying Sensations’ address?

Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Buying Sensations’?

–– I ncreases stimulation to avoid shopping boredom. –– Enriches every day experiences to help feel fulfilled and rewarded. –– Fulfils consumers desire to be intrigued and to discover. –– Makes consumers feel they are valued and getting more than what is just needed. –– Helps consumers to become more openminded. –– Reassures product expectations. –– Elevates consumer status.

–– E xperiential specialist brands (i.e. Nike). –– Multisensory in-store experiences (i.e. Abercrombie & Fitch’s Sensory). –– Immersive retail experiences (i.e. The North Face’s The Danger Zone). –– In-store digitisation (i.e. Burberry). –– Retail spaces becoming lifestyle spaces (i.e. Coffee shop boutiques, Selfridges ‘calm’ room).

Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Buying Sensations’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– C onsumers buy not just what they need but also what they want. –– Consumers are well informed so demand offer extra value in products and price. –– Online is becoming ubiquitous so stores need to be compete and be immersive. –– Consumers are seeking seamless shopping experiences online and offline. –– Reaching the pinnacle of consumption. –– Buyers want to feel confidence in brands.


Tips on ‘Buying Sensations’ behaviour –– Make sure you are offering consumers something else besides the expected, whether it is online or offline. –– Understand where in the purchase journey to introduce shopping experiences. –– Shoppers and retailers are interacting more often and in more places, far beyond the purchase moment. Take advantage of these moments, even try to create them. –– Media and technology can be great allies in the search for ways to elevate your shopper’s experience. –– Create awareness when consumers are involved in experiences, they are more receptive and closer to brands when having fun/participating in activities.

Manifestations

Statistics

One of the most important findings from this study is the sheer number of reported event-related touches, communications, connections and impressions. The average number of touches and impression for all respondents is nearly 1.4 million, and for companies with over $500 million in revenue the average is a significant 1.8 million per event. Clearly the viral impact seen in particular by large companies is significant.

estfield London Shopping W Centre Shanghai Times Square Jumbo Deli & Wine Event ike’s ‘Nature Amplified: The N Art + Science of Feeling’ WHSmith Gift Experiences ovistar Mistura Gastronomy M Fairs onverse’s C #SNEAKERSWOULD Sainsbury’s multichannel platform S.F. Express Shanghai Hellman’s Recipe Cart Tesco’s Real Food AR magazine indle Fire HDX Tablet K ‘Mayday’ instant customer service The Liberation by Only Jeans anadian Olympic Team C featuring Adidas High Performance Collection

Three years of survey data show that more brands are using events and experiences to launch new products (2014: 59%, 2013: 50%, 2012: 48%). A significant percentage of consumers (96%) said that if a product or service promoted at an event was one they were interested in, participating would made them more inclined to purchase. Events and experiences positively improve brand perception. After one event, 74% of the participants reported a more positive opinion about the company, brand, product or service being promoted. 54% of consumers purchase the product or service promoted at an event or visit. Nearly three out of four event and experience participants (74%) that purchase once go on to become regular customers. EMI/Mosaic EventTrack 2014


A total of 70% of top companies and brands ranked social marketing related to event programmes as ‘extremely’ or ‘very important’. Event Marketing Institute Report, The Viral Impact of Events, 2015

71% of in-store shoppers who use smartphones for online research say their device has become more important to their in-store experience. Google Research/Ipsos Media CT and Sterling Brands, 2014


● Power Play

Looking for deals can be challenging and fun.

rands, retailers and supermarkets are quickly catching up on the benefits of incorporating gamification to the shopping process, whether it is in store, on social media platforms or within e-commerce. Retailers have already begun implementing gaming mechanics in many of their loyalty card and rewards systems, but now this is taking a greater dimension, transforming some retailers and shops into entertainment creators.

More interactive and physical gamification examples can be seen from Coca-Cola. In South Korea, consumers were challenged to dance in front of an interactive vending machine for a free Coke. In Hong Kong, a television advert was offering an interactive gaming experience by allowing users to shake their phones at the screen to catch bottle caps and earn mobile games, discounts and sweepstakes entries. Viewers simply had to open Coca-Cola’s Chok! Chok! Chok! app to start playing the game. The advert was also displayed in theatres, outdoor spaces and on YouTube.

Competition and rewards Competitive spirit is part of human nature and this is especially apparent in modern day society. Everybody likes to compete, win and have fun while doing it. Inviting consumers to compete for rewards can attract and hold their attention, generating engagement and causing them to spend more time with the brand. In addition, gaming can be a great excuse to get consumers sharing and talking about the brand. Whole Foods Market rolled out the ‘14-Day Blast Off’ campaign, which challenged consumers with a set of missions that focused on making healthy choices such as getting daily exercise and eating certain products. With this game the healthy food supermarket was educating consumers in a fun and engaging way.

Competitions and rewards can take place in any platform or physical space

Competitions and rewards can take place in any platform or physical space. For the launch of Harrods’ Shoe Heaven, a newly 42,000-square foot space for women’s footwear, the British department store created the ‘Stiletto War’ digital game for shoe lovers. The ‘addictive’ game was integrated to the store’s digital magazine, so consumers needed to download the magazine in order to play and compete for discounts and benefits at the store. Mobile apps are becoming a big part of the gamification trend and many brands are developing their apps to incorporate a competitive or gamification element. PINK Nation’s social app Scavenger hunt gave away freebies and discount promotions during the Spring Break 2014 campaign. Online retailer HSN’s Shop, Watch, Play app includes the gaming feature Spin 2 Win, which helps consumers to discover new products while playing to win coupons.

Geolocation and real time gaming Smartphones and new technologies are not only changing the way consumers shop but also the way they have fun. Location-based games allow shoppers to play in a social, experiential and localised context. Brands are using geolocation apps, beacons and other technologies to help people to play in real time and in specific locations thus combining their shopping experience with gamification. The US pharmacy store chain Duane Reade teamed up with Google’s augmented reality app Ingress to offer a role playing game involving the Enlightened and Resistance factions, which battled each other to control a recently discovered resource called Exotic Matter. Players chose a faction to join and competed in teams to ‘control’ territory. In order to play Ingress, users had to collect ingame rewards – virtual resources at brick-andmortar locations. Duane Reade has placed Ingress logos in 250 stores, indicating to users that the area is available for playing. Since the partnership, Duane Reade has seen a sharp increase in web and social media interaction.


As part of its prelaunch campaign, British catalogue retailer Argos launched an interactive on-commute gaming platform using digital screens in train stations Waterloo and Euston (London). Get Set for Bubbles was created to make people play and compete between each other while they waited for the train to come. Commuters could connect to the on-screen action through their smartphones and were able to pop the bubbles as they appeared floating on the screens. The one who scored the most points won gift vouchers to use in stores. Playing just for fun Playing does not necessarily have to be associated with material rewarding, people also love to play just for fun and some brands are creating gaming experiences with no other goal than to give consumers a good time. Domino Pizza developed a simple delivery game in which consumers can create their own pizza through the Pizza Hero app, introducing a playful way of doing something extremely ordinary such as ordering food. Pizza Hero demonstrates that clever, fun and well-implemented playful experiences can bring brands to life without having to materially reward consumers. Also using gaming as a branding and engagement technique, in 2014 Lowe’s created MyLowe’s, a Sims Social Facebook game recreating the popular game The Sims. The platform was designed to make home management not only smarter but also amusing. Customers could create their dream houses with the different products available at Lowe’s and at the same time they could track, organise and revisit previous purchases. In this way consumers could store their own home improvement history, which they could easily check if they needed to replace any products.

Play to Gain

eople love the P sensation of winning and scoring extra benefits or doing something meaningful for themselves Gamified content creation Content created by communities in the digital world is not news but consumer now have more cutting edge tools to create and share content. Brands don’t want to be left behind so they are engaging with consumers in innovative ways to become part of this trend. Gaming and content creation seem to be the perfect marriage and some brands have found a way of giving consumers a good reason to create content by playing and having fun. Tipp-Ex presented ‘The hunter and the bear’ book, a social content creation initiative, in which consumers were invited to help rewrite a Pharrell William’s Inspiration book which The Bear erased by mistake. Once the ‘Social Book’ was finished it was sold in bookstores and available to download. Another example of gamified content creation is the Aldo’s social campaign game based on mood boards for the launch of its fragrance collection. Players were able choose from a series of Instagram photos that, once selected, were compiled into a mood board that they could post to their Facebook Timelines.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Play to Gain’ address? –– Recognition of others (self-made hero). –– Release of their rising competitive. attitudes. –– Enjoyment and the ability to have some fun. –– An opportunity to beat the system. –– Education and learning through play value. Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Play to Gain’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– Rise of mobile games. –– Gamification of entertainment. –– Consumer’s expectation to win rewards/ prizes. –– Demand for mutually beneficial relationships between brands and consumers. Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Play to Gain’? –– D igitised physical spaces for interactive fun (i.e. Levi’s connected stadium). –– Cashback rewards platform/voucher codes (i.e. Quidco). –– Reward and promotion mobile app games (i.e McDonalds Fry Defender). –– Real-time, social gamification and reward experiences (i.e. Magnum Pleasure Hunt – Magnum Party).


Tips on ‘Play to Gain’ behaviour –– People love the sensation of winning and scoring extra benefits or doing something meaningful for themselves. Introduce games that not only promote purchasing and get rewards but also encourage consumers to try/test products/samples. –– Promote interesting and appealing rewards for your consumer target. To go even further, use consumer data to personalise prizes. –– Make simple and clear gaming mechanics with attractive designs and inviting messages. –– Engage consumers with unexpected fun and playful moments throughout the purchase journey. –– Create partnerships with game specialist to transform your ecosystem into playful spaces. –– Think beyond promotions/rewards and incorporate fun and playful activities such as content co-creation. –– Take advantage of technology to incorporate gamification within physical spaces.

Manifestations

Statistics Search trend forecasts reflects that interest in gamification will continue to increase in the near future.

Whole Foods’ 14-Day Blast Off Harrods’ Stiletto War INK Nation’s Spring Break P 2014, Scavenger Hunt

Google Trends – 2011- 2016

HSN’s Shop, Watch, Play app Coca-Cola’s dancing game Coca-Cola Chok App uane Reade Ingress app D game Domino's Pizza Hero app My Lowe’s Social SIM Argos’ Get Set For Bubbles’ ipp-Ex’s Social Book by T Pharrell Williams: Aldo’s mood board game

In 2015 it is predicted that 40% of the Global 1000 firms will be using gamification as their principal method The size of the of driving business gamification market, change. currently estimated at around $100m, will grow to more than $2.8b by 2016. Gartner Research Forecast

M2Research



● Visualisation

The temptation of attractive images and designs.

isual experience has become vital for the consumer, whether they are shopping online or at physical stores. The importance of aesthetics reaches from the use of visual platforms (such as Pinterest, Tumblr or Instagram) to visualise products and look for inspiration. There's an increasing desire for enhanced visuals via augmented reality and ultimately beautifully designed products. Stores as art spaces Brands and retailers are offering different visual experiences to consumers by incorporating elements from the world of art such as installations and scenography creation. Many luxury brands were already been using window displays as artistic installation, but now the trend has expanded to encompass massive retails and department stores, such as Macy’s in US and Selfridges in UK which transform their window displays into art spaces. The use of over the top design in concept stores is another dimension of this trend that upgrades the physical experience. One theme (i.e. minimalism, vintage, futurism, etc.) unites the product with its retail environment generating a special experience for shoppers. Dutch supermarket Spar’s flagship store in Budapest features an avant-garde design for its wine section, with a series of undulating wooden forms throughout its interior which follow customer’s flow to create a cosy atmosphere. United Nude is a shoe brand from Amsterdam founded on conceptual design and innovation. Their artistic point of view is reflected not only in their products but also in the interior of their store, designed by brand Creative Director and prestigious architect Rem D Koolhaas. The store is completely dark in all areas other than those where the products are showcased and literally highlighted – it features the Wall of Light, a controlled LED wall computer which displays the shoes as works of art encapsulated in geometric frames.

Design in everyday products Design is no longer an exclusive property of premium and luxury brands. Everyday products can also turn into design pieces and mainstream retailers are showing that anyone can incorporate design into their products and purchase experiences. Packaging design can turn an ordinary product into an art object that consumers want to collect and treasure. The Spanish gourmet company ByPepa introduced a new concept for olive oil branding under the name of Pepa y el Olivar. The brand is reinventing the culinary world by offering high quality products fused with a design that seduces by itself. Other manifestations of this trend in retail shopping can be seen in the collaborations between supermarkets and famous designers to create carrier bags that are objects of desire for consumers. Orla Kiely has designed for Tesco, home décor brand Picnic for Jumbo Argentina and Tex, the apparel brand from Carrefour, is working with famous Japanese designer Kenzo. Showrooming vs Webrooming Some e-commerce brands are starting to incorporate physical showrooms for consumers who want to see and experience the products in real life. In March this year, Google opened its first ever brick and mortar store inside a PC World/Curry’s store on Tottenham Court Road in London. The shop is intended to display Google’s devices, such as phones and tablets. It also includes a large screen where people can explore Google Earth. Another experimental example is furniture e-tailer Made.com in west London, shoppers at their store are able to scan furniture’s QR codes to get more information while showrooming. On the other hand, webrooming is convenient for consumers when they want to research and visualise products online before going into the physical store for a final evaluation and purchase. This way of shopping is fuelled by the demand of immediacy by consumers and big retailers such as Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue facilitating it through real-time inventory and in-store pickup options as a response to the growing consumer webrooming.


Augmented reality The shopping experience has been transformed by the introduction of augmented reality giving consumers a cutting edge visual experience. The purchase journey can be revolutionised by the incorporation of AR technology which would enable consumers to get extra information on products or visualise how they would look at home. Augmented reality is the future for retailing. The Google Glass app Crystal Shopper (barcode scanner that checks prices and reads Amazon reviews) is an example of enhanced visual through the use of augmented reality technology. Sayduck have also released a similar mobile app that helps users to visualise how certain products like furniture would look like in their homes. The app displays items in real size by projecting a visual replica through the camera on a smartphone. You can reposition the items to any angle and really see how it could look in the space you have at home.

ugmented reality A is the future for retailing Gallery and spherical 360 videos are also becoming more and more popular among retails as a pre-experience before the real experience. Especially in e-commerce, shoppers want to make sure they have the most realistic visual experience of the product they want to buy. 360 videos for clothing, in store videos or models wearing the clothing items can be ways of offering consumers a realistic view. One visual innovator is IKEA with their augmented technology, video gallery and room exploration in 360.

Shop at First Sight

Virtual mirrors and screens From virtual fitting rooms and mirrors (used often in fashion and make up) to interactive screens for product exploration, visuals are gaining importance in the purchasing process. L’Oreal’s Make Up Genius is a virtual mirror app which virtually applies makeup to your own reflection in real-time. Converse have also created Sampler iPhone App, using augmented reality, consumers can virtually try on Converse shoes by positioning the mobile phone camera towards their foot and scaling the shoe to fit over the foot. The use of different screens and technologies in the physical store purchasing process helps to create a visually superior experience, changing the layout and dynamics of traditional stores. A prominent example is Adidas’ Virtual Footwear Wall, which incorporates multiple screens to explore, gain information and purchase products.

T he use of different screens and technologies in the physical store purchasing process helps to create a visually superior experience

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Shop at First Sight’ address?

Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Shop at First Sight’?

–– I nstant gratification and ‘feel good factor’. –– Confidence in their choices. –– Demand for beautiful products/ experiences. –– Vanity as a social currency (being able to show-off product/show-off story around purchase). –– Accessibility to premium/luxury (attractive feels premium). –– Time scarcity (visualisation helps to make quick decision and justify purchases).

–– V isual retail experiences using augmented reality and other cutting edge technologies (i.e Audi City’s digital car showroom, Dulux’s virtual/augmented reality). –– Interactive screens in physical stores (i.e. fashion store Rebecca Minkoff’s launched an interactive screen powered by eBay to visualise and purchase items). –– Brands collaborations with designers/ artists (i.e. Uniqlo and Museum of Modern Art partnership to create t-shirts featuring the works of Warhol, Basquiat, Haring and Pollock). –– Premium packaging and luxury editions (i.e. Müller de Luxe Corner yoghurt).

Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Shop at First Sight’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– P hotos and videos are becoming a social currency. –– There is a ‘massification’ of art and design –– Showing off has become the norm as beauty gains social value. –– Premium and beautifully designed objects are becoming more accessible. –– In a complex world with information overload, brands need to up their game to stand out. –– Technology developments are facilitating new ways of presenting and experiencing products.


Tips on ‘Shop at First’ Sight behaviour: –– People are visual and a picture speaks a thousand words – use creative concepts to illustrate your product in an original and memorable way. –– Incorporate beautiful and relevant aesthetics to identify your brand beyond the logo. Understand what the most appealing aesthetic trends are for your customers and plan your strategies using those aesthetic cues. –– Collaboration and partnerships can be a great way to maximise the power of visuals: co-create with designers and improve your e-commerce and in-store design. Invest in in-store shelves to display your products using highly attractive visuals or maximise your potential with beautifully designed pop-up stores. –– Use aesthetic and functionality for everyday products packaging as a way to convey a premium luxury experience. –– Invest in a strong framework and platform to inspire consumers with visual ideas on how to use your products. Incorporate and take advantage of image galleries, infographics, videos, graphics, slideshows and animations. –– Engage consumers to participate and share visuals in your social media page or brand platform.

Manifestations

Statistics

Macy’s visual merchandising

70% of marketers plan to increase their use of original visual assets in 2015.

Selfridges Window Displays Spar Wine Sections United Nude Wall of Light Pepa El Olivar designer bottles esco’s designer carrier bags T by Orla Kiely

Social Media Examiner 2014

Last year the amount of video from people and brands on Facebook’s news feed increased 3.6X year-on-year.

Picnic design for Jumbo arrefour and Kenzo C collaboration Google’s brick and mortar Made.com showrooming oogle Glass apps Chrystal G Shopper Sayduck app L’Oreal Make Up Genius Converse Sampler iPhone app Adidas interactive wall

54% of internet users have posted original photos or videos to websites and 47% share photos or videos they found 300 hours of video are elsewhere online. uploaded to YouTube 52% of consumers are more likely to make every minute. Facebook Media, 2015

Pew Research Center, 2013

YouTube, 2014

Out of the top 10% of posts made by more than 30,000 Facebook brand pages, the posts with photos saw the most engagement, accounting for 87% of total interactions. Socialbakers.com, 2014

Webrooming will result in $1.8 trillion in sales by 2017, versus $1.2 trillion in 2012. In comparison, all e-commerce sales should reach $370 billion in 2017. Forrester Research, 2014


repeat purchases from an e-retailer that delivers orders in premium packaging and 40% would share a picture of a purchase if it arrived in premium wrap.

Dotcom Distribution – eCommerce Packaging Survey 2013

82% of marketers confirmed that video marketing had a positive impact on their business, and 70% of will increase spend on video. Online Video Marketing Survey Report, 2013- ReelSEO


● Seeking Authenticity

Shopping choices driven by trust and guilt-free feelings.

hoppers pursue the consumption of authentic products and experiences with specific personal goals in mind. With the focus on particular cues that convey what is genuine and real, the purchase process is driven by identity benefits such as authenticity, virtue and ethics. According to Mindreader study, half of the global population declares to have stopped buying certain products because the company acted unethically, which reflects that people are becoming more conscious about their responsibility over the effects of consumption. Brand politics Consumers more than ever before are understanding and placing value on brands ethical behaviour and, in response, companies are getting involved in social and environmental causes, trying to bond with communities. By supporting different social initiatives brands are becoming political actors. Beauty brands have been pioneers in brand politics. The Body Shop has a history in standing for a transparency in production process, rejecting animal testing and defending the use of natural ingredients. Their initiative ‘Beauty With Heart’ supports different ethical and social causes. Brazilian beauty brand Natura is known for being committed to sustainability and the environment, working with local communities in remote regions of Brazil in order to promote local development. They use seasonal and local ingredients to produce their beauty products, taking advantages of natural benefits and respecting nature’s cycle. The food Industry has always been centre stage when it comes to corporate responsibility. Brands are understanding that ethical behaviour is key to their business and they are getting involved in different initiatives. Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle produced the short film ‘The Scarecrow’ (together with an app and a game) to warn consumers about the disadvantages of industrialised products. Using emotional storytelling they seek to inspire consumers to buy and cook with natural and local ingredients.

Massification of conscious Conscious consumption is not just the isolated behaviour of a few brands and consumers. On the contrary, we are witnessing how conscious consumption is going massive. Organic, recyclable, ethical products and brands are no longer niche. Big retailers and mainstream shops on incorporating these types of products at a massive scale. Trader Joe’s is a value organic supermarket from US with more than four hundred stores across the country. They produce most of the goods they sell and they buy directly from small local farms and producers. In a similar way, Whole Foods Market – a supermarket chain specialised in natural and organic foods – has stores in the USA, Canada and UK.

Big boxes are getting smaller The conscious shopping experiences are not only the result of big brands and retailers becoming ‘greener’. Niche products, ingredients, markets and fairs are becoming more popular among consumers. In Argentina, for example, Masticar has become a popular gastronomic event where famous chefs and brands are promoting artisan, organic and environmental food. Many consumers are turning into smaller and more specialized stores looking for a closer treatment and a more educative experience. In response, we are seeing how big boxes are getting smaller: some retailers and department stores are realising bigger is not always better.

Coca- Cola, one of the biggest brands on earth, is also taking part in this trend with the introduction of PlantBottle technology – the only plastic that is made using renewable resources and which can be fully recycled – and working towards lightweight bottles specially engineered to use less plastic and to easily ‘twist and shrink’ after drinking. This way consumers are encouraged to recycle and contribute to reduce the impact plastic bottles have on the environment.

Smaller and specialised spaces are being created within big department stores and retails to provide expert information and education. Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo revamped its flagship store in Netherlands, now featuring specialist food areas where customers can learn how to prepare different dishes. The overall design of the store focuses on reflecting a more authentic experience.

S maller and specialised spaces are being created within big department stores and retails to provide expert information and education


Consumers take control In the pursuit of authenticity, consumers are becoming more powerful than ever through the access of information and technological tools that allow them to take control and demand honest and ethical actions from brands. During 2014, the National Football League from US (NFL) was hit by a gender violence scandal when a video of one if its biggest stars Ray Rice hitting his wife became public. A spontaneous consumer’s boycott was born in social media against Cover Girl, ‘the official beauty sponsor’, demanding the brand to quit the NFL as a gesture of support for women. Pictures from the campaign ‘Get Your Game Face On!’ were photoshopped drawing bruises on model’s eyes and went viral all over the web as a form of protest. Another example of brands responding to consumers’ actions is Wonga, a short term cash loan company had written off improperly granted loans to 375,000 borrowers – after consumer complaints and protests – and admitted they should have never given these loans.

Pure Shopping

Transparency and real stories Many brands and retailers are aware of the importance of being open, transparent and accountable at every stage of the production process. Many fashion brands are creating ‘non-Photoshop’ campaigns in order to transmit a more real and transparent image. American Eagle has launched in 2014 a lingerie campaign with ‘natural’ models and ‘Photoshop-free’ pictures. In a similar way, Debenhams retailer announced that it would no longer airbrush to correct or alter images to encourage consumers’ self-esteem and confidence about real figures.

T he origin of products is crucial and brands are also seeking to provide full disclosure and give real information to consumers The origin of products is crucial and brands are also seeking to provide full disclosure and give real information to consumers. For example, in US the OpenLabel app technology allows consumers and organisations to instantly attach their own labels directly onto the barcode of a product to provide radical transparency on the products we buy every day to make smarter choices. Similarly, Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide and Shop Ethical apps are promoting transparency and open product information to encourage shoppers to buy with a clear conscience.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Pure Shopping’ address? –– P eople’s urge to do the right thing and feel better about it. –– Ethical consumption as way to create a conscientious identity. –– Digital world is driving people’s need to go back to human contact. –– The pursuit of transcendental and holistic experiences. –– Consumption has become a quest for quality and integrity. Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Pure Shopping’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– N ew technologies allow consumers to easily find information. –– Growing mistrust in big corporations. –– Proliferation of news and hyper-awareness of negative stories. –– Increasing wealth enables choices based on more than price. –– C ollective consciousness. –– Effortless contribution to our society. Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘‘Pure Shopping’? –– U sing of technology to track product provenance and transparency (i.e. Sainsbury’s Meet the Farmer, Egg Tracker). –– Brands behind the scenes (i.e. McDonalds’s ‘Our Food Your Questions’ videos of food processes). –– Feel good factor brands (i.e. Patagonia’s ‘The Footprint Chronicles’, H&M’s Conscious clothing). –– Authentic feel through heritage and craftsmanship (i.e. Jack Daniels branding defined by its true stories). –– Ethical handmade and packaging-free products (i.e. Lush cosmetics).


Tips on ‘Pure Shopping’ behaviour –– Invite consumers to interact with your brand and make sure to provide all the information about product origin and processes. Utilise different channels – social media, e-commerce, brand site, apps, etc. – so the information can be easily found. –– Educate your employers and train them to be ‘specialists’ so consumers can rely on them. –– Amplify your social programmes or environmental politics no matter how big or small they are. –– Be bold when expressing the heritage, authenticity and uniqueness of your brand and product. Avoid the ‘fake feeling’ created by ads which are too unreal, exaggerated or modified by technology. –– Introduce real stories in your brand communications. You will develop better connections with people and gain their trust if you show that you’re one of them. –– Stand out from the crowd by creating genuine and authentic experiences in a fast-paced world bombarded by infinite choices.

Manifestations

Statistics

The Body Shop ‘Beauty With Heart’

55% will pay extra for products and services from companies committed to positive social and environmental impact.

Natura Sustainable Beauty Chipotle ‘The Scarecrow’

52% made at least one purchase in the past six months from one or more socially responsible companies.

Trader Joe Philosophy Whole Foods Market Coca-Cola Sustainable Packaging Masticar Argentinian Gastronomic Fair Jumbo Dutch Supermarkets over Girl ‘Get Your Game C Face On!’ Wonga loans written-off merican Eagle ‘Photoshop A free’ campaign Debenhams UK No Retouch The OpenLabel Project Sustainable Seafood Guide Shop Ethical app

Interest in information pertaining to product provenance is widespread – when buying food, 45% often look for products 52% check product packaging to ensure that have authentic sustainable impact. origins in a culture, tradition or place.

Nielsen, Doing Well By Doing Good, 2014

Expectations of corporate responsibility is high – 80% of the population agrees that companies should be penalised for failing to care for the environment. Data privacy remains an issue for many – 56% of people are concerned about who their personal information/data is shared with when downloading and using an app on their mobile phone. Consumers are in search of authentic voices – 73% of respondents claim to consult online consumer reviews at least once a month. nVision Global Research, 2014



● Simplification

Shopping made it easy with the use of cutting edge technology.

he desire to use mobile devices everywhere and for everything, together with the need of simplifying what has become too complex, are one of the most important facts brands and retailers are facing. They have the challenge to provide a user friendly, quick and easy purchase experience incorporating cutting edge technology. Self-service The self-service format is the perfect response to consumers who are less and less willing to endure the merest delay or inconvenience when interacting with public or commercial services. Self-check-in kiosks in airports, self-scanning machines in supermarkets, DIY check out services in hotels and vending machine dispensers are just some examples. Many supermarkets all over the world are already using self-service check outs. For example, Tesco introduced in-store transactional kiosks in the UK designed to showcase its F&F clothing range. They allow customers to make in-store purchases and order items which are out-of-stock or not available in their size and then have the items delivered to their home. Self-service is also beginning to gain popularity among hotels, Qbic Hotel in Amsterdam has introduced selfservice check out for customers who prefer it to be quick and easy rather than personalised. Meganews is an on-demand print news stand in Sweden where customers can select their desired publication and then print it instantly. Users can navigate available publications using the touch screen and pay by debit or credit card. Subsequently, the magazine is printed in the ‘highest quality’ colour paper in under two minutes. Self-service can be a win-win for employers and consumers. In The Thirsty Bear pub in London customers can make use of tablet computers and selfservice facilities to order and then pour their own beer.

App, QR and Bitcoin technology Mobile apps are a key part of the Internet of things. Omnichannel retailers are using them to facilitate consumer shopping experiences and also to send real-time promotions based on variables like the customer’s shopping history, personal preferences, location and special events. Using QR technology, Walmart developed an app for customers to scan the codes of the products they run out and automatically add them to a shopping list or even buy them straight away.

T he use of beacon technology is really pushing the retail boundaries The use of beacon technology is really pushing the retail boundaries. Brands and retailers are starting to see the benefits of using this technology as it allows real time interaction through mobile devices. The Estimote Beacon is a new device used to transmit radio signals to smart devices in a store or supermarket. Consumers are exposed to personalised interaction receiving notifications and suggestions (such as offers, compatible and related products, etc.) based the on where they are or what products they are interacting with. The app can also be used to purchase and have products shipped directly to their homes. Many stores are looking to simplify the transaction or payment point of the shopping journey – the most painful moments for consumers. An innovative way is to avoid the use of traditional check outs introducing mobile devices that enable employees to checkout shoppers on the spot, at any place of the stores. Apple has been using this system for a while and Nordstrom is introducing the new Point of Sales in order to speed up the payment process.


Virtual money The virtual systems are offering legitimate financial services that have the potential to promote more efficient global e-commerce and simplified transactions with the benefits of consumers not having to carry cash or provide bank details. Bitcoin, the most famous virtual currency, is an open and public technology that operates from peer-to-peer avoiding the participation of banks or financial entities. It is defined by its own creators as an ‘experiential currency and a high risk capital’ due to its volatile price. Together with Bitcoin there are many other virtual currencies such as Litecoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Worldcoin, Anoncoin. Although we cannot say that it has reached massive state, it is for sure a big part of a new financial system that is taking shape. Convenient delivery Click & Collect is a delivery service of products purchased online that counts with service agencies all over the UK. Online shoppers can buy and instead of having to be at home to receive the order, they can decide when and where they want to collect their stuff. At the same time, online retails are trying to shorter the delivery time. For years now, Amazon has offered 48-hour shipping to its prime customers and now, along with competitors like Walmart and Google, are introducing same-day delivery in key markets. Other retailers like Best Buy allow customers to pick up an item in-store within a few hours of placing an order. Different technologies can also be used to simplify the shipping process. Ebay has introduced in the US ‘screens on the go’, screen vending machines that allow people to buy and collect the product in real time, without having to wait for delivery. Drones are the new big thing in technology and they promise to transform our everyday life, including shopping. Amazon is innovating in this area with the ‘delivery drones’, through which the promise of real time delivery could turn into reality.

Smarket

Simplified choices Online product curation, comparison and review websites are integrated consumer activities that filter excess of information and simplifies the decision making process. We may not always realise it, but social curation is also a form of shopping simplification. Polyvore is a fashion curated website where shoppers can find cool outfits and buy the products by just clicking on them. For those who are not familiar with fashion trends or don’t want to search the whole internet looking for the latest looks, it can be a real solution in order to look cool without investing too much time on it.

uick and Q easy solutions are becoming the norm Similarly, Canopy is a web and mobile curated storefront specialised only in Amazon’s ‘beautiful and functional products’. A social, shareable space to navigate and discover specific products amongst the infinite offers in a much quicker and easier way. Nuji is another site that allows consumers to curate products from favourite online stores and keep track of their wish list to purchase later. Visitors can also follow other people with similar tastes to see what they’re discovering.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Smarket’ address?

Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Smarket’?

–– T ime poor consumers looking for simple solutions. –– Saturation of products is demanding easier and simpler choices. –– Synchronised lives with the accessibility of personal information/content in one place. –– Tech savvy consumers are seeking cutting edge experiences. –– Being able to do everything on the move.

–– I ntelligent devices for everyday products (i.e. Amazon Dash button). –– Quick interactive ordering system (i.e. Inamo self-service restaurant). –– Digital wallets and passes all in one place (i.e. Apple Passbook). –– Car as a delivery option when ordering goods online (i.e. Volvo On Call app). –– Seamless physical and digital shopping experiences (i.e. Argos self-service digital concept store). –– From print to e-commerce (i.e. Alibaba QR code in newspapers ads). –– Digital hotspots that communicate with the devices of nearby consumers (i.e. Apple’s iBeacons).

Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Smarket’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– Q uick and easy solutions are becoming the norm. –– Technology is driving higher expectations for ease, efficiency and minimal effort. –– Constantly connected consumers from anywhere and at any time. –– Marketplaces are being fuelled by technology and products are easier to find. –– Integration of digital and physical holistic customer experience.

Product review and price comparison websites have a similar role in the consumer’s decision journey, optimising their time and reducing the chances of making a mistake. MySupermarket.co.uk, ReviewCentre.com, MoneySuperMarket, Yelp, Buscapé; are just a few examples of consumers ability to provide and access information to help simplify product choices.


Tips on 'Smarket' behaviour –– Make sure your online platforms are as simple as possible – with clean visuals and no complex interactives – for consumers to navigate and shop. –– Reduce to the minimum the transaction pathway to avoid losing customers at the checkout point. –– Provide your customers with smooth and seamless experiences across all channels. –– Introduce cutting edge technology – beacons, apps, real time messages, in store communication, geo-location and other channels – to simplifying the shopper journey and introduce novelty. –– Capitalise the potential of geolocation technology to attract consumers with relevant and real time deals alerts so consumers also get extra benefits.

Manifestations

Statistics

Tesco’s F&F clothing kiosks

Shoppers are finding it easier to shop seamlessly across channels (stores, online, mobile, tablet) this year with 72% of retailers having ‘truly’ seamless capabilities.

bic Hotel self-service Q check-out Meganews on-demand The Thirsty Bear pub Walmart Scan & Go Estimote Beacon Nordstrom’s Point of Sales Bitcoin virtual money Click & Collect UK Amazon, same day shipping Best Buy pick up in store Ebay physical experience Amazon delivery drones Polyvore Canopy by Amazon Nuji MoneySuperMarket price comparison

Globally, as many as 61% of shoppers are open to the idea 64% say delivery of shopping at a fully speed is important – automated self-service up from 57% last year. store with vending machines and kiosks. Accenture – Seamless Retail Survey Results 2015

Canvas8 Research

By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human. Gartner Research


78% of consumers around the world agree that mobile technology makes their life simpler. Mindreader


● Snacking

Quick, on-the-go and ephemeral consumption.

ime is a key element for this shopping dynamic. Consumers’ lifestyles demand quick and on-the-go experiences with the help of technology to accelerate the process. On the other hand, consumers are increasingly adhering to temporary ownership, expressing their desire of consuming without buying. The ‘real time culture’ and ephemeral experiences are shaping new ways of shopping. Moving merchants and pop-up stores Mobile and spontaneous retailing was born to satisfy consumer’s desire to buy anywhere and anytime – a way to help them access products and services quickly and on-thego – with technology playing a key part to localise these moving retailers. We Are Pop Up, a UK based business initiative gives both retailers and brands access to experimental and high-profile opportunities. Big sellers such as, Google, Amazon, Nordstrom and Etsy are trying these new formats, placing pop-up stores in cities such as New York, London and Sydney. Fashion brands are really innovating in terms of pop-up experiences and collaborations to attract brick and mortar consumers. In 2014, Adidas created a three-day-store with the form of a shoebox in London’s Shoreditch neighbourhood. It was designed for the launch of Stan Smith’s collection and included an interactive floor, a digital ‘Stan Yourself’ station and a 3D printer. Japanese brand Uniqlo became the first apparel retailer to feature an in-store Starbucks coffee shop and MoMA store.

Sampling, testing and temporary ownership Many consumers are adhering to what is known as ‘experience a product or service’ before buying. This can be the first step in building loyalty so brands are starting offering sample boxes to consumers. For instance, Walmart has introduced the Sample Boxes – consumers sign up to get samples and taste products from top brands. German specialist outdoor retailer Globetrotter has created a unique experience in its Cologne store location. Taking the ‘try before you buy’ concept to new levels, the shop simulates outdoor environments to ensure customers can trial the clothes and other items in a situation not too dissimilar from those in which they will actually end up using these items. Customers can try out canoes and learn to scuba dive. Other features include ‘wind refrigerators’ and ‘shower cabins’ where garments can be tested on heat retention and water resistance. The experience is further enhanced by forest sounds playing in the background and regular ‘sleepover’ sessions inviting customers to spend the night. Trying before buying is also facilitated by technology to either simplify the process or allow online consumers to test or try products in the virtual and intangible world. In Japan, Ikebukuro Parco department store is combining the convenience of online shopping with the fun of trying on clothes. The store has created virtual fitting rooms that let people browse the products available on the website and then try them on virtually. House of Frasier in UK has implemented the feature ‘Find Your True Fit’ in its online store. Shoppers can upload their details and picture to see how a fashion item would look like on them.


Temporary ownership is on the rise and many retail sectors are introducing solutions to consumers who have the need of buying a product just for a limited period of time. US temporary fashion businesses NextSuit and Rent The Runway are pioneers in offering high-end trendy items to those who need an outfit for a one-off occasion. Fully Furnished offers the option to rent furniture in UK for up to three months. In the Netherlands, consumers who don’t want to buy a washing machine, can have access to one from Bundles – the machine is free and members of this service pay only for the laundry loads they do per month.

T he ‘real time culture’ and ephemeral experiences are shaping new ways of shopping Retails go express Busy lifestyles requires quick and convenient ways of consumption. Express retailing is an option for shoppers on-the-go. Many big supermarkets are going ‘express’ locating small stores in busy areas for instant and basic shopping, avoiding queues. Carrefour Express, Tesco Express, Sainsbury Local, Marks & Spencer’s Simply Food are already part of the landscape of big cities, and it seems their presence will get even bigger. These express formats are competing with other type of stores that have long been established in the market like small grocery stores, corner shops or independent and convenience stores.

Shop & Go

Instant shopping and vending machines Instant on-the-go purchasing has reached its maximum expression with m-commerce. Thanks to the use of mobile phones and apps technology shoppers can literally buy at any time and from everywhere. Brands are exploring different ways of fulfilling the consumer’s desire of instant consumption. Shopping on commute is one of them: virtual and interactive shopping walls in public transport for consumers to buy on the way to their home, work or college. Jumbo have done the same in metro stations in Chile and Carrefour in France, placing virtual stores in Gare du Nord station in Paris and Part-Dieu station in Lyon. In the US, snack food vendor Mondelez International is rolling out an initial deployment of its interactive vending machines. The new machines feature interactive, touchscreen-enabled LED monitors, Microsoft Kinect motion sensors and NFC readers. Brands have seen the advantages of introducing vending machines in airports and now travellers are not only able to shop on-the-go food and snacking products, the vending machine offering has been expanded to other products. Best Buy Express has airport kiosks that sells a varied range of electronic products, Glam Up & Away ‘pink bus’ vending machines are stocked with Benefit’s bestselling products and the Automatic Apparel machine is ready to dispense t-shirts, socks and underwear to busy on-the-go shoppers. While items can be bought conventionally online, mobile purchases are incentivised with savings from 10% to 40%. Ebay installed shoppable windows in New York, these are large digital screens that work very much like a pop-up shop. They display products and allow shoppers to place order through the screens and have products delivered to them within an hour via courier.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Shop & Go’ address? –– E phemeral and temporary retail experiences. –– Fast paced lives need product availability on-the-go. –– Trying before buying as a way to avoid regret. –– Environmentally conscious will consume temporarily owned products. Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Shop & Go’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– G rowing opportunity to interact with new brands or ideas through pop-up experiences. –– Accessibility to limited edition products. –– Decrease of purchase wastage, streamline choices. –– Temporary ownership, pay as you go solutions. –– Living in a faster paced world will demand ubiquitous vending solutions. –– Saturation of choices need to be filtered as ‘the snacking’ culture expands. Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Shop & Go’? –– O nline exclusive retailers in the physical world (i.e. Ebay one of the first e-commerce sites to introduce pop-up stores). –– Test drive before purchasing (i.e Apple’s Try Before You Buy Apps). –– Curated products (i.e. Birchbox’s beauty and lifestyle sample boxes). –– Vending machines thinking big (i.e. Smart Coupe/Cabrio giant vending machine).


Tips for ‘Shop & Go’ behaviour –– Consumers are getting used to do everything through their mobile and get whatever they want instantly. Utilise the benefit of mobile apps and geolocation to drive immediate consumption. Mobile apps give brands the opportunity of reducing time between advertising impact and purchase. –– Make your product available in busy areas and sell them via vending machines as a convenient purchase option for busy consumers. –– Maximise the potential of pop-up stores for the launching of new products, concepts and markets, as well as trying to generate awareness and buzz around your brand. Introduce strategic partnerships with retailers, department stores and other brands. –– Temporary retail allows you to get closer to customers and helps you determine what products are the most popular – the temporary and flexible nature of pop-up retailing ensures that brands are not committed for long periods of time if their product is not selling or generating interest. –– Extend brand into the physical using temporary retailing/pop-up shops especially if your trading solely online – inviting consumers to sample, test and offer giveaways and exclusive sales.

Manifestations

Statistics

e Are Pop Up, W temporary retail spaces

The rise of local and on-the-go convenience. There is a 110% increase in small, local retailers opening over the past five years.

Adidas giant shoe-box Etsy pop-up store Walmart simple boxes lobetrotter Cologne store G location I kebukuro Parco Wearable Clothing ouse of Frasier’s Find Your H True Fit Rent The Runway clothing rental Bundles temporary washing machines Sainsbury’s Local expansion

Simply Business’ annual High Street Tracker, UK 2015

Carrefour’s virtual stores Mondelez International interactive vending machines Automatic Apparel vending machines Benefit’s Glam Up & Away Best Buy Express E -Bay shoppable window

Vending machine industry is poised to rise and hit $7.7 billion in 2019, up nearly 7% from $7.2 billion in 2014. IBISWorld report, US 2014

Pop-up retailing produced £2.1 billion in turnover in the past year – equivalent to 0.6% of total retail turnover. The most popular pop-up shops to visit and spend money in are farmer’s markets, food and beverage shops and fashion stores – over 40% of people who have visited a popup store went to a farmer’s market in the last 12 months. 65% of people agree they would visit a popup shop more often if they knew the current location of the shop. Brands still have to utilise their personal network, social media network, their marketing channels, to make people understand the shop is there and they should come and check it out. Centre for Economics and Business Research, UK 2014



● New Networking

Unified forces give more power to shoppers.

nline networks have completely transformed the shopping paradigms and purchasing process. Facebook has recently introduced the ‘Shop Now’ button for businesses that have Facebook shops and, at the same time, consumers are generating new trading ideas and platforms. They are becoming more powerful than ever before with the help of new technology and fuelled by the popularity of social media platforms, creating innovative collaborative ways to maximise the shopping experience. Social curation Globalisation, internet and technology allow people from all over the world to get in touch and build communities around any type of interests. Nowadays we get to know about several products and brands by social curation. Consumer-curators may not be specialists and may not know one another or have any other connection besides a common interest. Curation involves organisation of information in a meaningful way – a collective creation and the result of a community curation is always unpredictable and creative. Social Curation is generally specific to a topic or an interest. The curators may not know one another or have any other connection besides the topic that they are curating together. Furthermore, social curation participants may take on one of several roles – a member of a team of curators may be interested in identifying and adding new material, editing out material that he or she finds redundant, irrelevant or not useful or they may focus on organizing the curated content in any variety of ways to provide a better narrative throughout the collection.

Polyvore and Shopcade are some of the most popular social curation platforms, in which some consumers collect the best products from all over the internet so others can buy them in just a click. In Kaboodle.com users can create wish lists with photos and links to products for sale online. Stylehive.com is a women community not only of fashion products but also female interests such as make up, decoration, etc. In ThisNext.com users can browse recommended products, add them to their wish lists, find out where to buy them and create themed lists of their own. Reviews sites Rating and reviews from consumers’ communities have been proven to influence other consumers shopping behaviour. Its success resides in reliability and transparency, the result of having real people telling real experiences. The practice of searching for reviews before purchases became so embedded in our everyday lives that we cannot imagine booking a hotel or going to a restaurant without consulting websites such as Tripadvisor, Yelp or Time Out.

collective A creation and the result of a community curation is always unpredictable and creative Crowdstorm.com measures the buzz around products based on recommendations, making popular items go on top so shoppers know which products people are talking about. It’s a social shopping experience with reviews of experts in all areas of shopping who can endorse the best products from any particular category or range. Shoppers are able to ask questions to experts and the ‘crowd’ who have actually used the product before they buy.


Peer to peer Community collaboration doesn’t end in recommendations or curation. Peer to peer transactions involve people providing their own goods and services to others, often hooking up online and avoiding the need of third parties. By different websites, apps and social media, you can find someone on the other side of the world to exchange products or services. TransferWise is a peer-to-peer currency exchange service that cuts out bank and commission charges by matching a user’s exchange need with those of other members of the system. These platforms are becoming popular in all kind of industries: Airbnb (renting – tourism), RelayRides (car rental), TaskRabbit (jobs and tasks), GoSwap.org (homes for sale/rent), among many others. Peer to peer interaction can also happen in the form of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing. In these collaborative platforms anyone can upload an artistic, social or commercial project and ask people to help in raising funds. With a minimum amount of money from each peer, ambitious independent projects can become true. Kickstarter and Ideame are some of the most popular ones.

Social Shopping

Collective purchases Consumers’ budgets, especially among young people, are affected by low income and economic crisis. In response, new movements of collective purchasing are being created. People are acting co-operatively with the aim of getting better deals on everything – from gas service to organic vegetables. The Big Switch, a global campaign to reduce energy tariffs, is one of the biggest and more ambitious examples of the collective buying movement. Own Mutually is a site that lets consumers team up with others to co-buy expensive items. The site works by allowing people to list a description and picture of their desired item and then broadcast it on social media platforms. Buyers participate in a timeshare system of ownership, booking days they would like to use the item via a shared calendar. The list of items include all kind of products form bicycles to 3D printers or yachts.

eople are acting P co-operatively with the aim of getting better deals on everything – from gas service to organic vegetables There are also very popular group shopping sites such as Groupon, Crowdity, Keynoir, Tickles, Groupola, Incahoot, Wowcher, KGB gbdeals, nCrowd, DealZippy, etc. They require a group of consumers sharing the will to buy the same product and many of them also work with interactive affiliation and referral programs.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Social Shopping’ address? –– P eople’s desire to feel connected. –– Getting involved with like-minded individuals. –– Consumers wanting to spend less and save more money. –– Limited by finances forces people to cooperate with each other. –– Trust and share experiences with other people rather than companies/marketing promises. Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Social Shopping’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– C onsumers will keep adapting the way they live and shop with developments in technology and social media to come. –– Changes in the economy will generate innovative ways to shop and make money. –– People becoming more digitally than physically connected. –– Consumers are increasingly engaging with brands and at the same time generating buzz in their social circles and the internet in general. Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Social Shopping’? –– P roduct testing and review site for innovative consumer products (i.e. Get Fresh, social reviews from communities and experts). –– Deals, offers, products and unique things to do in your area (i.e. LivingSocial, sharing and saving money platform). –– Social media networks to sell and promote products (i.e. Shopify Facebook app). –– Instant product reviews from other consumers by scanning a barcode (i.e Consumr app powered by consumers). –– Peer-to-peer e-commerce (i.e. Etsy, website focused on handmade and vintage items).


Tips on ‘Social Shopping’ behaviour –– Empower consumers through connective and social initiatives, be part of their communities and try to gain space in these collective conversation spaces. –– Incorporate consumers’ ideas and creations, embrace social shopping with proposals such as community discounts, crowdfunding and crowdsourcing. Make consumers feel important, included and powerful. –– Invite shoppers to leave reviews in your e-commerce site and promote interaction between them. Also, make sure you respond to the reviews and that they are visible for customers when navigating your site. –– Social Media and digital interactive platforms can connect your brand with your customers. Invite them to interact and innovate with social shopping. Listen to them, incorporate social curation and creation to your digital platforms, and take advantage of it by using it as a source of insights. –– Maximise the capabilities of technology and social media as a powerful retail channel. Integrate your e-commerce platform with social media platforms so shoppers can also share their opinions and reviews in a more naturally collective environment.

Manifestations

Statistics

Polyvore social commerce website

Groupon daily deal site had 48.1 million unique customers who had bought at least one deal during the trailing 12 month.

Shopcade social shopping app Kaboodle shopping community tylehive shopping social S bookmarking ThisNext social shopping network Tripadvisor traveller reviews rowdstorm social shopping C and price comparison TransferWise peer-to-peer currency exchange Airbnb community accommodation marketplace Kickstarter global crowdfunding platform

16 billion digital coupons were redeemed worldwide in 2014 – this figure is projected to grow to 31 billion online coupons in 2019 and experts claim that redemption will mainly be driven by mobile coupons. Over 100 million people had downloaded the Groupon mobile app by September 2014 – this demonstrates the increasing popularity of group buying consumer behaviour. Statista, 2015

I deame crowdfunding platform for Latin America Own Mutually social circle to split costs Groupon deal-of-the-day

Social media will not cease to increase – there is a total of 2.1 billion social media users and 1.7 billion mobile social users worldwide. We Are Social – Digital, Social & Mobile in 2015


Shopify powers over 160,000 businesses and $8 billion worth of sales – one of their online solutions includes setting up stores in Facebook so anyone can let the world know their product is for sale by sharing their Facebook page. Shopify, 2015

Pinterest (+97%) and Tumblr (+95%) recorded the biggest rises in active user numbers across 2014, outside China. GlobalWebIndex – Know You Audience, 2014


● National Celebration

Buying local goes global.

Consumers are choosing local products and brands as an expression of pride for their history and heritage. Supporting their communities is part of a more conscious and reflective way of shopping, something that is not new but is moving to another level. Retailers are taking note of the importance of local for consumers and are starting to incorporate artisanal and regional products to the mass market. ‘Glocalisation’ of brands The celebration of national culture and produce is usually a consumer’s behavior connected to the strong and deep beliefs in their roots but sometimes it can also be the result of convenience or fashion. This trend takes multiple forms according to the context and situation in which it takes place. The ‘massification’ of local means that ‘regional’ is no longer a niche market. Global and regional, artisanal and industrialised, standardised and original are merging in different ways giving birth to new products and processes. International brands are developing regional versions of standardised products and marketing them to the masses, transforming the competitive landscape of global brands. McDonald’s for example, have introduced the art of localisation with the creation of regional menu items for their international markets. In Brazil you can order a Quiche de Queijo (cheese quiche), in India a Chicken Maharaja-Macs or in New Zealand a Kiwi burger menu. These products are individual to the local market, but they remain true to the brand personality.

Buying local Many regions have become brands themselves, using the ‘made in’ label as part of their marketing and creating a well-defined image that consumers love. Highlighting where products come from they seek to transmit certain values associated with the place of origin – for instance, clothes with the ‘Made in Peru’ label, consumers know they are purchasing a high quality cotton item. Local currencies are enabling communities to fully utilize its existing productive resources. They are based on the premise that the community is not fully utilizing its productive capacities, because of a lack of local purchasing power. The alternative currency is utilized to increase demand, resulting in a greater use of productive resources. The introduction of local currencies emphasises the interest in supporting local and regional communities and the growth of this trend. Some regions are creating their currencies that can be used only in their restricted area for buying locally produced goods such as the Bristol Pound, Brixton Pound and Makkie in Amsterdam. It is a way of creating micro-economies where both consumers and producers win – the firsts ones because they can buy good quality products at a convenient price, the second ones because they minimise competition with big international traders.

any regions have M become brands themselves, using the ‘Made in’ label as part of their marketing and creating a welldefined image that consumers love


Nostalgic shopping Getting back to basics through nostalgic consumption is also part of the local pride. The nostalgic shopping trend is expressed in different behaviors, from the preference for classic products, retro design or packaging to the revival of traditional retails and specialised stores. Fairs, barters and secondhand are ways shoppers find to live a more real and meaningful shopping experience, and also to recover traditional values and heritage. Traditional small, specialised convenience stores are back and trendy again. Customers interact directly with the owners (usually their own neighbours). For some shoppers it is a way of remembering their childhood, and for younger generations it means a traditional yet alternative form of shopping. In some regions these old fashioned stores never completely disappeared but today they are coming back in big cities such as Buenos Aires, San Pablo or Mexico D.F where they had been replaced by big supermarkets. But not only small intimate stores can be an experience that can evoke consumers’ nostalgic memories, other innovative ideas are capitalising this trend. The US Department Store Museum is an online museum where nostalgic shoppers can find information about classic department stores that no longer exist and get to know the history of the ones that are still big. Vintage fairs offer shoppers the possibility of getting in touch with objects that are part of national history. Antiques, vintage furniture, retro fashion and vinyl stores can be found in almost every city. Beacon’s Closet in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) is one of the most hip and famous vintage stores in the world and a tourist attraction for NY visitors. ModCloth is an online vintage retailer that sells clothes, shoes and furniture. It has its own exclusive app and besides offering products it has articles, pictures and content related to vintage pop culture. Vintage shopping can also be an entertainment or a moment of relax for those who love restoration. This activity became so popular for the vintage products seekers that several TV shows such as Pawn Stars, American Pickers and American Restoration are attracting massive audiences and have became huge successes.

Made in…

Celebratory shopping National dates and festivities have also become an excuse to create big shopping events. These are moments of big sales not only for local independent producers but also for retails and department stores that have the opportunity to increase sales. Governments all over the world are driving different kind of activities as a way of boosting the economy. Many national festivals are now globally celebrated becoming commercial dates around the world.

ational dates and N festivities have also become an excuse to create big shopping events The Oktoberfest, St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween are already part of a globalised culture and consumers might don’t even know their region of origin. In USA, Independence Day and Thanksgiving are big sales dates, almost at the same level of Christmas. We can also find thousands of National Products’ ‘weeks’ of, such as ‘The Wine Week’ in Argentina or the ‘April Fair’ in Sevilla. The Carnival season in Rio do Janeiro or the Death’s Day in Mexico are also examples of how the celebration of national folklore and festivals can become elements of a country’s branding and a good occasion to promote consumption.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Made in…’ address? –– Peoples need to be at their comfort zone. –– Support local community businesses economy. –– Belong to a community, society or culture. –– Feel proud of their roots. –– Treasure the past traditions. –– Nostalgia revives comforts of the past. Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Made in…’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– B ig brands are incorporating local initiatives/support. –– Incorporating nostalgic and retro elements in products and packaging design. –– Fast changes with modern technology will generate more nostalgic feelings. –– Local buying provide feelings of safety and trust about the origin of products versus negative press for mass production. –– People becoming more attached to their local community/produce: i.e. localvore, bobo consumers. Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Made in…’? –– B rand partnerships to promote local culture (i.e. Aussie film director Baz Luhrmann + Absolut Oz vodka). –– Profits donated to local community projects (i.e. Quartiermeister breweries). –– Branching out locally sourced products (i.e. Local Mission Market products from within a 90 mile radius). –– Daily deals-style app to support businesses in their local area (i.e. Mobile Vikings apps). –– Big retailers partnering with local stores (i.e. Amazon’s KiranaNow lets store owners upload their inventory into their site).


Tips on ‘Made in…’ behaviour –– Whether you are a local brand or not, think of local elements that can help you reinvent and tell your story in a more compelling way. Even if you are not a local brand, you can understand and share the values with local community. You can organise fairs, exhibit local producers, support local communities and embrace their values. –– Provenance can be appealing for consumers, make sure they know which brands are local and from which region they are. Remember the ‘made in’ can become part of your branding. –– Highlight nostalgic elements of your culture heritage, the origin of ingredients, packaging and design. –– Create meaningful partnerships that emphasise the idea of local community, its values and support. Produce relevant content that can be share with consumers through social media. –– Merge the new with the old world to evoke consumer’s feelings of belonging and past memories introducing innovative memorable physical experience at local celebrations, events or pop-ups with the use of new technologies (apps, geolocation).

Manifestations

Statistics

McDonald’s local tastes

75% of consumers eat locally grown food on a weekly basis.

ade in Peru high quality M cotton item Bristol Pound Makkie in Amsterdam Oktoberfest shopping trip t. Patrick’s Day turns S Selfridges green alloween food inspirations H by Waitrose rgentina’s Semana del Vino, A drink wine for a week

nVision Research 2014

60% worry that the values and traditions that they most appreciate about their country are being eroded by other cultural/global influences. Mindreader

pril Fair in Sevilla, music, A dance and food eacon’s Closet in B Williamsburg hip and famous vintage store odCloth online/app vintage M retailer

Buying locally produced foods helps the local economy – 78% of cunsumers agree. 75% of consumers eat locally grown food weekly nVision Research 2014

50% of local searches do not occur on search engines, but on directories and apps. AT&T Small Business Technology Poll, 2013


Local business generates 70% more local economic activity per square foot than big box retail. Andersonville Study of Retail Economics, US


● New World Order

Alternative trading is transforming the shopping world.

ew and disruptive ways of trading and shopping are pushing the boundaries of the marketplace. We are living in a ‘transitional economy’ in which new paradigms and rules are being defined. Traditional models are converging with new technologies generating new and sometimes unexpected phenomena. The global scenario is changing, emerging and alternative economies are also setting rules that will define future shopping trends.

Polarisation of retail The polarisation of retail is increasing and dividing the consumer landscape creating the haves and have-nots. People are less interested in mid-market products and instead, they spend much less when it comes to everyday items to save money, and upscale when they want to impress or indulge thus giving rise to the hybrid consumer. It’s both the discounter/low-cost stores at one end or luxury/premium at the other end doing well from mix and match consumption (i.e. buying Primark t-shirt and matching it with a Vuitton designer handbag).

Informal and alternative trading Home-based retail businesses, informal marketplaces and fairs, barters, street hawking, non-monetary trading, anticonsumption movements are all multiple expressions of what is known as the System D economy, which is undergoing massive transformations and changing the way societies shop. Many countries in the developing regions, especially in Africa, are having access to internet for the first time through mobile devices, making this new digital world converge with ancient and tribal systems. Door to door shopping, another traditional model still practiced in regions like Latin America, is mutating due to the incorporation of technology. There is a B-side economy that is blurring the paradigms of the market as we know it. This is not just a marginal or insignificant fact, informal economies, often at the edge of legality, are today a millionaire business that employs large numbers of people and are becoming a challenge to the established system.

These changes are clearly reflected in the popularity rankings of the UK’s supermarkets. While Aldi was voted Britain’s favourite supermarket in 2014, upmarket retailers Waitrose and Marks & Spencer came in second and third respectively. One of the best manifestations at the low cost end is the hype surrounding German discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl or the meteoric rise of Poundland discount store. But discount retail doesn’t mean low quality or cheap products, for example, Danish discount retailer Tiger offers stylish own-branded products in a fun environment at very low prices. At the other end of the spectrum, the growing market for luxury outlets, off-prices and rack stores is developing as consumers continue hunting for bargains – in the US more than half of all Saks stores are now outlets and Macy will introduce this year the Backstage off-price to enter in the competitive discount business

Growing a personal business and retail on eBay has never been easier – users can apply for credit loans to grow their eBay shop through Kabbage, with just a click using eBay and PayPal data to qualify for the loan. The market rules are being pushed not only by new forms of trading but also by alternative currencies. Bitcoin, the popular digital currency, allows users to instantly pay from everywhere and at any time without the intervention of a financial entity. For example, Berlin has its very own Bitcoinkiez (bitcoin neighbourhood) and consumers can spend their cryptocurrency at all sorts of retailers, ranging from restaurants and bars to shops in many locations.

T raditional models are converging with new technologies generating new and sometimes unexpected phenomena


Subscription models Pioneered by magazines and newspapers, the subscription purchase model (consumers pay a subscription fee to access intangible products such as online content for a predetermined period of time), is now beginning to transcend the digital boundaries and manifest in the physical world. Brands and retailers benefit because they are assured a predictable and constant revenue stream from subscribed individuals for the duration of the agreement whilst also reducing the uncertainty and risk of the business. Consumers may find subscriptions a convenient way to save money if they buy a product on a regular basis and for repeated delivery of the product or service, the customer also saves time. The healthy food and snack delivery business is one of the industries that has successfully adopted this model as a profitable business. Hello Fresh is a subscription service that saves people time, reduces waste and makes it easier for consumers to eat fresh food every day. NatureBox offers a monthly membership that includes full-snack bags delivered to your door. Clothing and fashion retail has also started embracing this model – underwear brand MeUndies offers monthly auto-pilot subscription with built-in price reductions and hassle-free delivery and FabKids offers monthly renewable membership for buying children clothes. Men’s grooming is also thriving with Dollar Shave Club (razors and grooming monthly supplies) and Manpacks (men’s toiletries and clothing essentials). Even pet dogs can get their favourite food delivered through a subscription service from Bark Box.

Disruptive Retail

Circular economy Consumers all over the world, especially among developed societies, are starting to adopt more conscious shopping habits to evade excessive consumption, waste production and over-production. This behaviour is shifting towards a circular economy based on recycle, re-use and exchange as trading pillars. Some brands and manufactures are already producing durable goods to be restorative, keeping components and products in use for longer. Renting, hiring, second hand shopping and express rental are at the core of this consumer behaviour. Barters, swap fairs and car boot sales have been around for a very long time and never completely disappeared, in fact they are now being boosted by technology and social media. U-Exchange.com is one of the most popular and largest global networks for bartering and swapping. Amazon’s second-hand market for digital objects is a system patented in 2013 that allows consumers to re-sell digital purchases such as e-books, software and mp3 albums. Dutch denim brand Mud Jeans upcycle and recycle the garments they design and sell – the old jeans are transformed into unique vintage denim or recycled into a sweater or other product. Coloristiq, is the UK's first, multi-brand, online rental service for nail polishes – their objective is to avoid dried up and unused nail polish from being wasted and for consumers to enjoy a variety of colours at an affordable price.

Implications for brands Needs & Desires Which consumer needs and desires does ‘Disruptive Retail’ address? –– F inding alternatives way to save money. –– New retailing models that adapt to consumers situations and context. –– Adapting traditional ways of shopping with new technologies. –– International shopping and trading solutions. –– Mass retail and alternative shopping to coexist and complement creating new spaces and dynamics. Changes & Expectations Why is ‘Disruptive Retail’ emerging now? What’s changing? What expectations are created by these changes? –– A daptive approach to target consumers based on their mixed polarised consumption of premium and budget products. –– Brands assuring profits and building a permanent clientele through subscription retail models. –– Consumers increasing adoption of a circular mindset. –– Adapting to new and disruptive economic changes and retailing environments. –– Technology facilitating a new purchasing ecosystem. Inspiration & Innovation How are brands/businesses applying ‘Disruptive Retail’? –– B uy any product, from anywhere in one place (i.e. eBay global and holistic ecosystem). –– Adaptive platforms from emerging markets (i.e. Alibaba, Chinese e-commerce company that provides consumer-toconsumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals). –– Bitcoin wallets and payment applications (i.e. Coinbase, BitPay). –– Successful bitcoin merchants (i.e. Overstock.com and Expedia.com). –– Flexible subscription services (i.e. Flavourly, gourmet food delivered monthly).


Tips on ‘Disruptive Retail’ behaviour –– Trading systems such as fairs, second hand or non-monetary consumption can be sources of inspiration. Introduce innovative partnering strategies with alternative businesses and the implementation of new technologies such as apps, social media activations or gaming. –– Embrace new and alternative ways of retailing. Drive innovation and incorporate novelty to your communication, especially among younger consumers – exploration, new and unconventional trading models are becoming trendy and popular among them. –– Understand the peculiarities of the markets your brand or business is trading in and incorporate local elements in order to fit their culture. Always be ready to adapt, the competition and threat does not always come directly from competitors but also from unexpected consumer dynamics. –– Provide the option of subscription services to your products. The communication through this channel can be far more regular and you can build a much deeper and closer relationship with your customers. –– Accept different payment processes such as bitcoins and digital wallets through your e-commerce or physical store. Capture an emerging market of new customers who are looking for places to spend their alternative currencies/use virtual payment methods. –– Create customer value and meaningful competitive advantage in today's dynamic marketplace. Explore different inventive and creative ways of mapping the customer experience ecosystem. Brand and e-commerce websites can work collaboratively and both be part of the journey and destination, driving traffic and customer’s experiences from each other.

References

Statistics

Kabbage loans for small businesses using eBay and PayPal

85% of shoppers that use discount stores plan to keep using them, even if their finances improve. The discount market is worth £7.5 billion now – and that figure is expected to grow by 65% by 2017.

Bitcoinkiez, Berlin’s own bitcoin Aldi, Britain’s favourite supermarket in 2014 Poundland popular discount store Tiger, stylish own-branded discount products Saks’ outlets stores Macy’s Backstage off-price NatureBox full-snack subscription delivery MeUndies monthly autopilot subscription

Canvas8, 2015

By 2015, 35% of Global 2000 companies with non-media digital products will generate incremental revenue of 5% to 10% through subscription-based services and revenue models. Gartner Research

FabKids buy children clothes membership Dollar Shave Club men’s grooming monthly supply Bark Box pet dog food delivery subscription U-Exchange.com bartering global network Amazon’s secondary market for digital objects Mud Jeans upcycle and recycle Coloristiq, nail polishes online rental

If you bought $25 worth of Bitcoin four years ago, today, you’d be sitting on $750,000. Canvas8, Rewiring The Economy

The adoption of a circular economy offers considerable economic benefits – it is estimated that the global value of resource efficiency could eventually reach $3.7 trillion per year. McKinsey, Infrastructure productivity: how to save $1 trillion per year, 2013

UK consumers have around £30 billion worth of clothes which they haven’t worn for a year hanging in their wardrobes. A third of all clothes end up in landfill, which is bad for the environment and bad value for money. There are significant opportunities to generate an estimated revenue of £140 million (by making more use of these clothes through re-use and other routes such as upcycling and recycling which will benefit businesses, consumers and the environment).


WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), UK’s lead body on resource efficiency

Points of View What the experts think



Alex Hole UK Director Amazon Media Group

Holistic and seamless shopping experiences to engage consumers

A

B Amazon’s seamless shopping experiences from any device: A. Tablet app B. Smartphone app C. Kindle e-reader D. Shopping app for Apple watch


There’s a lot of discussion and data globally about how consumer use of mobile devices is changing the overall shopping experience. And whilst change is inevitable, at Amazon, we also like to look at things that will stay the same. For example, our customers will always want lower prices, greater selection and more convenience (whether they’re on a PC, mobile or tablet). So we continuously innovate along those dimensions – and that’s also true for the advertising experiences we create. We also believe invention often comes in the form of simplification. Customers reward great experiences, and the best experiences can be really simple. With customer experience at the centre of our strategy, we see mobiles (or any device) as an entry point to Amazon. And once customers are here, we need to provide them with great and seamless shopping experiences. For mobile, our goal is to give customers the ability to go from ‘I need that’ to ‘I bought that’ in under 30 seconds. Our customers love shopping on a mobile device. So much so that nearly 60 percent of Amazon.com customers shopped using a mobile device this past holiday, and total holiday sales from the Amazon app for smartphones doubled in 2014 in the U.S. Done well, mobile allows customers to purchase at the exact moment of desire, wherever they are. And we see customers buying the whole variety of what Amazon has on mobile. We’ve sold engagement rings, bicycles, razor blades and apparel via mobile devices. Within that, there’s a big opportunity to connect advertisers with customers, on mobile, in the right ways. At Amazon Media Group we’re working to build something we feel is truly compelling for both customers and advertisers on mobile.

Customers don’t have a ‘device’ strategy – they have a shopping strategy. They use devices interchangeably throughout the day, according to what’s most convenient for them at the time. We encourage marketers to think the same way – to create holistic experiences and campaigns rather than device-specific programmes. We’ve seen that campaigns spanning more than one screen perform an average of 18 percent better for advertisers than campaigns running on PC only. But it’s still early. We’re big believers in testing and learning, and are excited to see advertisers extending their campaigns across our platform. The more cross-screen campaigns we do, the more we all learn about how we can most effectively execute these programmes to find optimal customer/advertiser experiences. One example of a lesson we learned can be seen in the release of our e-commerce ads for mobile campaigns. We have had great success with these ads on PC, and began testing them on mobile. We integrated familiar, relevant Amazon shopping features – such as ‘Customer Ratings and Reviews’ or ‘Add to Basket’, ‘Add to Wish List’, or ‘Subscribe and Save’ buttons – right into display advertising units, making it simple for customers to engage with and purchase advertisers’ products on Amazon. We now offer these ads at scale on our owned and operated mobile and PC properties as well as across the web via Amazon Advertising Platform. And the results from consumers interacting with these units persist across devices. So, if you add a product to your Amazon basket or set up a ‘Subscribe and Save’ order from an ad you see on your computer, it’s still there when you go to complete the purchase later on your mobile. We typically see these units perform 20 to 30 percent better across key metrics compared to standard ad units, showing that when you obsess over delivering the right customer experience, both customers and advertisers truly win.

C


D

Finlay Clark Industry Head Retail Google UK

Instant gratification is key A


Google Express, what consumers want: A. Same day/overnight delivery B. Shop online from local stores C. Your shopping at your door

B

C

Omnichannel has become a buzzword in retail for good reason. New technologies and better data bring the long-time dream of a unified cross-channel shopping experience within reach. This is good for consumers, whose expectations have risen in recent years. Tim Berners-Lee, one of the original inventors of the Internet, has emphatically described the new consumer in town as the new WWW: what we want, when we want it, where we want it. And increasingly it’s the retailers who are catering to the needs of this consumer who are leading. Customers demand instant gratification – they want to ‘think’ and ‘have’ instantly. That’s why same day delivery and click+collect are here to stay. John Lewis shoppers can order online from among 200,000 products for free delivery to their local store or one of the 218 Waitrose branches. The opportunity cost of not having a slick process to get your products into customers’ hands is severe – 44% of people abandon their online carts due to shipping times. The battle for the final mile has some distance left to run. Google Express, a partnership we’re running with a number of American retailers offers same day delivery to over 7 million people across seven US cities – delivering everything from groceries and alcohol to toys and apparel.

Amazon might even be taking it one step further, having registered a patent for “anticipatory shipping” earlier in the year which suggests that the online retailer might take its already efficient supply chain and amp it up another notch by boxing and preparing for shipment orders that customers haven’t placed yet. But it’s not just Amazon who are betting on the future, 2014 has seen a significant rise in the trend for retailers investing heavily in R&D, with the likes of Tesco, Zappos, Lowe’s, Westfield, Nordstrom and Walmart all having dedicated innovation labs where a small group of employees have license to think like a startup and prototype early. But maybe we should be looking east for inspiration on where retail’s heading. Alibaba is predicted to become the world’s largest retail platform in 2015, bigger than Walmart. On ‘Singles Day’ in China – the ‘antiValentine’s Day’ – Alibaba’s sales exceeded US$9.3bn in a day, up 60% YoY and 43% of sales came from smartphones. To put that figure in context, sales for Cyber Monday, the United States’ own national day of online shopping madness, totalled a comparatively paltry US$1.735bn in 2013.


Analysts predict that China’s e-commerce market will be bigger than the existing markets in America, Britain, Japan, Germany and France combined by 2020. Which is no surprise why an ever-increasing number of retailers are looking abroad to grow. Research that Google did in collaboration with the OC&C Strategy Consultants, shows that cross-border online trade for six of the biggest e-commerce markets is expected to grow fivefold over the next seven years, from US$25bn in 2013 to US$130bn in 2020. By the end of the decade, retailers are expected to see significant volume coming from international sales, with many retailers likely to seek additional pockets in emerging markets with lots of new internet users – as they find that existing markets are saturated. There’s no doubt that retail is going through a huge period of disruption and technology is at the heart of the change. The old borders have gone, geographical borders are not what they were and the boundaries between online and offline are reducing every day. The winners are those who are thinking big, innovating fast, acting like disrupters and behaving agnostically across channels to make it easier for the customer and, ultimately, giving us consumers what we want.

Mike Lynskey Retail Industry Market Development Manager Microsoft UK

Retail Evolution

Retail is an ever changing world and there is constant evolution so I absolutely see more change ahead. We have seen some wonderful, innovative advances in digital technology over the past few years and these promise to spark more opportunity. Innovations such as dynamic displays, gesture interaction, augmented reality, biometrics and, more recently, beacons have all shown how they can add value to the consumer experience. I see wearable technology as the next big innovation to provide rapid growth and is poised to revolutionise retail, marketing and the associated markets of both fitness and healthcare.

New Experiences

In the UK we have a high number of mobile users and with in-store internet access increasingly provided by retailers to customers there is a real synthesis of virtual and physical shopping. Piecing together the customer journeys is a fundamental driver for differentiation and as important in physical stores as it is in the digital engagement with customers. Many retailers have the ambition of offering a truly personalised experience but in order to deliver this they must have an infrastructure of connected stores, systems and online assets. Shopping is no longer a linear experience, but there are now many touch points and influence points on the customer journey. Organisations that embrace the ecosystem and realise that the power of their network is only amplified through connection to others will thrive whilst those that cling to the fictional notion of the ‘walled garden’ will fall by the wayside as we have seen with so many brands that were once thought of as permanent features in our high streets. There are no organisational islands in the digital world. Your competitor and all their competitors are in your customers pocket as they contemplate a choice in your world. Microsoft’s own vision is a reflection of this synthesis of digital and physical wrapped around our core values and focused on the delivery of high value experiences to our customers.


Online Fatigue

The online purchasing process has grown increasingly complex with the explosion of choice. Social networks provide a rich source of recommendations and a plethora of price comparison. Review and voucher sites add to the information overload associated with a typical online purchase. This explosion in consumer choice is happening despite retailer’s attempts to ringfence their customers in artificial boundaries of assumed brand loyalties.

S hopping is no longer a linear experience Online fatigue, fuelled by choice and information overload, often leads to the consumer giving up or choosing the easiest option to hand with an existing account just to put an end to the painful process itself. Time-consuming new customer registration and the overhead of managing yet more online identities are also drivers of fatigue and abandoned baskets.

Getting Engaged!

At the core of every business is the people. Fully engaging the workforce and ensuring a motivated, knowledgeable and involved community is actively supporting the brand is mission critical. With great advances in communications, devices and cloud based services this gives the capacity to put real knowledge and power in the hands of the sellers, at the right place and right time – in real time. Today’s powerful business productivity tools are better suited than ever before to enable the seamless shopping experience whilst gaining operational efficiencies by generating relevant, deeper insights across the business.

Anita Caras Head of Global Consumer Insights and Advertising Partnerships Microsoft

Personalisation and the blending of physical and digital experiences n The Consumer Decision Journey: Retail, study conducted by the Microsoft Advertising Consumer Insights team, two major themes emerged: the first is ‘the blurring of the digital with the physical retail environment’. While many retailers still separate brick and mortar from online retail channels, consumers see the two as connected, and they expect to feel that connection throughout their decision journey. By taking the showroom beyond the walls of the physical store by making functional information and more emotional experiences accessible on the go you can win the hearts and minds of the consumer and not lose them in the hand-off from digital to physical worlds. This taps into one of Microsoft’s Digital Trends named ‘Enhancing The Real’ – in fact Millennials place more on value experiences over possessions and hence focusing on enjoyment, bringing a sense of the theatrical to the store could drive further interest and loyalty.

W e need to move beyond basic targeting, tracking and demographic segmentation

The second theme is ‘the increasing desire for personalisation’. Fifty years ago, consumers were able to go to their local green grocer, butchers, pharmacy and department stores and were ‘known’: sales associates would call them by name, inquire about their children, provide personalised assistance and even follow up with thank-you notes after their customers had left the store. Today, only the most high-end apparel shopping services offer anything close to a personalised experience, and even then, any pre-shopping that occurs online isn’t carried through to the retail environment. But now arguably, retailers have more tools at their disposal than ever before to improve upon even our grandmothers’ hyper local and deeply personalised retail experiences. As an industry, we need to move beyond basic targeting, tracking and demographic segmentation to drive deeper, permissioned engagement with consumers, where we deliver valuable and personal experiences in and out of the store (tapping into another of Microsoft’s Digital Trends ‘Value Me’). An example of these insights in action is in our Christmas campaign work with the UK retailer John Lewis. John Lewis is famous for its compelling Christmas ad campaigns. Who could forget the Snowman’s epic journey two years ago, or the boy who couldn’t wait for Christmas to give his parents a gift? With our latest venture, Microsoft’s creative technologists, worked with John Lewis and their media/creative agencies to create Monty’s Magical Toy Machine, a breakthrough, immersive in-shop experience in the John Lewis flagship store on Oxford Street in London, bringing the iconic John Lewis Christmas campaign to life by enabling toys to come alive using a Kinect 2-enabled 3D interactive.


The Microsoft core team pitched ideas on how to create something spectacular to embody this year’s screen story of the unique relationship between a child and a toy. Their goal was simple: to give people goose bumps. They wanted to make the magic of makebelieve tangible, so it had to be groundbreaking. In this instance, they wanted to take the core idea of the John Lewis advert – toys coming alive – from the screen to the British high street and make it real. The long process of trial and error began with scanning a real toy with Kinect technology, mapping it to create a surface representation (mesh), then adding in texture and colour. The team then brought in a photogrammetry expert who created perfect 3D images for the team to work with. This is not so dissimilar to how bullet time was created in The Matrix films and we used a comparable camera array to capture a 3D object in space. The beauty of Monty’s Magical Toy Machine is that children can bring their favourite toys in store where they will be scanned using innovative photogrammetry technology, before appearing on screen as a moving, lifelike 3D image. This interactive digital replica then magically dances for the child, creating a truly memorable retail experience and the perfect opportunity for a selfie! This media first campaign perfectly supported the latest John Lewis Christmas advert, Monty’s Christmas, which reminds us of the magic of Christmas through a child’s eyes! The outcome is a blend of the digital and physical, capturing the consumers’ imagination and creating a highly personalised and customised journey which consumers crave.

Bryan Roberts Retail Insights Director Kantar Retail, EMEA

The future of European FMCG retailing The key trends that are set to reshape consumers, shoppers, retailers and channels in the region can be bucketed into three questions: Who, Where and How? Who: For consumer/shopper the main impacts will be delivered by the ongoing polarisations between the haves and have-nots, the ageing of the population and the growth of religious diversity. All of these are impacting which products are bought and how they are purchased: we’ve seen supermarkets react to these trends through the development of economy private label and the launch of discount concepts, the development of store features for older shoppers, the implementation of seasonal campaigns for Ramadan and Diwali and the development of World Foods capabilities.

Where: It is already becoming clear that shoppers are radically changing the way that they shop, which is already creating destabilisation within retailers and channels. Urbanisation is a massive trend that has seen huge innovation in urban store concepts and e-commerce development. E-commerce itself, while already a significant channel in the UK, will develop rapidly across the rest of Europe. Within e-commerce, the growth of Amazon it is worth to mention. It will enter new geographies, expand into new categories and relentlessly innovate to capture a much bigger share of European FMCG. The discount channel is another that will continue to gain in importance. Despite reaching near saturation point in some markets, the growth of discount remains exponential in other countries and it is no surprise to see a growing number of suppliers proactively formulate strategies to win with discount customers. Finally, these headwinds are creating a phenomenon we refer to as customer growth divergence: big customers are no longer growth customers, and growth is often being delivered by smaller retailers with idiosyncratic business models. Simply put, growth is coming from uncomfortable places.

rowth is often G being delivered by smaller retailers with idiosyncratic business models


How: The turbulence in the retail sector is causing retailers (and suppliers) to reassess how to sell to shoppers. The ongoing emergence of mobile as a selling and marketing platform is still in its infancy and we envisage huge levels of development over the next five years as information, data, instore navigation, shopper activation and payment all converge into the palm of a shopper’s hand. As evidenced by news in the UK supermarket industry in 2014, the issue of promotional overreliance is a significant one. Retailers that rely on promotional money for profitability are generally doing their shoppers a disservice and suppliers buying market share are not necessarily creating sustainable advantage either. Will the industry be able to wean itself off the promotional drug by 2020? We will see. Finally, and this is something that both retailers and suppliers are grappling with, the conundrum of effectively selling to shoppers in smaller stores is becoming a real issue as the ongoing decline of the hypermarket is counterbalanced by the growth in convenience retailing.

Bernardo Cordero Country Manager Linio Mexico

Alternative paying solutions and personal contact for e-commerce success E-commerce, as it has in other countries, is transforming the way people shop in Mexico. This can be seen clearly in the numbers: the e-commerce has grown over 40% in the country in each of the last couple of years. At Linio we see ourselves as the leaders who are shaping the industry in Mexico, so we want to provide mechanisms for our customers to have unique experiences while purchasing the products they are looking for. In terms of the basic ecosystem in Mexico, online shopping will continue to develop together with more banking penetration, a growth in online connectivity and optimised logistics. For those online, shopping will continue to evolve to be more mobile and more social. Today we already receive more than 30% of our customers via mobile and it will be more than 60% in the coming months. Furthermore, the biggest changes over the next few years will come from the use of information to enhance customers shopping experience. Today physical stores and most online stores offer one purchase experience for their customers, but as we continue to understand how people prefer to shop, we will no longer think in just one experience and service but rather a personalised one. When we launched Linio in Mexico, e-commerce was not a new idea, but the way people shop was clearly different. We now see these differences even across the different Latin American countries where we are present.

In each country people shop for different types of products, different brands and at different price points. Payments is another challenge as – culturally in Mexico – we are more careful to use credit cards online, so at Linio we had to develop alternative payment methods which allow our customers to pay at offline establishments or to the delivery person when receiving the package. Another big cultural difference we found is that in Mexico we tend to respond more to personal contact, so we have relied more heavily on a large customer service and telesales team instead of a complete online hands-off solution. We believe the reluctance to use credit cards online will quickly change as more shoppers become accustomed to purchasing online and as the large online retailers such as Linio continue to gain the trust of shoppers. We will continue to offer alternative payment methods in order to bring online shopping to everyone in Latin America. In the countries where we operate shopping has been the same for several decades. We are transforming the industry and creating the benefits of online shopping to Latin America. We can’t know for sure where technology will lead us in the coming years, but what we do know is that Linio will be leading the industry as we continue to break barriers.


We believe the reluctance to use credit cards online will quickly change as more shoppers become accustomed to purchasing online

Eric Fergusson Head of Retail Services, OrderDynamics

Those who make revolution half way only dig their own graves Saint-Juste comment of the quietly forgotten (outside of France) Parisian revolution of 1871.

Whilst so far less bloody than the bloody week in Paris of May 1871, the revolution in retail has been running for much longer and has seen a good number of casualties along the way. However, we are unlikely to see a steady and stable new regime, and that change will continue at increasing pace making those who continue to innovate and invest be the best placed to pull through. Notably, we are in an era where the customer is in the ascendancy, from passive participant to active and authoritative leader. We have seen the emergence of the following, which will only increase in their importance – as they become standardised customer expectations: 1. More delivery methods. It’s not just a debate as to whether you offer free delivery on 3-5 day service for orders over £50. It is a much more sophisticated and challenging scenario including (and no doubt more) next day, Sunday, Saturday, 3-5 days, named day, 30 minute time window, 1 hour delivery within M25, etc. coupled with a shift of delivery from home address to work address. All of which need to be married to appropriate picking priorities and stock pools. 2. More product choice and the ability to customise your product. Customers not only expect full availability, but they expect more choice; be it style, colour, size or fundamental product and, in many instances, the opportunity to personalise. The emergence of Amazon and drop-ship partners facilitates the supply, but it does not make the sale and merchandising task any simpler.

3. More purchase channels. First it was stores, then catalogues, then field agents, then call centres, then television, then websites, then tablets and now mobiles (or was it the other way around?). Crucially, retailers recognise that they can no longer treat these in isolation – it’s too costly in terms of separate stock pools and poor customer experience. 4. More technology choices. A website was once little more than a database of content married to a checkout. Now you might need video, ratings, recommendations, reviews, fitting guides, basket abandonment, 360-degree imagery, online chat, fraud check, enhanced content, address checker to name but a small number of options. Where do you best prioritise your investment? What are you trying to solve? Can you future proof, and if so, how? When you add international opportunities, these pressures drive only one outcome: the requirement to serve customers better, with a more relevant and personalised offer. To succeed, retailers not only require the right answer to the above topics, but the ability to answer the ever evolving list of big topics. This is required to ensure a retailer can profitably serve each and every customer in the best possible way. This leads us to the Place de la Bastille of our time, or Big Data.


Retailers must unpick the opportunities that hide between systems, channels and departments. We call this the ‘ghost economy’, the lost revenue and profit hidden from every day reports. These opportunities will grow in aggregate, but be harder to find as the world gets more diverse. However, we have perhaps begun to see leaders, such as Neiman Marcus, Brook Brothers and Victoria Secret look to uncover the following: 1. Where have I lost a sale because there is no stock in that locale/store, but where it could have been fulfilled from other stock? 2. Where am I spending paid search terms on products that have low or partial availability, and consequently are less likely to sell? 3. Where have I a loyal, female customer who shops for her husband’s birthday on an annual basis who buys two weeks in advance and requires a targeted promotion? It will be this ability to champion data to target customers at a single unit, to identify the lost opportunities across the business that will ultimately drive the victories of the future. I would like to end with another of SaintJust’s sayings: “it is time we laboured for the happiness of our people”, for whether we like it or not, the tide has turned

Mauricio Oppenheimer General Manager Punta Carretas Shopping, Uruguay

Technology as a great business opportunity It is more and more evident that retail companies are incorporating new technologies to analyse and improve their context. Some, for example, are placing devices in store windows in order to track the flow of people passing in front of a shop. This technology allows to measure variables such as the conversion rate between flow and people entering the store and between people who entered the store and the number of purchases. It can also help to understand why some people didn’t buy. This type of software provides retailers with a more effective business information management. Today, thanks to mobile apps and social media, retailers can build a one-to-one relationship with customers. This requires looking beyond the massive segment and designing personalised strategies. Technology offers the tools needed to achieve this personal approach, opening direct communication channels with audiences. The result is not only valuable information for the market but also a great business opportunity. Consumer’s shopping habits are being transformed, they are always adopting and developing new ways of purchasing. The omnichannel consumer is forcing retailers to be present in different channels in a dynamic and complementary way. They are expected to adapt to new consumption habits. We could say that e-commerce, for example, is the modern version of sales catalogues becoming more active, attractive and dynamic.

Although we are witnessing a multiplication of sales channels, it doesn’t mean that some will completely replace the others. On the contrary, they will coexist in combination and simultaneously. Purchasing in a physical store is more about the sensorial experience and the gratification of instant buying. Digital shopping is motivated by other factors such as the simplicity of browsing the web, quick and easy payments, and the availability of detailed information about each product. People will keep going to shopping malls and e-commerce will keep growing but what changes in the shopping experience is now related to the context and product involved.

T he key is to apply creativity and adaptability to technology Mobile can be integrated to shopping in two different ways: directly in the purchase action or in the whole shopping experience through apps. Generally, shopping apps are created as an attempt to help customers in the shopping journey. As a way of simplifying and saving time, Punta Carretas Shopping created a geolocation app for customers to quickly find the closest entry in the mall and free parking spaces. The key is to apply creativity and adaptability to technology in order to create and take advantage of opportunities.


For managers running a shopping mall, it is very important to understand that their role is not just related to sales and stores but also to the shopping mall as a media channel. Five years ago advertising in malls was mainly traditional billboards and posters. Today most of them are digital, allowing activation, movement and colour, generating a new and more attractive impact on consumers. The digital revolution is forcing retailers to reinvent ourselves as advertisers and media channels. Micro-segmentation is another trend affecting the shopping mall context. Some years ago they were ‘generic’ big stores targeted to a wide socioeconomic and age demographic, aiming to attract as many customers as they could. But as consumers become more sophisticated and demanding, the personality of shopping malls gains relevance. Now they have to differentiate themselves, targeting a specific socioeconomic level, family role or shopping profile. It became a must to develop an attractive and unique identity. If previously it was enough being just a shopping mall, today we have to incorporate content and personalisation. When customers visit a shopping mall they are now expecting to be surprised and encounter some novelty. Consumers today have higher expectations than ever before and retail experiences have become all about the detail.

Gustavo Sambucetti E-commerce Subdirector Walmart Argentina

Time, information and personalisation: the challenges of the new consumer behaviour

The main challenge retailers are facing today is the need to adapt to new consumers habits which are being triggered by three elements. The first one is ‘the re-evaluation of time’, consumers are increasingly having less and less time available or they decide to invest it on activities related to gratification and pleasure. The second is the ‘asymmetry of information about products’, meaning that consumers know more about certain products than the seller or producer itself. Finally, ‘the expectation of personalisation’ from consumers who, especially in services, are demanding customised shopping offers. At the same time, there are important changes going on in the commercialisation channels. Brands that are usually retailer’s suppliers are adding new channels to commercialise their products in a direct method, mainly through e-commerce and marketplaces. Amazon, Walmart in US or Brazil and MercadoLibre in Latin America are examples of new ways of commercialisation (marketplaces), offering providers not only the access to millions of consumers but also additional services such as online payment, logistic and marketing. For the consumers, these platforms enable the access to a variety and unlimited amount of products. Given all these new conditions, retailers are facing the challenge to redefine their value both for customers and suppliers.


When we think about the global or local trends that are affecting the retail environment – in particularly supermarkets – we have to mention ‘proximity shopping’, with consumers opting for smaller spaces. Many supermarkets have been transforming their format mix prioritising small stores located in busy areas over larger one. Another relevant trend is the ‘omnichannel experience’ in which shoppers are immersed today, integrating physical stores, website and mobile in the same shopping experience. The division between the online and offline world is a challenge that exists only from the business perspective – the consumer interacts with a brand and not with a channel in particular. ASDA (Walmart’s supermarket in England) is an example of omnichannel experiences combining different formats: physical stores, online channels and apps for price comparison and purchase. The last trend would be the use of ‘business intelligence technology’ to deliver personalised offers based on the shopper’s shipping history, preferences and previous purchases. All these global trends can impact in different ways depending on the market or country in which they take place. In Argentina and most of Latina American countries, these phenomena coexist with the growth and expansion of informal channels. This, forces retailers to look for an inclusive proposal combining worthy shopping experiences with low operation costs in order to be competitive and attractive for the base of the pyramid. Technology also plays a fundamental role, since penetration of internet and mobile connections are high and in constant growth in Latin America.

Rabih Soueidi Research and Modelling Director Mindshare MENA

How replaceable is your brand? s consumers, we all know how confusing supermarket shelves are these days. Today’s retail environment is rapidly changing. The complexity of choosing a brand, when bombarded by products, is making it far tougher to achieve impact on-shelf. On average, shoppers only spend between five seconds and two minutes choosing products, and this varies by category. When standing 60 centimetres away from a typical shelf layout multiple emotional and physical factors come into play. Our research shows that for some products the selection of brands is based on heuristic choice (i.e. shoppers choose the same brand through force of habit, while in other categories more complex psychological processes are triggered). For example, heuristics is common in a category like instant coffee. Most consumers choose their usual brand with scarcely a second glance at the shelf and the total time taken on the decision is unlikely to exceed a few seconds. But for a more involving category, like chocolate, majority of people tend to ‘try’ something new (such as new flavours), and this evidently involves decisions and time. The findings show that almost half of all shoppers plan what products they will buy, the percentage varying between markets. For instance, it is around 40% in Jordan and Tunisia but 60% in Saudi and UAE. Moreover, there are enormous differences in the type of category people plan to buy. While personal care products are usually well-planned (i.e. shampoo, soaps, etc.), biscuits are bought on impulse (more than 60% of us will buy them on the spur of the moment – across all markets).

However, our intentions are frequently not borne out in practice. Our research shows that on average across all categories over one third of MENA consumers (35%) actually buy a completely different brand as a direct result of tempting offers and promotions, new variants or flavours, or some other kind of in-store activation or sampling. And there are some categories where this is particularly prevalent – salty snacks for example. In the UAE and Lebanon, up to 30% of shoppers switch brands due to promotion. In Kuwait and Tunisia fruit juice is similarly dynamic, 25% of shoppers switch when faced with new variants or flavours. Distribution should also be a major worry for brand owners. A fifth of eventual purchases are driven by the original brand simply being unavailable on shelf or out of stock (the figures range between 18% in Tunisia to 23% in Saudi). On a more positive note, one out of three consumers do profess loyalty. They claim they would not exchange their brand for an alternative – even if their first choice is unavailable. This proportion varies significantly depending on the category. 60% of people in Saudi, Kuwait and UAE always buy the same brand of instant coffee, and a similar share buy shaving and grooming products in Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan. But for categories where product differentiation is typically a struggle, such as tissues and milk, loyalty falls to 10% and 16%, respectively. In short, too many brands are easily replaced by an alternative. In general, people are easily persuaded to switch due to impulse behaviour and as a result of promotion at point of sale.


If marketers and advertisers do not invest the time and effort to gear the shopper decisionmaking processes in favour of their brand, and they do not provide any stimulus to trigger purchase, then the message from consumers is loud and clear: we’ll buy something else.

ne out of three O consumers do profess loyalty Bear in mind that today’s consumer is far better informed, has much wider choice, has higher expectations, is less trusting and is far more prepared to take control. The wise marketer takes these factors on board and actively plans not only to win the battle for hearts and minds but also to compete fiercely for the last 60 centimetres of the journey. Source ‘OOHA Shoppers’ is a shopper marketing focused study conducted in 6 markets in the MENA region to understand the variance in behaviour across different categories and markets.

Pedro Casquinha Group Chief Marketing Officer Al Yasra Group, Middle East

Shifting towards augmented offers and the challenges of disruptive experiences How do you see shopping in the next 5 years? How is it going to evolve? Do you foresee any radical changes? PC: Shopping is, and will remain in the coming years, one of the most important pillars of consumer self-expression and creativity. However, posing to all the market ‘actors’ much higher demands as far as engagement is concerned, the offering of trendy, secular or well-located concepts will actually no longer be requisites that ensure success. The thought derives from a new shopping reality, much more judgment-oriented as opposed to process-focused, whereby customer is in a greater state of uncertainty and harder decision making. Digital tools available to compare and contrast as well as the power of influencers trigger the need to constantly be abreast of the ‘hypest’ and latest. We see future trends in shopping increasingly shifting to an augmented offer from product to experience and personalised service and advice regardless of the category you are in. Customer journeys become much longer starting in the screen of your smartphone, checking community tips about that item or brand and following the profile of those who endorse it. All this even before a journey is decided to the physical store. ew trends will also come in the form of N permanent cherry-picking of locations, products and items, favouring clearly those that offer the extra, unique touch of personalisation (peer pressure and show off rule!). Retailers will face new challenges to know, entice and engage their customers as CRM, data mining, social media tracking will not be an option, but a pre-requisite to play the game.


Therefore, we anticipate for the coming years the full bloom of the native digital shoppers, equipped with purchasing means and information, the low tolerance towards those retailers that frustrate the ‘nowness’ desire of shoppers as well as a preference towards concepts that socially stand for something beyond products. A harder, but certainly more exciting call for everyone. What are your observations with regards to cultural differences in the way people shop in your country/region or at a global level? PC: Shopping in the Gulf region is a social, highly appreciated habit, not a chore or a necessity. We do not expect any changes to this behaviour, but rather a better prepared shopper that builds on information availability and informal social networking. The rising power of the Arab woman consumer is an unstoppable shaping force: as they balance their adherence to tradition with a desire for modernity, they’re creating a multibillion dollar market opportunity for companies that can reach them once they understand their needs and desires, the vital role of family and children (‘the best is not enough for the ones I love’) and that shopping is a social activity initiated on countless Instagram posts. Our consumer in this region is brand savvy, discerning and educated, know what she/he wants and demands the best, the newest and the rarest: eager for the latest trend, obsessed by novelty and fetching for uniqueness. The fashion scene for example is vibrant and – with the world’s most famous brands at hand – many are the ones eager to make their trendy statement, adding a local flavour to international trends.

We are also witnessing the rise of a new generation of creators, designers and entrepreneurs that are taking their heritage and mixing it with a wise look on modernity. These are typically travelled people that frequently have an international education who, proud of their origins, decided to return and make a difference in their homeland with new retail concepts. Clearly the notion of ‘newness’ is well funded by some of the highest consumer purchasing powers in the world and the existence of temporary pop-up retail offers looks like a very welcome proposal by the local shopper.

Customer journeys become much longer starting in the screen of your smartphone, checking community tips about that item or brand and following the profile of those who endorse it

What are the current shopping trends you see that relate to your business and how you see this evolving? PC: When OnTime – a leading fashionable watches and accessories retail chain in the region – decided to transform itself into The Timestylists concept, it became clear that watches, mostly a statement-making device about style, had to be managed with a much greater sense of fashion counselling and style personalisation. Hence this retailer set it out in every store brand visuals, sales staff and touch-points to be the ultimate style advisor, the one that knows you well to find the best for you. The promise was one of enhancing the ability to find the watch or gift tailor-made to your lifestyle with the best personalised selection in order to take shoppers closer to those who sell and select fashion. The Timestylists completely revamped the store layout towards a more contemporary and cool boutique concept, empowered and heavily trained the staff, making them Senior and Junior Timestylist’. These are in-store associates (stylista) able to relate and communicate with anyone. They understand, know about and can read any fashion/style in the market as soon as the customer enters the store. A proper physical box of tools for these new jobs was created and so were a number of in-store devices such as an innovative ‘sleeve testing tray’: a wooden tray with several sleeve samples that allow the customer to try his\her watch wearing different shirts and coats. This became a simple but unexpected ritual that can help the store experience to last longer and become more memorable.


The example of OnTime – The Timestylists being purely regional, addresses a good part of the new rules of shopping: customer engagement, social trendsetting, enduring concept, valuable, unique and with a sense of exclusivity. All this within an overarching coherence of language and business rigour. Any other observations on the shopping culture? PC: There are, in our point of view, two final additional themes that should require the attention of the business stakeholders from a Gulf region perspective. The first one is the shorter lifecycle of most brands, who are either able to show a genuine wish and ability to ‘localise’ their offering range, push for faster and more abundant ‘new news’ in their portfolio and engage local habits through local social media, or be ready to become futile in shoppers’ minds. Secondly, the role of the store itself which could dangerously move down the value chain ladder from first point of contact to a mere point of pick-up. Once again the primary task of retailers will have to be one of disrupting customers’ thinking and assumptions about the business. The way to do it will be to fundamentally promote the ‘rebirth’ of the store as an exciting, ever changing destination, to create interruption points around and before it and the build-up of the brand atmosphere in the larger area where it is located and never shy away from more frequent and unexpected floor set changes. That will be the tactical answer to the new challenges in the shopping business.

Nicholas Russell CEO We Are Pop Up

Experience is the new currency Since online retail began twenty years ago – what started as a way to sell standardised products such as books — is now a global and dominant force backed up by sophisticated distribution networks and fulfilment infrastructure. This, coupled with digital means of production and computer automation, are fundamentally changing the way we buy and sell things. What we now do in our digital world has a profound effect on what we do in our real world. In the same way that the music industry saw free downloads, file sharing and paid streaming breaking up the industry rules and then paving the way for a much more varied and diverse landscape (which now spans X Factor entertainment to solo careers launched by Kickstarter campaigns), we are seeing an exciting disruption within the retail sector. Customer experiences are changing and, as a result, so are customer expectations and the responses retailers must bring to retain and attract their audience. Innovations have set the bar high for customers’ expectations. Where previously, receiving an online purchase was exceptional, now customers’ expect it same-hour delivery so retailers need to stand out from the crowd and offer exceptional customer service.

More than half of smartphone searchers (55%) visit a business to purchase in store — according to ThinkMobile with Google — and now we even see ‘showrooming’ whereby the physical store drives online sales. So physical stores are still important, and becoming increasingly so, as retailers look for a way to engage with their customers and create meaningful, memorable experiences. To do this, there’s a whole new generation of innovations at retailers’ disposal, to help set them apart from the crowd and retain/ attract customers.

T he collaborations are amazing – there are no barriers and a few boundaries Offline retail can now be tracked and measured in the same way as online — where online customer journeys and experience is captured in the browser then measured and analysed, there are real world equivalents that enable retailers to track from social media through to in-store purchases and even behaviour within a physical store. Swarm, Beacons and a whole new generation of tracking technology is enhancing in-store customer experience and also data on their behaviour. Retailers can use these insights like never before to optimise store layouts, location, marketing and product range, even down to where a product is placed on a shelf.

Every retailer in the UK is a ShopShare Online tools like We Are Pop Up also enables retail innovations like never before. Shops can use ShopShare to rent out a part of their store — from a rail or window display to an entire floor — creating exciting new brand collaborations and retail experiences, using pop-ups as ‘content’ for their shops. At the same time, it also gives smaller and emerging brands the chance to test concepts in the market and be stocked in an existing shop with an established customer base without committing to rent an entire shop.


Currently, we have thousands of upcoming, innovative brands looking for short term retail space. They move quickly, have solid social media followings, and use pop-up retail to experiment and iterate new ideas or products, like the ‘lean start-up’ methodology for tech products. On We Are Pop Up, 30% of shops booked launched within 48 hours over the Christmas period in Q1 2014. Less than two days from finding a space on We Are Pop Up to opening a shop. That’s exciting. And with growth in the pop-up sector forecast to be 2.5 times the UK retail average (147% higher over the period Q2 2014 to Q2 2015) a significantly growing proportion of the UK retail industry is looking to short term retail as a solution to this change in customer expectations (Vision Critical, Cebr analysis, 2013). ShopShare really changed things. We as a company (and probably as a country) spent a lot of time focused on the vacant shop, problem that we often forgot that it is more important to keep shops healthy. If the vacancy rate is 13%, that means 87% of the shops are alive and trading. We Are Pop Up does more than applaud the fact they’re not dead. We ensure they can grow and thrive. ShopShare has enabled hundreds of retailers, boutiques, restaurants, galleries — basically anyone with a high street space — to share space. The collaborations are amazing — there are no barriers and few boundaries. Coffee shops in hair salons. Engagement parties in coffee shops. Bikini shops in travel agencies. Ice cream shops in flower stores. Bridal stores in a homewares shop. Street food in art galleries. Pubs in print shops. Art exhibitions in pubs. The pop-up trend is changing not only the way retailers do business, but also the personality, pace and vibrancy of the high street. In five years, spaces will be created purely for micro-department stores, curated from a fast-paced mix of products, services and experiences in real time.

Charlie Fermor Director Perry Court Farm

Apple crisps and the wonders of online shopping How do you see shopping in the next five years? How is it going to evolve? Do you foresee any radical changes?

What are the current Shopping trends that relates to your business, and how you see this evolving?

CF: The UK is ahead of most countries on Internet shopping, but recent pre-Christmas squeeze on logistics show how fast it’s growing. Food isn’t quite as big on the internet, mainly due to the delivery issues (freshness, damage) and customer decisionmaking on what they want to eat (picking the best quality, favourite brand, discounts, etc.) being pretty immediate and short term, hence why there are so many convenience stores and supermarkets. Conversely specialist ingredients are popular online and faster transport (Amazon Prime, or even same day scooter delivery) may mean food shopping can be delivered within hours instead of days. Many food stores will now offer free local delivery above a certain amount.

CF: We at Perry Court Farm, in Kent, have been growing fruit and vegetables for four generations. Apples, pears, strawberries, plums, cherries and raspberries are just a few of the 150 plus fruits and vegetables we currently grow. Since the start we have been selling fruit on a wholesale basis to local shops and direct to the customer on a local level through farm shops and farmer’s markets. More recently we began making specialised products such as fruit juice and air dried fruit crisps. These products are fairly unique, both in Kent and worldwide, in terms of quality and innovation. They have given us widespread recognition and a reputation for unrivaled quality.

What are your observations with regards to cultural differences in the way people shop in your country/region or at a global level? CF: There is the perception that farm shops are too expensive so this is often off-putting. There seems to be an assumption that only the middle class shop there, but in reality it’s really an even spread, food lovers seem to be found in all classes and cultures – from the farmers markets to the farm shop and online store, there is no major differences.

By taking a low cost perishable item like an apple, and turning it into something with higher value and longer shelf life it has hugely widened the market for us. Previously for us it would have been unheard of to fly a shipment of apples to the Middle East, however by making them into apple crisps, one of our more popular products, we have added shelf life and value whilst removing parts of the apple that are not needed by the customer.


I n the same way, internet shopping has become a key growth area for us. Fresh fruit and vegetables are difficult to ship without being damaged, the juices and crisps are relatively easy as they do not require any special attention, such as refrigeration or a speedy delivery. It makes them cheaper to move and therefore cheaper and more popular to buy from further afield. More people are shopping food online as it can often be cheaper or more convenient than using regular shops and they are frequently more likely to find what they are looking for on the internet. The consumer can buy from us directly online, which is good for us as there is no middle man to take a margin, and good for the consumer as they not only get a better deal but customer service from the actual manufacturer instead of a store that might know little about one of the thousand other products it sells. No one knows a product better than the person who has lovingly and proudly made it themselves and this is often the best way of selling it. Traditionally it has been done by artisan producers to a small local audience. Now, the internet and social media has given us a portal to reach to customers directly on a scale far greater than we could without it. We could theoretically market to anyone with a computer and find those that would be interested in our product whether they are next door or on the other side of the world. Which is why you could see apple crisps in the desert, as well as in Kent where they are grown.

Marco Quartucci Business Planning Mindshare Italy

Between offline and online Since online retail began twenty years ago shopping experiences for consumers in Italy are moving towards a fluid integration between offline and online: now the path to purchase begins and ends on both platforms and many retailers and shopping businesses are moving in this direction. One of the first businesses to understand this trend has been Esselunga – one of the top Italian retailers and large-scale distributor – with its home delivery service. Chronodrive, a French brand launched in Italy a year ago, that allows you to shop online and pick-up by car, with the possibility to request the service through an app. Esselunga also launched the initiative of customisable discounts: the consumer has the possibility, through Esselunga digital platforms, to apply a selected range of discounts on products of his own choice. Coop, a competitor, has given the same possibility directly in its points of sale. Flexibility and functionality seem to be the the way forward, and mobile devices reflect these qualities. In fact mobile, beyond its contribution to the explosion of e-commerce platforms in Italy, is the main protagonist of cross-media experiments in the shopping experience, like billboards with QR codes (often to download a coupon directly on the smartphone), interactive out-of-home and geolocalised ADV (a recent example is the Cafè-Zero case study that exploited Waze

service to indicate the nearest points of sale where to redeem a discount). Above-average concentration of mobile subscriptions in Italy (158% vs 139% EU average) has surely helped this trend explode in the last year. More often digital owned properties are used to push activities directly at the points of sale. A bright example is the unconventional activity of clothing brand Gas, that communicated its 30th anniversary through an integrated campaign that leveraged points of sale, e-commerce platforms, digital ADV and press. Here consumers, pushed by a countdown, had to prepare to grab a garment faster than all the other participants on the e-commerce site in only 30 seconds. Points of sale were available to try garments in order to choose the right size and when the moment came, only the fastest could have the clothes put in the cart delivered for free.

F lexibility and functionality seem to be the way forward An emerging trend on young adults is the usage of groups on Facebook as markets to barter second-hand products like smartphones, video games, fashion accessories, DVD’s and so on. In these times of economic crisis, a strong insight is reflected from the leverage through the use of Facebook app Shopify by local markets. As for points of sale, Italy has always been a country made of small boutiques and little shops. However, in the recent years the tendency to aggregate different kinds of products and services of a single category in a unique point of sale in order to provide the best experience to consumers is rapidly increasing. Eataly, for example, allows consumers to try out different experiences within the world of food, with the possibility to virtually visit the mall or to book a food or wine tasting with experts.


Scout Reports


Scout Reports The Scout Network is a group of individuals living in key cities all over the world, whose lives are immersed in the latest consumer trends, technology and brands.

Los Angeles

For this dossier, the scouts – recruited through the Future Foundation – have contributed with their observations and have identified the most cutting edge and emerging manifestations in the shopping world. Global Trends Consumer Trends Me Nation Maximising Moments Power Play Visualisation Seeking Authenticity Simplification Snacking New Networking National Celebration New World Order

Montreal Toronto New York

Miami Mexico

Bogota

Cultural Dynamics Shopping Dynamics

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Custom Made Buying Sensations

Rio de Janeiro

Play to Gain Shop at First Sight Pure Shopping Smarket Shop & Go Social Shopping Made in… Disruptive Retail


Buenos Aires

Stockholm Moscow London

Berlin

Paris Milan Barcelona

Istanbul

Tokyo Shanghai Dubai Abu Dhabi

Hong Kong Mumbai

Lagos Singapore

Cape Town Sydney


Scout Lauren Uppink

City Cape Town

One Stop Mall

Region Africa

South Africa’s retail market is dominated by shopping malls and clusters of retail stores that provide convenience for the consumer. The high street model is not one that is seen here often and shopping malls provide a one stop shop for all the consumers’ needs. As Cape Town city grows, more and more shopping centres have sprung up in previously disadvantaged areas where in the past, families would only have access to small spaza shops – informal convenience stores, usually run from home – providing the very basics in groceries. Department stores and chain retailers like Woolworths still have the upper hand in terms of portion of the market share and those that have their own online stores are really moving ahead of others as the growing middle classes are increasingly picking up on the e-commerce trend. Among higher income earners, there is definitely a trend towards buying more organic, ethical or locally produced items.


There are many pop-up shops and a number of trendy markets, both of which allow local designers and online retailers to market and sell their products in a more visible and affordable way. Another popular innovation is the use of sample boxes. New companies have been developed which allow consumers to purchase monthly sample boxes that are delivered to your door and include a curated selection of samples of specific products.

T he high street model is not one that is seen here often and shopping malls provide a one stop shop for all the consumers’ needs

Desirable and Trendy ● Buying Sensations ● Disruptive Retail ● Pure Shopping

Woolworths is one of the most successful chain retailers in South Africa, with many branches in Cape Town. Their shops sell clothing, home ware and food. They provide what many people consider the most well-liked retail experience in South Africa. Woolworths have diversified their retail options by making a wide selection of their products available on the online store and utilising social media to engage with customers. However, their physical store format remains hugely popular. Woolworths has become a very desirable brand name as it represents a higher-end market and is a favoured option for the middle classes. A recent rebranding has also given Woolworths a more trendy, cutting edge image than it used to have, making it desirable to a large segment of Cape Town’s population.

B

Artisans Abound ● Pure Shopping ● Made in… ● Buying Sensations

Cape Town has seen a rise in artisan markets which take place during the weekend or on weekday evenings and bring together a host of local designers and foodies for a unique shopping experience. Here shoppers can engage one on one with designers, find one-of-a-kind purchases and support locally produced goods. Bay Harbour Market runs over weekends and leverages the marketstyle atmosphere to attract shoppers. The combination of food stalls and live entertainment makes shopping an experience rather than just a regular chore. A lot of the products on sale are either vintage or antiques, clothing, footwear or home décor designed and made locally.

A

Curated Sample Boxes ● Shop & Go ● Social Shopping ● Smarket ● Pure Shopping

A popular new type of online retail has emerged which utilises monthly sample subscriptions to drive customers to their online stores. RubyBox is an example of this, inviting customers to sign up for a subscription service which delivers a monthly box set to the customer’s door with a curated selection of beauty products. This allows people to sample a wide variety of products in the comfort of their own home and to discuss their findings with the online community. Shoppers like the novelty and convenience and quite a few other online retailers in different product categories have adopted this format, such as Healthbox, leveraging the trend towards healthier lifestyles and Wild Organics, which sources high-quality organic produce.

C

D

Simplification ● Smarket

SnapScan is a new smartphone app that enables consumers to link their credit cards to their mobile phones and then use the phone to pay for things in shops. By scanning the merchant’s SnapScan code the app will identify the shop and then allow you to enter the amount you wish to pay. SnapScan is currently used mostly in the food and beverage industry. It is making purchasing far easier and in some way the novelty disassociates the consumer from the payment they are actually making, as they aren’t parting with hard cash. The app is useful as it allows for increased convenience, especially for on-the-go purchases like a coffee on the way to work. It is yet to be seen in bigger retail spaces but is very useful for smaller individual retailers who may not want to make the investment in credit card facilities.

RubyBox ● Shop & Go ● Play to Gain

Pop-up shops allow customers to experience the brand or products on sale in a retail environment, but only over a designated period of time. RubyBox currently has a pop-up store in a popular Cape Town shopping mall where customers can sign up for the sample box subscriptions or book in a make-over and beauty trial. Consultants are available to discuss the different products. There are also competitions running which further enhance the customer’s engagement with the products. Pop-up stores allow more traditional consumers to become aware of newer retail options and introduces and attracts such consumers to (often online) brands that are not usually available in their regular shopping mall.


A. HealthBox delivers curated health, fitness and wellness products B. Artisan markets, a combination of unique designed products and entertainment C. RubyBox pop-up stores in a popular Cape Town shopping mall D. Cashless payments with SnapScan mobile app

Scout Nandul John Dashe

City Lagos

Region Africa

Contrasting Scenes Urbanisation, modernisation and the influence of Western culture are the phenomena responsible for most new shopping trends observed across Lagos. Until now, the majority of Lagosians have been used to shop around their own neighbourhoods, buying from local cornershops or strolling to open markets, which are usually not very large and not very far away from their homes. While much of the population still continues to do so, more people are adopting more modern methods of shopping and instead visit department stores and supermarket chains. Young consumers in Lagos are also picking up the habit of using electronic and mobile commerce whilst other demographics still have concerns about no longer being able to physically inspect and view the items they are buying. The Nigerian government is actively promoting a cashless economy, forcing businesses to adjust to these new technologies faster than they would have done it if was left to market forces.


Being the economic hub of the country, Lagos has been ahead of other urban areas in terms of implementing the policy. The cashless and m-commerce trends are mainly driven by young consumers and many others are not sufficiently aware of the convenience and efficiency of shopping apps and other cashless systems such as the ATM card, which allows people to send and receive money, pay bills and purchase items through ATMs.

The Nigerian government is actively promoting a cashless economy, forcing businesses to adjust to these new technologies faster

Home-Based Retail ● Disruptive Retail ● Made in…

A

Village Markets ● Made in…

Most traditional open markets in offer mainly household goods like beverages, soaps, food ingredients etc., but some larger and more modern ones tend to have a wider range of items on offer. A lot of the food items found on display in these markets are produced locally. Most of the traditional open markets are marked by shabbily constructed shacks where traders display their items for the customers. Due to urbanisation, many markets were forced to relocate or were closed entirely. Even the popular Alaba International market was a product of relocation.

Many new retail businesses in Lagos operate from people’s homes. In this case the ‘marketplace’ comes alive at the homes of the proprietors once buyers come to visit (usually friends, family members or neighbours) with the retail items being displayed in the home environment. Home-based businesses also offer a wide range of items at a quality and price level comparable to the street hawkers. Many people in Lagos are unemployed and start up home-based stores to generate income. However, even people that do have regular jobs often get involved in it to earn some money on the side. These shops are usually not officially registered but the government hasn’t implemented any regulations to stop them.

D

Going Large ● Smarket

It is becoming increasingly popular in Lagos to shop from large stores and malls, such as the Palms Shopping Mall, where you can find almost everything from electronics to groceries, from furniture to clothing and accessories. The trend is spreading quickly as several department stores and shopping malls are springing up in different parts of the city, especially around Ikeja, Victoria Island and Lagos Island – the most highbrow areas of the city. They provide a one-stop shopping solution as almost everything is gathered in one place so shoppers can satisfy their needs without having to spend too much time. It is true that many of the purchases made in shopping malls are spontaneous because the mall offers the shopper the opportunity to easily access and visit several stores that they wouldn’t ordinarily think of going to. In fact, some shoppers seen at these malls are just merely window shoppers, going around just to check and see what is in stock.

Online Deals ● Smarket ● Custom Made

B

Street Hawking ● Shop & Go ● Custom Made

These days, almost anything can be hawked on the streets of Lagos. This mostly happens at popular bus stops or road junctions as well as on the highways (where there are usually traffic build-ups during rush hours). This is a fascinating trend because the road hawkers usually offer the same items (of the same quality) as available in shopping malls and department stores, but at cheaper prices. Street hawking is a very convenient form of retail and offers a form of escape to people who are forced to wait for the often slowmoving traffic to clear before they can go on. The government has passed laws against this trend but it has yet to cease as the hawkers are obviously making some profit out of it.

C

App to Attract

Online shopping is quickly becoming a permanent feature of the Lagos shopping landscape. Many e-commerce sites are emerging and offering all sorts of services from travel bookings to clothes and shoes as well as electronics and household items. One of the most popular examples amongst Lagosians is Konga.com, which offers great deals in many product categories and has a very reliable delivery service through which they are able to convey purchased items to customers at flexible times. Konga also has its own mobile app.

● Social Shopping ● Made in…

Sure Lagos is a mobile app targeted at young locals rather than tourists. It can be used to search and be alerted to new shops, bars and other leisure venues which are popping up in the city. Many local shops use this type of app as a great new way of connecting with potential new customers.


A. Popular village markets for everyday products B. Street hawking, a convenient way to shop while on the busy traffic C. Sure Lagos mobile app to keep up-to-date with local amenities D. Palms Shopping Mall, one stop shopping solution

Scout Niki Van der Schraelen

City Abu Dhabi

Region Middle East

Diversified Souks

The traditional markets in Abu Dhabi are called souks, an Arabic word for marketplace. Here you will find spices, perfume, gold, electronic goods, souvenirs, clothing and household items. Souks are street markets, not modern and very cheap. Traditional souks, however, are being replaced by ‘modern souks’, a contemporary adaptation of a typical Arabian market, home to local and international retail brands, coffee shops and restaurants, with marble floors and air conditioning. Abu Dhabi also has plenty of spacious, very modern and air conditioned malls – a welcome escape from the summer heat! The Emiratis are very rich and used to having people doing things for them. In every shop there is a different staff member for every little task. If you go to Carrefour, there will be somebody who hands you a trolley and in every aisle there’s an employee ready to assist you. At the check-out there is someone who empties your trolley, somebody else who puts your goods in a plastic bag and then somebody who brings it to your car. In Abu Dhabi the salaries are much higher and shoppers just buy without really thinking. For example, in Belgium I try things first, think about it, go back and buy it but in Abu Dhabi I try things on and if I like it, I buy it straight away.


Abu Dhabi is really into social media advertising through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, they seem to be essential for brand awareness. Online shopping is only starting now though, one of the main reasons is that the malls in Abu Dhabi aren’t only used for shopping but also for social events. People are going to a mall anyway, so why would they use online shopping? This is changing with a new generation and as Emiratis are used to people who do things for them, there is no better way of doing nothing yourself than online shopping.

Abu Dhabi also has plenty of spacious, very modern and air conditioned malls – a welcome escape from the summer heat!

A. Traditional carpet souks for great bargains B. Marina Mall rotating restaurant and coffee shop C. Qaryat al Beri souk, very popular with tourists D. Online retailer Souq. com, one of the biggest in the Arab world E. Aswakabudhabi.com, an online souk for creative entrepreneurs A

Carpet Bargain ● Pure Shopping ● Made in… ● Disruptive Retail

The carpet souk, also known as Afghan souk, is located in the heart of the city. You can find great bargains on Arabic carpets and cushions. Most of these carpets and cushions originate from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, China and Central Asia. Most of them are handmade, but very occasionally you will also find machine made ones. To make sure you buy the right one, you have to check with several shops. If you know what you are looking for, it is easy to bargain. Most of the customers here are labour men, because it’s a cheap place. Emirati and expats don’t go there much and prefer carpets from a shop in one of the malls.

B

D C

Pricey Souk

Big and Famous

● Buying Sensations ● Made in… ● Disruptive Retail

● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping ● Smarket ● Social Shopping

The Qaryat al Beri souk is located between the two bridges in Abu Dhabi. It is next to the canal and has the best view of the Grand Mosque. It is very near famous hotels like the Shangri-La, Fairmont and Traders. Because of its location, the souk is not only a popular meeting place for the local population, but also for expats and tourists. The souk has a lot of small shops where you can buy souvenirs, clothes and shoes. There are also lots of restaurants with an international cuisine, such as Japanese, Italian, Arabic and Indian varieties. Those restaurants all have nice dining terraces overlooking the water. Although it’s called souk, you cannot compare the prices of this souk with a traditional ones. Prices are relatively high and bargaining is not accepted.

Souq.com is one of the most famous e-commerce sites in the Arab world. You can find electronics, fashion, household goods, watches or perfumes. It is the biggest retailer in the Middle East and has more than 23 million visits per month. They also call it ‘the Amazon of the Middle East’. Souq.com is a retail site, but also a marketplace for third party sellers (comparable with eBay).

High Time ● Buying Sensations

E

Marina Mall is a mall where you can find shops with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Chanel, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and many more luxury brands. However, this mall is also an example of how shopping in Abu Dhabi becomes more of a complete entertainment experience. There is an ice rink, a bowling alley, a fun city for children, a cinema and a musical fountain. In the middle of the mall there is an elevator that will take you above the mall for a view, you can also find a coffee shop and restaurant which rotates so you have a panoramic view of Abu Dhabi while you are eating.

Creative Network ● Disruptive Retail ● Made in… ● Social Shopping

Aswakabudhabi.com is a new concept of aswak, the plural of souk. It is a global marketplace where local and international designers can come together. Designers and brands from all over the world come together online to offer original and creative products. This website also helps creative entrepreneurs run small online shops.


Scout Reem Deeb

City Dubai

Region Middle East

Shopping Trip Dubai is a rapidly growing city shaped by globalisation and neoliberalism. The most prominent shopping destinations for tourists and residents alike are the massive malls. In fact these are considered a tourist destination just like going to a museum in Europe. They are even a destination for school excursions! Dubai Mall alone attracted 75 million visitors in 2013.

new trend A in Dubai is the ‘walkable markets’ which are trying to make shopping more cultural and not just an indoor activity


You can find both cheap and designer brands at the malls, as well as grocery shopping, money exchange, banking, visa paperwork and applications, salons and many other services. There are also smaller specialised malls, which will either have affordable or designer brands. The traditional markets are in the old part of town where you can barter and find tourists buying fake designer bags. Each street in these markets focuses on a specific commodity and every shop sells the same thing. A new trend in Dubai is the ‘walkable markets’ which are trying to make shopping more cultural and not just an indoor activity. Online shopping is substantially increasing, as well as mobile shopping with the growing smartphone penetration in the UAE.

B

Personalised and Social ● Custom Made ● Buying Sensations ● Smarket ● Social Shopping

A

Small is Gold ● Made in… ● Buying Sensations

In the old side of the town you almost feel like you are in a different country away from all the skyscrapers and big highways. In Karama, Deira and Bur Dubai, small shops and markets are the prevailing phenomena. You cannot walk down these streets without being stopped by the shops’ sales men or owner asking you to come inside and check their products. These shops are located in heavily populated areas but a number of tourists visit these markets for the cultural experience and to get some cheap oriental souvenirs. The grouping concept in these markets is prominent; you have the gold souk, spice souk, silk souk, soap souk, etc. This works in the favour of the buyers – gold in these shops is known to be cheaper than anywhere else.

Dubai Mall introduced a mobile app with interactive maps to point people in the right direction of shops and other entertainment options inside the mall. You can add your favourite places to a personalised list so you can easily access them every time you go to the mall and find out if they have promotions or events on. The app is also linked to social media so you can share with friends when you are in one of the mall’s destinations.

D

Competitive Retailing ● Smarket ● Pure Shopping

The Dubai government has also launched a shopping app to further enhance the retail economy. Sallety.ae lets people browse through what is for sale and on offer in different stores and super/hypermarkets, compare prices and – when enabled by the shop – also buy directly.

C

Concierge Service Mall + Hotel ● Buying Sensations ● Smarket

Mall of the Emirates is one the most famous shopping destinations in Dubai. On a Thursday night it is a challenge to find a parking space. Malls in general are packed on Thursday nights which are equivalent to Friday nights in other countries. Shopping malls open until 10pm during week days and until 12am on weekends. On special occasions like Eid and local holidays they are often open 24 hours. A large segment of the mall is dedicated to entertainment, dining, and other services – you can easily spend the whole day there. A common trend in Dubai is to have hotels that are connected to the malls, Mall of The Emirates for example has two 5 star hotels.

● Custom Made ● Smarket

Wealthy Arabs like to be helped in their shopping decisions and to be pampered to a certain extent. Charles and Keith is just one example of a brand providing exceptional customer service. Even when on sale the level of service doesn’t change, if they can’t find your size they will deliver the item to you in a couple of days instead of asking you to come back again.

E-commerce Hub ● Disruptive Retail ● Smarket

Dubai continuously aspires to be the world leader in innovative and smart solutions so it is no surprise to see EZW, the world’s first purpose built e-commerce hub. This initiative is expected to expand the e-commerce market from being local to national to international. This will also enable customers to purchase items and brands that are not available where they live, which will appeal to a place like UAE with more than 200 nationalities living and working here. EZW is in development and it will have a physical location in Technopark Dubai.


E

Walk This Way ● Buying Sensations ● Pure Shopping

Walkable markets are a new shopping trend being introduced in Dubai. There are modern walkways like Madinat Jumeriah, Jumeirah Beach Walk and the new City Walk. Although they are dominated by restaurants and cafes, a number of shops are available, especially antique and beauty product shops. These places are trying to make shopping more cultural and not just a merely indoor activity.

A. Karama, Deira and Bur Dubai small shops and markets B. The Dubai Mall app icon C. Charles and Keith exceptional customer service D. Shopping app Sallety.ae to browse, compare and buy E. Modern walkable shopping experiences

Scout Agnes Chan

City Hong Kong

Mindset Shift

Region APAC

In Hong Kong it’s common to shop locally, at markets and large stores. In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of people switching from buying fresh food from markets to supermarkets, particularly popular amongst younger generations who like the convenience and cleanliness of supermarkets, whilst older generations still prefer the close relationships they hold and reap benefits from at the market. Another shopping trend in Hong Kong is the popularity of Korean items over previously favored Japanese goods, largely due to a rise of the Korean entertainment industry driving the popularity of Korean movies, TV series and music in Hong Kong. There has also been a rise in the popularity of online shopping but it would seem to be lagging behind most advanced Western economies. Not only does Hong Kong have an extensive transportation network, which makes traditional shopping very simple, there is a lack of trust surrounding online quality control and security. However, younger generations are more familiar with using the internet and are more receptive to taking risks. There is a shift of mindset amongst consumers from viewing the real or original item as essential; as long as the price is right and the quality is decent, people are happy to buy replicas.


nother shopping A trend in Hong Kong is the popularity of Korean items over previously favoured Japanese goods, largely due to a rise of the Korean entertainment industry

K is for Korean ● Disruptive Retail

A

Fresh and Traditional ● Pure Shopping ● Custom Made

There are around a hundred government operated traditional fresh food markets in Hong Kong, present in most neighbourhoods (i.e. Yin Chong Street Market, Mongkok). They sell meat, seafood, vegetables, fruits and dry goods and are thought to sell food of a higher quality and at lower prices than supermarkets. Some people prefer the closer relationships they have with the owners of the stalls, for example reserving fresher stuff or offering them better prices if they are regular customers, as well as to barter for better prices at the market. Some may not consider it a particularly enjoyable shopping experience though, as the floor is always wet from frequent floor washing.

Collaborative Referral ● Social Shopping ● Pure Shopping ● Made in… ● Custom Made ● Smarket

Shop Elsewhere is a shopping referral platform and a collaborative movement amongst independent fashion designers. It was launched by Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong as a way to combat the difficulty experienced by independent designers to pay high retail rent. It helps customers discover new brands while supporting local businesses and provides a free digital alternative to a personal stylist. Shoppers browsing in one designer’s store can scan the QR code on an item to access the platform, which will provide recommendations for other designers’ products that have been pre-selected to match. To purchase a recommended item, customers are directed to the designer’s store via Google Maps. B

Shops specialising in Korean skincare and cosmetic products like K Market are particularly popular in Hong Kong right now. Their target market is largely younger consumers who are more attracted to the Korean culture, the relatively low prices and to Mongkok as a shopping area. Typically, the owner will go or send a member of staff to Korea regularly to gather the hottest items and then resell the products at higher prices. Many Korean brands now have official stores in Hong Kong, but such ‘unofficial’ shops can still survive due to their lower prices and the opportunity for customers to buy different brands at the same time. C

Asian Giant

D

● Social Shopping ● Smarket ● Custom Made

Taobao is a Chinese online shopping website that is operated in China by the Alibaba Group and works in a similar way to eBay and Amazon, facilitating consumer-to-consumer retail business. It is the most popular website for Hong Kong online shoppers. There are currently more than 800 million listings and it is one of the top ten most visited websites in the world, mainly serving consumers in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Customisation App ● Custom Made ● Smarket ● Social Shopping

Snaptee is a free app that allows customers to design their own t-shirts or pick from designs that other people have created. It was launched in Hong Kong less than a year ago and now has customers in over 55 countries. There are currently over one million designs available on Snaptee, with a 10% commission given to customers for each t-shirt sold with their design.

All in One ● Buying Sensations ● Smarket

The largest shopping centres in Hong Kong are all located in the central business districts, close to the MTR (metro) stations. A typical large shopping centre consists of a variety of shops, restaurants, department stores, cinemas, hotels, office buildings and sometimes supermarkets. Shops include international labels for fashion and leather goods, casual wear and sportswear, jewellery and watches, beauty products, AV/electrical appliances, kids and lifestyle products as well as food and beverage outlets. Many people prefer to shop at large shopping centers like the Hollywood Plaza in Diamond Hill because of the variety of shops and brands available there. There are also different exhibitions and shows at various large shopping centers as well as credit cards offering a number of privileges in order to attract customers.


A. Traditional fresh food at Yin Chong Street Market B. Shop Elsewhere, a collaborative platform for independent designers C. Taobao consumer-toconsumer online retail business D. Consumers can design their own t-shirt and get rewarded with Snaptee app

Scout Shikha Sethi

City Mumbai

Region APAC

Here, There & Everywhere In India, Mumbai is probably the most savvy and advanced in terms of the scale of the shopping malls, online shopping and the number of foreign brands available. Online shopping in particular has seen a big shift with several new e-commerce stores launching. Indians traditionally like to see the product they’re purchasing so this is quite a new development. Fairtrade and sustainable shopping are not really buzzwords here as they are in the West. There is an increasing awareness of local and organic food – when you buy fruit and veggies from your local vendor it’s hard to know what kind of pesticides were used and people who can afford them prefer products that are clearly labelled organic and natural. People have to work harder to find these products – for example, you may source your honey from one small independent seller and your milk from another. We don’t yet have the equivalent of a Whole Foods here, though Mumbai has seen a few farmers markets in the last year.


There is a trend of pop-up events, fairs and festivals like the Kala Ghoda festival in Mumbai, which brings together NGOs and smaller design companies from across the country. People are also organising exhibitions at home, trunk shows and have even started their own businesses selling jewelry or clothes directly through Facebook pages.

nline shopping O in particular has seen a big shift with several new e-commerce stores launching

Dr. Feel Good ● Buying Sensations ● Shop & Go ● Social Shopping

A

Small Stalls ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping

Most Indian households do their shopping in local markets such as roadside stalls and small stores, especially if they do not have the option of shopping at a supermarket. A lower middle-class household would probably do some of its shopping at street stalls like this and top up at a higher-end place. The home owner may go themselves, or more likely, will send the help to pick up whatever is needed for the home. Some amount of bargaining is involved. Apart from roadside fruit and vegetable stalls, there are also mid-range general brick-and-mortar stores that sell soaps, shampoos, cooking oil, tissue paper, packaged foods, etc. These tend to be familyowned stores – and as with the supermarkets, supply can be a problem. Many of these offer free home delivery (usually in a couple of hours). Some stores will be smaller, literally a hole-in-the-wall, where you can buy sweets, chocolates, fizzy drinks and cigarettes.

Pop-up events are becoming popular in Mumbai. These can range from a farmers market or an event designed purely around shopping. For example, an event called Dr Feel Good was organised by a 26-year-old called Karishma Sakhrani with an interest in fitness and health. She advertised the event on Facebook, brought together a number of small start-up vendors who sold healthy products (Raw Pressery’s cold-pressed juices, organic oat and nut bars, people making healthy dips and chips) as well as other vendors selling jewellery, clothes, funky mugs, t-shirts and bags. She organised a host of speakers who spoke about nutrition, weight loss and fitness. The people who came were very interested in these specific kinds of products and the indie brands got to reach out to their target audience without spending a lot of money on advertising in a newspaper or a magazine.

● Social Shopping ● Shop at First Sight

Going Global ● Buying Sensations ● Shop & Go ● Custom Made

From Books To Anything ● Smarket ● Made in…

Flipkart began as a site where you could just buy books but it has now expanded into a site where you can buy pretty much anything – from air conditioners to mobile phones. I visit the site to buy books and even though Amazon has launched in India, I’m more comfortable using Flipkart because they’re reliable and quick. They recently introduced an ‘in a day guarantee delivery service’, which is a big help and they have a 24/7 helpline.

D

Niche Go Social

C

B

A. Convenient roadside stalls and small stores B. Online book retailer Flipkart diversifies into other categories C. Presence of international brands in shopping malls D. Mercado Jewellery promotes their products on Facebook

Shop Elsewhere is a shopping referral platform and a collaborative movement amongst independent fashion designers. It was launched by Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong as a way to combat the difficulty experienced by independent designers to pay high retail rent. It helps customers discover new brands while supporting local businesses and provides a free digital alternative to a personal stylist. Shoppers browsing in one designer’s store can scan the QR code on an item to access the platform, which will provide recommendations for other designers’ products that have been pre-selected to match. To purchase a recommended item, customers are directed to the designer’s store via Google Maps.


Today’s urban consumer has much more choice, especially when it comes to smaller niche brands which often don’t have a physical store (and sometimes nothing more than a Facebook page). Mercado Jewellery is an example of a small company promoting products on Facebook run by Natasha, she posts pictures of new jewellery and products almost every day, listing the materials and the price (along with any discounts). She may send her driver to drop off the piece and collect the payment or it may be collected from her home and the money dropped off. There is no website so there is no possibility of making an online payment. Sometimes she will also have a larger exhibition at home where several pieces are displayed.

Scout Jaefo Liang

City Shanghai

Region APAC

Something Fancy What makes Shanghai different from the rest of China in shopping is that there is a greater focus on luxury and lifestyle brands. Shanghai is the most modern city in China and consequently gathers the trendy, rich people. Stores in Shanghai can be very fancy, spectacular and over-decorated to emphasise the image of wealth. People don’t just buy the things they need anymore, they buy things that make them feel fancy. Also, people here are more accepting of new shopping methods.

eople would only P make a purchase when they saw goods and talked to the owner in person, but today, online and the use of mobile apps is growing


Traditional shopping in China is undeniably all about small shops, face-to-face and trust. People would only make a purchase when they saw goods and talked to the owner in person, but today, online and the use of mobile apps is growing. Wechat, for example, started as a communication app but has since developed its own in-app payment and in-app department store. Apps are also promoting in-app coupons, which consumers then use to purchase offline. Shanghai though is a developing Chinese city, but is not yet the same as other top cities around the world.

A. Kerry Center’s fancy stores, a destination for the wealthy B. S.F. Express physical stores is aimed to order products online C. Dianping mobile app offers reviews for a variety of retails D. Nanfang Friendship Shopping Center, a place to relax

A

Shop Via Wechat ● Smarket ● Buying Sensations ● Social Shopping

Shop to Show ● Shop at First Sight ● Disruptive Retail ● Custom Made

The Kerry Center is an example of the fancy stores in Shanghai designed to showcase wealth. People here are still fond of things that can make them look richer than the average person. But under that façade, I don’t think these stores have any creative way to pitch to customers. This is why it is hard to find true innovation in Shanghai – a lot is just superficial.

C

Rainbow department store has established an in-app account on Wechat in order to sell their products. To purchase on Wechat, you can either buy things via Wechat payment or choose in-store pick up or delivery, or you can go to the offline store and check the products first and buy them via Wechat payment on your cell. You can also buy the gift card and send to your friends via Wechat to purchase both online and offline. The Rainbow Wechat account offers considerate pre/post sales service and complaint filing. The app is used throughout China and is well-known in Shanghai. Membership is at about 500,000 people so far.

Successful O2O ● Social Shopping ● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping ● Disruptive Retail

B

On/Off Convenience ● Smarket ● Buying Sensations ● Disruptive Retail ● Custom Made

S.F. Express began as a delivery company and has since expanded its territory to online grocery shopping and done a great job. In 2014, it opened offline stores that sell ‘virtual’ products. The benefits of this kind of virtual store in comparison to an online shopping website is that it can target older generations who are less familiar with online payment. In S.F. stores, you can order the products and pay by cash. In addition, S.F. stores offer a ‘help buy’ service; you can go to its website and order the products without paying in advance and go to the store to check when they are arriving. This could save consumer’s time to unpack/repack and return the products if they don’t like them.

Dianping is a mobile app collating reviews on restaurants, department stores, gas stations and much more. When you go to an unfamiliar place, this app acts as an information centre. Moreover, this app has started to work with stores, selling coupons and providing a reservation service in the case of restaurants. It successfully converts the online potential consumer to offline stores and services and make a lot of profit from advertising, commission of booking and coupon sales. I would say this is quite a successful O2O business model.

D

Organic Delivery

All Inclusive

● Smarket ● Pure Shopping

● Buying Sensations

Mian Mian Life is an organic vegetable shop in Shanghai, which I first came across in Wechat apps. It’s had awesome in-app marketing and delivers a clear description of its products. Consumers can clearly understand the source and type of vegetables available and the delivery time, and are able to make payments in-app. Also, the shop guarantees an in-time delivery since the products are vegetables. My friends are also interested in this app, especially since the serious food safety issues in China.

Nanfang Friendship Shopping Center is a shopping mall that includes not only traditional brands like LV, Gucci and H&M, but also restaurants, tea houses, coffee shops, kid’s playgrounds, supermarkets, post offices, clothes alteration stores and more. These kinds of centers in Shanghai are increasingly emerging on different administration areas. For many people in Shanghai, taking their families and spending a whole day in this kind of shopping center just in their neighborhood is not all about shopping, but also an ideal place to relax and wander around.


Scout Daniel Chiang

City Singapore

Region APAC

More Than Shopping

In Singapore, bricks-and-mortar shopping based around malls still has the dominant position in our culture. Physical shopping is more than simply an act of buying something, it is a social activity that involves spending quality time with friends and family. Singapore has weathered the recent crises quite well and consumer sentiment has remained strong. As an extremely open and globalised society we are highly influenced by innovations and ideas that originated overseas, such as crowdfunding, group buying and cloud stores. Singapore is also quite an advanced shopping market with a variety of shopping options: curation boxes, in-store entertainment, bespoke offers, C2C platforms, etc. Right now, there is an obsession with bespoke, classic and vintage sensibility, particularly in fashion and furniture. The group-buying and coupondriven trend, while already toned down compared to its peak a couple of years ago, is still highly popular.


Pop-up stores have recently become trendy in Singapore, however they are still something of a novelty and are more valuable for the visibility factor rather than actual sales. Many businesses have also jumped on the smartphone-enabled bandwagon, releasing their own NFC loyalty program apps that flood devices with push notifications of the latest products, frequent sales, freebies and location based ‘exclusive’ coupons.

e are highly W influenced by innovations and ideas that originated overseas, such as crowdfunding, group buying and cloud stores

Keeping Up Smart ● Buying Sensations ● Play to Gain ● Shop at First Sight ● Custom Made

Shopping malls are the most prevalent type of shopping space in Singapore and the image that first comes to mind at the mention of ‘shopping’. While considered a conventional retail channel, shopping malls are also vigorously updating themselves so as not to be left behind in the face of the tech-augmented shopper. Many malls are producing smart device apps that offer a variety of free value-added services to enhance the overall shopping experience. For example, CapitaMalls Asia, the largest player in the industry here, has an app that not only lists ongoing mall-wide promotions and sends location based push notifications of such to users’ phones, but also enables users to snap and upload photos of their purchase receipts from any of their malls, earning loyalty points which can be redeemed for shopping vouchers.

D

B

Nostalgic Echoes ● Shop & Go ● Made in…

Local bus terminal with rows of clothing racks constitute a temporary makeshift stall run by a small-time clothing vendor. Such casual businesses are legal and regulated by the authorities, but are nonetheless a quaint, old-fashioned sight in modern Singapore, a throwback to a more rustic era. On a larger scale, temporary markets called pasar malam, populated by such stalls, spring up from time to time in random places around the city, on streets and in open areas. These stalls manage to survive in amidst the gleaming malls due to their price, convenience and an element of nostalgia.

A

Remote Bespoke ● Smarket ● Custom Made ● Disruptive Retail ● Buying Sensations

Marcella Custom is a bespoke shirt maker, which is pioneering the move to an online service. On their website, a fixed yet robust set of customisation options is paired with a roster of seasonal fabrics to produce enough permutations to keep happy any individuality-minded fashion snob. These processes have carried over well to their physical shops too, which essentially function as landing spaces for their web-based system and have already grown into a decent-sized chain. Customers are able to feel fabrics, turn buttons over in their hands and ask for advice from the staff while getting measured by a professional – just like an old-school tailor shop. However, what happens next is entirely cutting edge: the staff enter the information into the system, which gets beamed off to a centralised factory in China for production..

Fun Curated Deals ● Smarket ● Disruptive Retail ● Social Shopping ● Custom Made

Quoo10 site is a regional subsidiary of a company which first perfected its business model in South Korea: Gmarket. Users who download and install the app onto their smartphones gain the ability to browse an immense database of sellers and products from all over the world, while on-the-go. Though users do subject themselves to push notifications up to five times a day, heralding Qoo10’s latest daily deals, time sales, group buys, coupon giveaways and lucky draws in bright, cheerful colours. To retain users’ loyalty, there are no less than three different kinds of reward points.

C

Convenient and Personalised ● Smarket ● Custom Made

While still quite niche, this is an example of new shopping solutions in Singapore. Tate & Tonic is a web-based fashion start-up offering a risk-free service targeted at busy, well-heeled professionals. At the moment, they only serve men who are less likely to shop for themselves and are easier, or at least less diverse, to coordinate outfits for. Upon signing up for an account, users only need to provide their measurements and state their style preferences once. Once that is done, the system assigns a stylist to the user ‘based on your dress style’ and automatically places an order for his first mystery box to be compiled and delivered for free.


A. Quoo10 mobile app finds curated deals B. Old-fashioned Singapore survives with clothing racks in local bus terminals C. Tate & Tonic offers a risk-free and online fashion service to busy professionals D. Web-based bespoke shirts by Marcella Custom

Scout Lynsey Smith

City Sydney

Region APAC

Australian Made

Australians prefer to buy Australian produce, especially in terms of food. They have a distrust of food products from countries like China and Chile which don’t have as stringent laws on pesticides and chemicals as Australia does. Aussies care about freshness, sustainability and supporting the local community and there are regular farmers markets selling organic products in the more affluent, hipster areas of Sydney. Sydney, as the biggest city in Australia, has a great shopping scene. Malls are the most popular place for people to shop, with several Westfields in Sydney alone, though some of the malls are beautifully designed like The Strand in a heritage listed shopping arcade. There are also a lot of weekend markets throughout the city which sell a mixture of vintage clothes and up and coming Aussie designers, as well as hip boutiques selling exciting labels. The number of people shopping online is on the increase, however Australian retailers have been slower to adapt than in other countries with many not having responsive websites and poor mobile experiences. Though as online improves the in-store experience is also being enhanced.


Stores now offer Wi-Fi so you can compare prices and read product reviews online while shopping. Digital screens to facilitate in-store experiences are also widespread though customer interaction is still small. Almost every retailer has a PayPass unit, which allows you to pay for items up to $100 just by tapping your card. I also have a sticker on the back of my phone which does the same thing. This makes the checkout experience much easier and quicker.

T here are regular farmers markets selling organic products in the more affluent, hipster areas of Sydney

Interactive Screens ● Smarket ● Shop at First Sight

A

Self-Service and Sampling ● Smarket ● Custom Made

Nespresso have introduced self-service machines in store, for members of Nespresso club. Customers don’t have to interact with staff, they can choose their coffee from a large wall of different types, go to one of the stands and place their bag of coffee pods into the stand, which weighs their coffee and also can tell which type of coffee they have chosen using RFID technology. They check out on the stand using their members and credit card. They reinforce the exclusive members’ club feel with coffee sampling and new flavour launches which they accompany with complementary food such as raspberry coffee brownies for the new raspberry coffee flavour. They also have a website so you can order online and encourage pod recycling at the store.

B

The most prevalent technology trend while shopping in Sydney is the appearance of big LED and HD screens in almost every store. These easily catch the eye of consumers walking past and make the store look more modern and engaging. They also have a ‘tap & scan’ functionality so customers can interact with the ads on their mobiles and find out more about the products in the ad. However the ‘tap & scan’ call to action is small and not easily noticeable to consumers walking past and not being utilised to their full potential. When you scan the QR code it takes you to the oOh! Media website, which says that “great offers are coming soon”. Another oOh! Media POS stand features a slot which gives out recipes for the product it is advertising, however when I tried it wasn’t working, failing to give a recipe when I pressed the button.

A. Nespresso self-service machines in stores B. Coles supermarket integrates online and offline shopping experience C. Fashion e-tailer The Iconic app features great customer service D. Supermarkets branding 100% Aussie

D

Eco-Friendly Shoppers ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping

C

Supermarket Journey

Simply Iconic

● Smarket ● Buying Sensations ● Play to Gain

● Smarket ● Shop at First Sight

Online shopping has been slower to take off in Australia, however it is becoming more popular. The Coles website has just been redeveloped in an attempt to invigorate the online shopping experience (i.e. you can type in your shopping list and it will load the relevant products, rather than having to search). Coles also offer integration between the online and offline shopping experience. One Coles supermarket allows you to use Google Maps for a 360 degree tour of the supermarket so you can click through a typical customer journey, in order to plan and prepare for your grocery shop with a level of detail you wouldn’t have previously had.

There are a lot of fashion retailer apps but Australia’s largest fashion e-tailer The Iconic one is really easy to use and I often see people using it on the bus. It features great customer service like free returns for 100 days so you don’t have to rush. It also offers free next day delivery or delivery within three hours for an additional cost. You can also talk to a shop assistant through online chat. The layout makes it addictive to keep scrolling, so you are more likely to spend longer browsing than you might on a desktop computer.


There is a big trend towards being ‘green’ – buying free range and organic from independent organic food shops like Health Emporium. But while a lot of Aussies say they want to be eco-friendly, organic food is more expensive and this has slowed down the trend. However, in more affluent areas there is an abundance of organic food shops and farmers markets, which are often expensive, yet are frequented by locals who buy the products. Grocery retailers both large and small, are focusing on attempts to ‘get local’ and highlighting which products are from Australia. 100% Aussie signs are seen regularly. Supermarkets are also aware of their customers’ preference for farmer’s market specialist goods, and in response have incorporated farmer’s market style deli counters in their flagship stores (i.e. Woolworths).

Scout Mateus Bagatini

City Tokyo

Region APAC

Physical Tech Experiences Tokyo is a place of contrast. It is easy to find giant shops but there is also a strong culture of small and specialised shops. The idea of shopping locally is still very strong because every neighbourhood has its particular culture and feeling, so people support the local community. Every area has its market street but for products from overseas and more expensive brands they go to the shopping malls. The digital Japanese culture is not that big, website development is still quite bad with poor online stores, so the physical shopping culture is the most important and innovative, with in-store robots, iPad attendants and smart stores becoming more common. Online is starting to change though and brands are doing more, trying to mix online shops with brand experience to attract Japanese people to try this new way of shopping.


Another interesting thing is the obsession that Japanese people have in making every product unique. Especially in Tokyo, this huge city where everyone has the same products, brands are trying to give more options for people to personalise. Sustainable, ecofriendly and conscious consumption is not a big deal in Japan, brands are trying but is a difficult topic in this culture.

T he physical shopping culture is the most important and innovative, with in-store robots, iPad attendants and smart stores becoming more common

Test Drive ● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping ● Shop & Go

GU is a Uniqlo B-side brand that lets people try clothes before buying, but trying in a real way. You can choose the clothes and take a walk around outside as a ‘test drive’. Afterwards you take the clothes back to the store and buy if you want to.

A. Uniqlo app with special effects to design t-shirts B. Rakuten online store opened a coffee shop to offer a non-digital experience C. Pepper, the robot able to understand human reactions D. Mobile and social shopping app integrates real and virtual retail experiences

C

Human-Like Robot ● Custom Made ● Smarket ● Buying Sensations

Softbank, the biggest mobile brand in Japan just launched Pepper, a robot to help customers in their stores which can understand human reactions. Using artificial intelligence, Pepper can learn and improve when explaining about the Softbank products and services to the costumers.

D A

UTMe!

App For Sharing


● Custom Made ● Social Shopping ● Buying Sensations

This is a Uniqlo app where you can design your own t-shirt using image, text and special effects by shaking the phone. After that you can place an order and have your t-shirt delivered to your home.

B

Non-Digital Experience ● Buying Sensations ● Custom Made

Rakuten is the biggest online store in Japan, they sell all different kind of products. Trying to fix the gap between online and offline stores, they just opened a coffee shop, the first non-digital experience that the brand has ever created. They also offer free Wi-Fi (hard to find in Tokyo) and really cheap coffee.


Tokyo-based start-up Origami has designed a mobile social shopping app which is aimed at integrating e-commerce and offline retail experience. The app lets users follow their favourite shops and brands and check-in at both physical and virtual stores in order to share this with social media contacts. Several retailers have teamed up with the app to create greater awareness around their promotions which are often reserved for app users only.

Scout Pere Xargayó

City Barcelona

Region Europe

Loyalty Pays The economic crisis in Spain has changed people’s way of shopping and you can see a reduction in consumption as well as a focus on cheaper products. Lots of stores are opening and closing in short periods of time while the big franchises remain. An important trend for stores trying to keep consumers coming back is the use of loyalty cards. However, Barcelona is a big tourist destination and lots of shoppers are not from the city. Shopping areas are clearly divided by types of store and target markets. Paseo de Gracia and Diagonal are focused on higher income consumers with expensive, luxury stores of recognised brands. Gracia and some parts of Barri Gotic are dedicated on smaller stores with alternative fashion and independent designs, mainly for younger shoppers. Portal del Angel to Plaça Catalunya offers all the franchise stores for the majority of Barcelona shoppers, while El Born is where you find designer goods for high income shoppers.


Recently in Barcelona – especially amongst people aged between 20 and 50 years old – responsible food purchasing has grown in importance. These consumers want to know the origin and the way food has been produced. Consumption without packaging is also gaining strength in Catalonian society. Generally, price comparison websites, consumer forums and online reviews are becoming key elements in purchase decisions for the middle class.

n important A trend for stores trying to keep consumers coming back is the use of loyalty cards

B

Eco-Philosophy ● Pure Shopping

A

Ecoveritas is an environmentally friendly store, selling exclusively organic products. They opened in 2002 and now have more than 25 supermarkets in Catalonia. Their values and philosophy are focused on health, taste, respect for the environment and proximity. Eco-friendly consumption is also being pushed by bulk stores such as Granel, where people buy all the products they need but without any additional packaging or bags. People bring their own containers and load it in the shop. It also makes shopping a lot more about the food itself, rather than about brands or appearance.

D

Savvy Points

Small Convenience

● Smarket ● Custom Made

● Pure Shopping ● Smarket

Loyalty cards are a very familiar part of Spanish shopping. For example, Decathlon (a very popular store in Barcelona) has its own card, which regular shoppers can use to earn a point for every €1 purchase. 250 points are awarded with a voucher and it is free to get a card. Decathlon has now added a feature to its mobile app dedicated to the loyalty scheme: it provides the consumer with information on the money saved with their last purchase. Loyalty scheme users also no longer have to keep all their receipts to save the points, the app does this for them.

A lot of Lidl and Mercadona supermarkets have appeared in Barcelona lately. These small to medium sized supermarkets have influenced many people who do not go to hypermarkets anymore (which are often based further away from the city centre), but who buy everything in these shops which are spread across the city and can often be found inside malls.

Socially Inspiring ● Pure Shopping ● Custom Made ● Social Shopping

Gracia and some parts of Barri Gotic are well known for more independent and alternative fashion stores. The retail spaces are smaller but the clothes are more unique in comparison to the high street. Many of these shops, such as Clink, have nice social media pages, which give people constant inspiration.

C

Augmented Experiences ● Smarket ● Custom Made ● Buying Sensations ● Social Shopping

Dia is one of the most popular supermarkets in Barcelona, with many branches across the city. Recently, a lot of supermarkets have launched their own apps but Dia has one of the best. It allows you to find branches, browse the brochure and prices, create different shopping lists and share them with other contacts (useful for families or when it is someone’s birthday party, for example). Users can also manage their coupons on the app. Another interesting app is WShopping AR from Smart Shopping Barcelona. When downloaded, users have to find the shop windows with pink footprints in Arenas shopping centre or Smart Shopping Barcelona posters on the high street. If you point your phone at a shop or restaurant with such indicators, you can access audiovisual contents, discounts and product information via your phone.


A. Decathlon mobile app, loyalty scheme made it easier B. Ecoveritas opened 25 environmentally friendly stores C. Dia supermarket mobile app has some of the best practical features D. Mercadona small-sized supermarkets for the city centre dwellers

Scout Benjamin Bouliere

City Berlin

Region Europe

Conscious Inspiration Even though Berliners, like other Germans, are still attached to traditional forms of shopping such as the discount supermarket, many new shopping trends are appearing. A lot of people go in-store first before buying something online. They are looking for inspiration, fashion advice or technical information in physical shops but even a good selection doesn’t guarantee successful sales to shop owners. German consumers are known to have a preference for products made in their own country. Berliners often take a step further by looking for produce which is made in their own city (e.g. Our/ Berlin Vodka). This often goes hand in hand with eco-ethical shopping and a fondness for value-conscious products. Upcycling and second-hand formats are very trendy here and explain the many flea markets, vintage shops and antique stores. However, the latest sensation in Berlin has been a concept mall called ‘Bikini’ which has an entire floor dedicated to temporary showrooms for young local designers.


With a stable economy and an ageing population, German society as a whole but Berlin specifically has a new face: customers are more willing to spend money, mothers are showered with gifts and the young generation is challenging brands to adopt a new language and loyalty projects. Proud, a Berlin-based magazine which is known for its parties, for example, invites brands such as Marlboro to be physically present at its events.

erliners often take B a step further by looking for produce which is made in their own city

A. Veganz store, a panacea for the vegan lifestyle B. Temporary showrooms for young local designers at the concept mall Bikini C. Aldi supermarket, simple and effective grocery shopping D. Kaufda, a practical location-based app to check stores

Interactive Screens ● Shop at First Sight ● Smarket ● Buying Sensations

Alle Arcaden shopping centre now boasts over ten interactive screens which help customers during their shopping trip. The screens display product advertising but also allow people to find information and advice on the different stores in the shopping centre. By scanning the receipt of a product they just bought, customers can also find out more about a specific item and receive additional discounts and personalised recommendations. The screens also serve as an entertainment tool for kids and allows people to extend their parking visit if necessary.

B

Berlin Boxes ● Shop & Go ● Shop at First Sight

A

The last shopping sensation in Berlin has to be this concept mall called Bikini which recently opened an entire floor dedicated to temporary showrooms for young local designers. The mall carefully curates the selection of boutiques, aiming at a style-conscious hipster audience. There are precisely 20 of these popup shops, called the Bikini Berlin Boxes. Shops can stay for a maximum of one year though most only stick around for a couple of months, keeping the mall in constant flux.

Location-Based Apps ● Smarket

Kaufda is an online and mobile application which shows smartphone users which shops are nearby based on their current location. Even though the graphic design of the service is not attractive at all, a lot of young Berliners use this app to check which shops are still open when it is late but also where they can buy specific things if they are not in their usual area.

Vegan Lifestyle Empire ● Pure Shopping ● Buying Sensations

Ethical consumption is a growing trend in Germany but particularly in Berlin. To many consumers, being vegan is more than just a diet and they want to visit shops and restaurants which completely fit in with their lifestyle. The vegan retailer Veganz just opened several stores (a baker, a supermarket, a restaurant and a shoe shop) in the same building in Prenzlauerberg which has started to resemble a small vegan shopping mall. The staff never judge non-vegans who happen to visit the shops and are happy to give nutritional advice, share surprising recipes or offer vegan cooking lessons.

D

C

Discount Supermarket ● Custom Made

German discount supermarket Aldi is wellknown for their simple display and their low prices on a limited selection of brands and products. Whilst shopping here is not an economic necessity for a lot of people, it still fits the German consumer’s expectations because the products are minimally packed and the service at the cash desk is really fast.


Scout Patricia Nilsson

City Istanbul

Region Europe

East Meets West Traditionally, Turkish communities shop locally at their neighbourhood shops (bakkal) or at great markets (pazar). These large travelling pazars circulate through different neighbourhoods with farmers coming to sell vegetables, cheese, eggs, olives or honey and modern vendors coming to sell imported household articles or clothes. Urbanisation, better education and the increasing economic role of women have supported the growth of a young middle class population in Turkey. This group appreciates the shopping malls – that are popping up like mushrooms around Istanbul and other large cities of Turkey – and are increasingly interested in purchasing organic foods. Like many other European cities, there is a hipster culture in Istanbul where the young in particular value ‘independent’ fashion styles and second hand clothes. In Istanbul, second hand or vintage clothes are rather expensive and instead the trendy people wear cheap clothes that they buy from local markets. For example, you can see people wearing ‘typical’ fake Dolce & Gabbana shirts. This, I believe, is an example of how Turkey stands between East and West – the Turkish consumer’s interests in modern consumption trends coming from the West while mixing it with traditional elements from the East.


U rbanisation, better education and the increasing economic role of women have supported the growth of a young middle class population in Turkey

A. Kanyon Shopping Mall attracts wealthy consumers B. Bazar culture with an organic twist C. Aynalicesme Caddesi is a family run bakkal open 24/7 D. Simit street vendors are enduring the test of time A

C

Local Bakkal ● Pure Shopping ● Smarket ● Made in…

Aynalicesme Caddesi in Beyoglu area is a family run bakkal located in the centre of Istanbul. The shop is open 24/7 and offers most Turkish food staples, fresh vegetables, small deli, cleaning and toiletries products, as well as filter coffee, pet food or occasional imported foodstuffs. Customers can also top up their phone or public transport cards in the bakkal. My flatmate once needed to get in touch with a man whom she sometimes ran into and talked to at this very bakkal. Her first action was to go to the bakkal and ask them where she could find this man. She left the store with an address and phone number for the man she was looking for. The bakkals are the stores of communities.

A

Controversial Malls ● Buying Sensations ● Pure Shopping

Levent is one of the main business districts of Istanbul and is home to several middle and upper middle class residents. Kanyon Shopping Mall was opened in 2006 and is one of several large shopping malls in the area of Levent. The centre attracts many residents from the more wealthy Northern parts of the city, who come to shop, exercise at the gym, watch movies at the cinemas or dine at the many up-scale restaurants. There has been much controversy regarding the very fast spread of large shopping centres in the major cities of Turkey. The Gezi protests, originated in 2013, sprung partially out of a discontent with the government’s plan to demolish the central Gezi Park and build a shopping mall in its place. The construction plans for this specific shopping centre have now been halted.

Hipster Jewellery Markets ● Custom Made ● Made in…

Istiklal is the main shopping street of Istanbul. Originally it was the place to go for people looking for cheap basic clothing, but the market has evolved to sell cheap fashionable stuff too. For example, they have a great section selling jewellery, like rings and necklaces. You will find old women looking for bargains but these days equal amounts of fashonistas are trying to pick up some cheap bling. These are a great alternatives for young hipsters as vintage stores are often out of their budgets, even though they are the target market.

B

Organic Bazaar Branding ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping ● Shop & Go

Turkey has a great bazar culture, and consumers looking to buy more trendy and local produce still like to shop at nonpermanent markets. These markets mostly sell food stuffs, although occasionally other merchandise such as t-shirts made out of ecologic cotton, etc. A vendor at the market selling organic clothes explained that “organic cotton is still new and mostly for babies”. These organic markets are a mix between old and new Turkey – traditional bazars and modern shopping trends such as ecologic produce. Not long ago, most Turkish agriculture was organic by default and it is the term and brand ‘organic’ more than its actual definition that is new for both consumers and sellers.


D

Street Food Tradition ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping ● Shop & Go

The simit is one of the most common Turkish street foods and a popular breakfast food and snack. The sesame-crusted bagel-ish bread has a long tradition and has been sold in Istanbul since the 16th century at least. The vendors are all joined in the same workers union, which also controls prices. In December 2013, there was a price hike-up from 1TL to 1.40TL, which upset many vendors as it is already more difficult to sell simits on the streets during winter time. This specific price increase didn’t last long and prices are now back to 1 TL.

Scout Emma Finamore

City London

Region Europe

Deal Hunters Shopping behaviour in London is strongly defined by an individual’s economic situation. Less well-off people tend go to big shopping centres and large, cheap shops (e.g. Primark) to buy clothes and the local high street or market for groceries. Wealthier consumers are more likely to visit small independent boutiques, high-end shops in quieter areas and farmer’s markets where they can buy artisan goods and organic fruit and vegetables. Online shopping has had a big impact on the way the middle classes choose to shop, they are more likely to do food shopping online (e.g. Waitrose is a quality supermarket but has lots of deals which make it cheaper to order online) or look for cheaper clothing from sites like eBay and ASOS, while using social media to pick up inspiration from like-minded peers. Physical stores, especially flagship stores, have since added additional services to keep customers coming through the door like personalising products. There has always been a big vintage clothing market in London but now the traditional jumble sale is taking on a more trendy edge. For example, Westfield Stratford organised a jumble with luxury brands on sale at prices as low as £5.


I think that’s a reflection of how even people who are accustomed to buying expensive things are no longer embarrassed to bargain hunt. Pop-up shops are so widespread in London that they can hardly be called innovative, but they have changed the shopping experience as people are now forced to buy or do things more spontaneously if they don’t want to miss out.

T hey are more likely to do food shopping online

High Street, Low-Price

A. Beyond Retro, a popular vintage destination B. Pop-up concept has been reinvented by Boxpark C. Topshop and YrStore collaboration offers personalised fashion products D. RedLaser mobile app compares prices and finds good deals

● Smarket ● Pure Shopping

The poor economic climate means a growing group of people have started using cheap high street shops like Primark which tend to have a wide range of branches across London. Shops like these are attractive because they are cheap but produce fairly fashionable clothing, a good alternative to Topshop or Urban Outfitters for young people or families with limited income. However, many young people do feel guilty about buying from these shops as such low prices are often linked to bad working conditions for the people involved in the production process.

B

Pop-Up Mall ● Shop & Go ● Buying Sensations

Though pop-up shopping isn’t exactly new or innovative in London, Boxpark takes the concept to another level with an entire popup mall. The site is made up of a number of shipping containers that different brands can rent for short periods of time, and the goods on offer currently range from headphones to onesies to wine!

A

Beyond Retro ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping

London has always been known for vintage clothing and East London’s Brick Lane is probably its most famous area with a number of small vintage shops and larger warehouses like Beyond Retro. Unfortunately vintage, and East London, has become so popular with locals and tourists alike that it’s actually become quite hard to find a great bargain.

C

D

Extreme Bespoke

Buying Individuality

Price Comparison App

● Custom Made ● Shop at First Sight ● Buying Sensations

● Custom Made ● Buying Sensations ● Shop at First Sight

● Smarket ● Shop & Go

Selfridges Oxford Street is currently teaming up with Boomf for a limited time period. Boomf is a site which lets you print your favourite Instagram pictures onto marshmallows. They have now installed an indoor machine at Selfridges where customers can print their bespoke treats on demand. They simply have to connect to their Instagram, select the photos and collect the marshmallows only five minutes later.

Physical stores in London are increasingly trying to create personalised experiences and products for shoppers, which is what young people in particular are expecting these days. Topshop’s Oxford Street flagship store is currently collaborating with the start-up YrStore, allowing customers to customise the prints and designs of their T-shirts, tote bags and phone cases using dedicated in-store technology, only to have the result ready in the next hour. It’s all about allowing people to express their individuality.


RedLaser is an app which allows consumers to scan product barcodes and compare prices during their shopping trip. This is particularly handy in London where the range of shops is so broad that it becomes a struggle to find the best deal. RedLaser not only compares prices but also suggests alternatives and accessories for the products you have just bought. This combines online with offline shopping in a practical way.

Scout Zelia Pastore

City Milan

Coupon Fever

Region Europe

Milan is a trendsetter and other parts of Italy are followers. It is mainly in this retail capital where I n recent years shoppers have picked up a habit of mixing online and in-store shopping. More people there has been a collect information online and then buy offline or look for products in a physical shop boom in couponing and then buy it online to get the best price. That said, traditional shopping behaviour sites which are used remains prominent in Milan as consumers continue to shop at large department stores by brands as an such as Rinascente, Trony and Mondadori. These stores offer a wide range of products advertising medium and give consumers the opportunity to try out the items or ask the staff for advice. to generate visits, Those with lower income also shop at deliver products to one of Milan’s many local markets, whilst wealthier families go to single-brand stores their target group or small shops with tailored or hand-crafted collections. The economic crisis has caused and stimulate a sharp decline in consumption and more people are actively looking out for discounts. demand. In recent years there has been a boom in couponing sites which are used by brands as an advertising medium to generate visits, deliver products to their target group and stimulate demand. Barter is also spreading as a trend, both for economic reasons and because it has become a fashionable thing to do.


B

Big Stores Allure

A. Furla offers more specialist and tailored collections B. Shbang! barter website, a trendy way to save money C. Group buying website Sportboom offers deals for sports activities D. Street market, a traditional way of shopping

● Pure Shopping ● Buying Sensations ● Custom Made

Large stores such as La Rinascente, Aldo and Tezenis continue to have strong appeal in Milan, both because of their wide range of products on offer and because of the contact with staff. The customer service tends to be a lot better in this type of store as staff are professionally trained to sell a specific brand or product and can assist people for a longer time. Young people also like to go to department stores to have a fun day out, try on clothes and take selfies.

App For Crafts ● Pure Shopping ● Buying Sensations ● Smarket

The Fiera Dell’Artigianato is a craftsmanship fair which takes place every year in Milan before Christmas and is a very popular way of gathering craftsmen from all over the world to sell their (often Christmas-related) products. Since a few years ago, the fair has had its own mobile app which has made it possible to order items online after you have seen them at the fair and have them delivered to your place. This is interesting as it takes a very traditional Italian way of shopping – the market – to a new level by making it a multichannel shopping experience.

Trendy Swapping ● Social Shopping ● Pure Shopping ● Custom Made

Barter is currently a growing shopping trend in Milan. People find it a trendy and innovative way of purchasing items but for many people, it is also a good way of saving money. Shbang! is one of the most popular barter websites and allows users to swap shoes and bags by posting photos of their unused items and inviting other users to make an offer in return for each item.

Group Buying + Sports ● Social Shopping ● Custom Made

The Sportboom website originated in Milan but was soon made available in the rest of Italy as well. It is a coupon-like website which offers group buying deals on all sorts of sport activities. Group buying has been around for a while now but recently this form of shopping has become less catch-all and instead focuses on a specific type of sector, product or experience so people don’t have to receive tons of notifications about things they aren’t interested in.

A

La Dolce Vita ● Custom Made ● Buying Sensations ● Pure Shopping

Individuals and families with more spending power usually shop in single-brand stores such as Milan’s Furla shop. These boutiquestyle retailers offer more specialist and tailored collections. Due to their higher prices, this type of shopping behaviour is in sharp contrast with the shopping habits of people with less spending power who mainly shop in local street markets. C


D

Street Market Power ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping

Every district in Milan has its own local street market, which is open once a week. This is a more traditional form of shopping but families with less spending power are still visiting these markets on a weekly basis to do their grocery shopping.

Scout Nadia Abramova

City Moscow

Region Europe

Hypermarket Craze Traditionally, Russians buy products on markets which are very popular in small towns. However, huge hypermarkets have recently become the new top choice, providing cheap prices and a wide range of products. In the big cities like Moscow, large malls are particularly popular (i.e. Auchan). Megamalls are trying to be more and more universal and provide products for all demographic groups; they have started selling classic style clothing targeted at grandmothers and green products for those who care about purchasing ecofriendly.

M egamalls are trying to be more and more universal and provide products for all demographic groups


Amongst new developing trends there is e-commerce and sustainable shopping. e-commerce is a new trend for the Russian market, with many start-ups launching between 2010 and 2013. Some big retailers such as Audiomania also recently launched new generation of apps which allow consumers to buy products online, receive discounts in offline shops and share experiences with other buyers. Sustainable shopping and the desire for natural products is a trend observed only in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Farmers markets in Moscow are becoming an essential part of the shopping landscape and new specialised fairs are constantly opening, such as honey fairs. New paying techniques, such as pay-by-phone (NFC) are also used there by some farmers who like to experiment.

Inconvenient Convenience

A. Audiomania mobile app includes interesting information for the audiophile B. Consumers can find low prices on e-commerce giant Yandex.Market C. Street markets, still a tradition in smaller cities D. There is a growing movement of local farmers and sustainable products


Currently the most popular way of shopping is visiting huge hypermarkets like Auchan. People tend to allocate a particular day (usually Saturday) to go shopping for the week ahead. Whilst providing low prices and the opportunity to buy everything in one place, hypermarkets have serious disadvantages including crowds of people and the inconvenient location, usually based outside of cities. For most people such shopping doesn’t provide any pleasure.

B

Growing Giant

E-commerce Hit

● Pure Shopping ● Smarket ● Custom Made

● Smarket ● Custom Made ● Shop & Go

Yandex is the Russian equivalent of Google – the internet giant with many services and a search engine. One of the most popular services is Yandex.Market, which allows users to choose the lowest price among all Russian online and offline shops. In June 2014 Yandex announced that this service will also receive payment from consumers and ship all goods to them for a small fee, which strengthened Yandex.Market as an e-commerce giant. This move will likely increase growth for all online retail in Russia, because one of the main risks for the entire sector was consumer’s distrust in online shops, especially small ones.

Lamoda is the leading Russian and CIS online retailer, selling fashion goods and offering fast delivery and free trial before purchasing. Its growth has been extremely fast – launched in 2011, it now has more than 20 million active customers. Lamoda is becoming more and more popular because it’s more convenient than visiting traditional outlets where prices are higher (Lamoda doesn’t have to pay for leasing an expensive trade square).

D

Sustainable Branding ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping ● Shop & Go

A

C

Audiomania App

Keeping Traditions

● Pure Shopping ● Shop & Go

● Pure Shopping ● Made in…

Audiomania is a top Russian retailer in acoustical systems. In order to distinguish itself from competitors, Audiomania launched a new mobile app in May 2013, which allowed consumers to view and compare all products, order online for a home demonstration or find the nearest shop where you can see them. It also features a forum for audiophiles and lists of new concerts in your city. Audiomania was also one of the first retailers in Russia to implement trade-in (traditionally trade-in existed for automobile sales only).

Traditionally most Russians shopped in markets, where many sellers from different villages are allowed to trade. Sometimes in big cities in autumn, there are Saturday markets (a street with lots of tents, where you can buy things). When big retailers began to open hypermarkets in Russian cities about ten years ago, the popularity of markets started to shrink. However, markets still dominate in small cities where the population is less than 50,000 people.


Farmer’s fairs first opened in 2013 in Moscow. Local governments strongly support such fairs, viewing them as an important way of city branding, however due to high prices this trend is observed only in the biggest and wealthiest Russian cities. At these fairs citizens buy expensive but healthy products from chosen farmers. Some fairs are permanent, while others are seasonal or timelimited. Overall, it is a part of the movement towards locality and sustainability, a protest against huge modern factories which produce most of the food.

Scout Camille Darroux

City Paris

Locavore Love

Region Europe

People are to shopping at larger stores less than they used to, especially those who belong to the ‘Bobo’ category. This group buys organic and local products, and these trends are slowly spreading to the masses, though larger stores are trying to keep up. The locavore trend is really strong in Paris since people living in big cities feel disconnected from tradition and nature. Eating food whose producer they’ve met makes them feel closer to real life. People are also really into the ‘Made in France’ movement, with brands such as Le Slip Français leading the way. It seems like department stores are mostly visited by tourists in Paris now. Renting products is also becoming more popular thanks to new start-ups such as Drivy (car rental) or La Machine du Voisin (which allows people to use someone else’s washing machine). In Paris, the Autolib service which allows people to rent a car for a very short period of time is popular, and so is the Velib service for bikes. A cat café recently opened in Paris as well and allows people to spend time with a cat while having a drink, instead of owning their own. I think there is a shift towards services and experiences than just owning things. People are becoming more interested in easy, non-binding experiences.


T he locavore trend is really strong in Paris since people living in big cities feel disconnected from tradition and nature. Eating food whose producer they’ve met makes them feel closer to real life

B

Affordable Farm Fresh ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping ● Smarket

A

Entirely French ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping

Parisian shoppers are really into the whole ‘Made in France’ movement, with brands such as Le Slip Français leading the way. Le Slip is an underwear and swimwear brand selling items which are hundred percent made in France. The shop tailors to men, women and children. Le Slip exists across France but is most visibly present in Paris with 14 different boutiques. The retailer also has a good website which uses a map to show the different factories where the clothes are made.

My Little Paris ● Custom Made ● Smarket ● Buying Sensations

Website and mobile app My Little Paris – which Parisians can use to find out about new bars, restaurants or shops – is particularly good for fashion fans as it has a whole section on private sales across the city. The app personalise suggestions based on the user location. My Little Box is a subscription service offered by My Little Paris at 16,90 euros per month. Subscribers receive a monthly surprise box with a selection of beauty products.

A. Le Slip Français, hundred per cent French underwear B. Le Panier Parisien delivers farm-fresh orders made online and offline C. Autolib, accessible short car rental in Paris D. Bleu de France, everything in their shop is exclusively produced in France

Le Panier Parisien is a service which offers its customers farm-fresh produce at the best prices. This is a popular example as people love local products but sometimes find them quite expensive. The service travels by truck all week long around Paris and some surrounding small villages to sell orders placed on site and deliver orders made online. Delivery is free for orders from nine euros. Because of its strong links with local producers, Le Panier Parisien delivers a huge variety of products like vegetables, meats and fine wines.

D

France Curated! ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping ● Custom Made

C

Ephemeral Driving ● Shop & Go ● Smarket

Autolib is a Paris-only car rental service which is primarily used to rent a car over short periods (a few minutes to one hour). The service is also accessible only via subscription. People can either subscribe to the service for one day, one week, one month or one year. They then have to pay five euros every half hour when using the car. This service is mostly used by people who wish to drive for a short distance within the city (i.e. going to the train station or to the store). There are several stations in and around Paris where the cars can be dropped off and charged as these are electric cars. The cars were designed by Italian company Pininfarina.


A new store has recently opened in Paris to sell fashion items which were exclusively produced in France. Bleu de France – unlike Le Slip Français – only has one shop that was recently opened in the center of Paris. The range of products for sale proofs you can buy anything made in France – from wooden keyboards to clothes. Bleu de France collects the best and most innovative national design brands.

Scout Max Eriksson

City Stockholm

Region Europe

Sustainable Desire Sweden has miraculously made it through the economic crisis with very little damage, but people still have less in their wallets than they used to. Not long ago there used to be just two sales a year in Swedish shops, but this is increasing a lot and now everyone wants a bargain. Today almost every store has a clothing rack that is full of sale items or ‘last chance to buy’. Pop-up sales have been a big success, where brands rent different locations and have a big sale with garments from previous seasons. Acne and Whyred have taken this idea to another level and opened permanent shops where they sell previous seasons at discount prices. There is some backlash though and in Stockholm second hand, vintage and more sustainable shopping have made a big appearance, even non-Swedish vintage shops like Beyond Retro from London has come to Stockholm. We also see other imported trends like street markets and sustainable crop markets. Cashless payments are taking off and you can see a lot of local markets and flee market sellers using systems like Swish. I hear almost all of my friends and family talk about wanting to cut back on shopping and be more sustainable, but I find that almost no one is able to.


ot long ago there N used to be just two sales a year in Swedish shops, but this is increasing a lot and now everyone wants a bargain

A A. ‘Shopping Free Year’ movement as a reaction to modern consumerism B. Coop supermarket app provides discounts alerts and product notifications C. Local farmers market Bondens Egen Marknad pops up around Stockholm D. Rag Bag helps shoppers donate unwanted clothes to charity organisations

Anti-Shopping Movements ● Pure Shopping ● Shop & Go

The ‘Shopping Free Year’ and the ‘Shopping Free Day’ are two different movements that have generated a lot of popularity in Sweden as a reaction to the modern consumerist society that we live in. People have found that you don’t have to consume to be happy, that you have to stop and think about what you are doing and buying and, especially, why. The ‘Shopping Free Day’, is a full day where you don’t buy anything for 24 hours and the ‘Shopping Free Year’ is a full year where you buy nothing other than what you absolutely need.

B

Coop Beacon ● Smarket ● Custom Made ● Buying Sensations

Coop supermarket has installed a trial run for a beacon in some of their shops in Stockholm. The beacon works so that if you have the Coop supermarket app on your phone and have it running while you are in the shop or close by, you will get notifications sent to your phone about different items and discounts.

D

Second Hand Site

The Rag Bag

● Social Shopping ● Shop & Go ● Smarket

● Pure Shopping ● Smarket

Blocket.se is the Swedish version of eBay, a site where anyone can sell anything, from concert tickets to used clothes, a place where you can find apartments for rent or buy a used car. Blocket has been around for more than ten years but is steadily growing and more and more people find what they are looking for. Since most of the things that are sold on Blocket are second hand it is a more sustainable way of shopping and the prices are lower since you cut out the middle man (the stores).

The Rag Bag has been created by the Swedish menswear brand Uniforms for the Dedicated. The bag is a way for the consumer to help mother earth and people in need, both at once. When buying a new garment you bring it home in your Rag Bag which is given to you in the store. Once home, take out your new garment, flip the bag inside out and put an old piece of clothing in, close the bag and stick in a mail box, the address for different charities are already prewritten on the bag. The Rag Bag will be found in different clothing shops around Stockholm.

Rewind Sales ● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping

A couple of years ago Acne Archive opened its doors, a shop run by Acne carrying only previous seasons of the brand, unique pieces from the showroom at Acne, fashion show pieces and store made or altered pieces. Acne Archive is an outlet that tries to be something else and does so very well. The prices are around half the price of the regular Acne shop and you are very likely to find some rare gems in the store. The shop has not got its own website so you have to visit the store regularly to find out what was in their weekly shipment.

C

Local Pop-up ● Made in… ● Shop & Go ● Pure Shopping

Bondens Egen Marknad is a traditional local produce market and it pops up in different locations throughout the year in Sweden, including four locations in Stockholm, where local farmers and hunters sell their home made produce. Here you can find anything, from deer sausage to cheese and home grown vegetables. Bondens Egen Marknad has grown steadily since its start and has become very popular as a lot of Swedes are growing more aware of climate change and are getting more and more concerned about constant news on food safety and how much pesticide is going into growing our veggies.


Peep at Björn Borg ● Custom Made ● Shop at First Sight ● Social Shopping

The Swedish fashion/underwear brand Björn Borg launched a short campaign called ‘Peep at Björn Borg’ where you could – while in the changing room in the flagship store in Stockholm – choose to capture the reflection in the mirror and share via the Björn Borg website and Facebook page.

Scout Daniel Restrepo

City Bogota

Region Latin America

Close Encounters

Traditionally, people would do most of their shopping at the local market. These markets supplied a wide range of goods and as the prices were not fixed, people used to barter all the time. Most people had their preferred shop or seller who had being selling things to them and their families for generations, which meant that the relationship between the seller and buyer was a very close one, almost to the point of friendship. These traditional markets are still seen in little villages in the countryside but they have changed and have almost disappeared in big cities. The few traditional markets still standing in Bogotá are mainly focused on selling flowers and fresh produce. Everything else is sold by big, often multinational companies in shopping malls. Using online and mobile is still quite cutting edge in Bogotá. Credit cards are only available to those on high incomes and Colombians have always been very concerned about online security. 3G was introduced not long ago and the price of smartphones is still quite high for the average citizen. Whilst the shopping relationship has evolved from a more personal encounter to a simpler commercial contact, post purchase services are improving. In contrast to the previous lack of any warranty or after sale support, most multinational companies now offer very good post purchase services.


hilst the shopping W relationship has evolved from a more personal encounter to a simpler commercial contact, post purchase services are improving

A. Mini Cooper has a strong presence in Facebook B. Fresh food, good prices and bargaining at small farmers markets C. El tomacorriente mobile app for bicycle lovers D. Personalised shopping and entertainment options for Bogota Exclusiva app users E. Zara mobile app has been very innovative and successful with customers

A

From Farm to City ● Made in… ● Smarket ● Pure Shopping

In contrast to the traditional markets where fresh produce is sold directly from small farmers and prices are set by a bargain process, big shops in the city like Surtifruver, buy products at low prices and big quantities from small farmers and sell them at higher, fixed prices. They offer a great service for people living in the city who want fresh and good-quality products but don’t have time to travel long distances to the traditional markets to choose products and barter over prices.

Networked Mini Cooper ● Social Shopping ● Custom Made

Mini Cooper is currently challenging the way people buy cars in Bogotá by selling cars via social media. Advertisements appear on Facebook (in the news feed and in the side columns) with a link to the option to purchase a Mini. In addition, Mini Cooper is offering big promotions through Groupon. On a specific day, they offered Mini Coopers at a 20% discount. The promotion was so successful that they sold two cars within a couple of hours.

B

Fresh Deals ● Pure Shopping ● Made in…

C

D

Bogotá Exclusiva ● Custom Made ● Smarket ● Social Shopping

The Bogotá Exclusiva app is a customisable shopping guide which lets people using various filters (e.g. location, city area, price, etc.) to find out where they can go shopping or where they can go out for food, art or drinks. The app learns from the user searches so the results are constantly personalised to what they want. Many shops, independent designers and galleries have their own administrator which keeps up to date their page on the app at all times, making the tool more effective than sites like TripAdvisor where only a third party source adds information. The app lets you save your favourites and share activity on social media.

Bicycle Shops ● Pure Shopping ● Smarket

A relatively new and exciting trend in Bogotá is the emergence of bicycle shops. Due to the high levels of traffic and resulting pollution in Bogotá, people are looking for faster and more eco-friendly ways of moving around the city. A few years ago, the Mayor of Bogotá started the construction of lanes exclusively for bikes, which increased the number of people using bikes to travel to work. Consequently, lots of bicycle shops have opened such as El tomacorriente and the most innovative shops launching mobile apps that allow users to identify their closest bike shop or guide them from A to B using the special lanes. Through these apps, bike shops are advertising their products and their services are attracting more customers every day.

Boyacá is perhaps the most traditional part of Colombia and most of the people in this area are still small farmers. Of the many towns of Boyacá, Villa de Leyva is one of the most popular markets for agricultural produce. Every Saturday, farmers from the surrounding areas come to Villa de Leyva with their products (mainly fruit, meat, herbs and spices) in order to sell them at the local market. Shoppers aim to buy enough food to feed their families for a full week and they look to get good and fresh products at the lowest possible price by bargaining.


E

Retail Apps ● Smarket ● Custom Made

Zara is one of the first shops in Bogotá to launch an app. They are known for their innovative designs and logistics, however nobody here expected them to also be innovative in technology. Their app has been very successful in their branding and marketing campaign, providing updates on new collections, promotions, new store openings and offering location sensitive services. The latest addition to the app allows customers to buy things online via their phones at any time of the day, which has been a great help to those shoppers who didn’t have the time to make it to the shop before closing time. It also offers the opportunity to buy clothes from the comfort of your home and the option to return unsuitable items.

Scout Sofia Bonessa

City Buenos Aires


Consumer Power

In Buenos Aires, people typically shop at really big markets or shopping malls. For women, discount days at the malls are very popular, for example ‘Women’s Wednesday’ is run by a credit card company and offers discounts on well-known brands. Shoppers also buy a few items in small supermarkets – typically known as Chinese stores – or small vegetable and grocery markets around the city because they are a little less expensive and there is always one near your house.

I t’s becoming an everyday thing to Google the item you are buying and compare it to others, or even watch reviews about it on YouTube


Traditional shopping behaviours are constantly changing due to advances in technology, for example people now know more about the product that they want to buy. It’s becoming an everyday thing to Google the item you are buying and compare it to others, or even watch reviews about it on YouTube. Of course, this behaviour is manifested in people who have access to the Internet. The most cutting-edge innovation in Buenos Aires seems to be the incorporation for the first time of new self-service checkouts in supermarkets. In the case of shopping for clothing, the appearance of showrooms from independent designers who offer their own apartments to receive their clients is particularly innovative as they don’t want to spend money on traditional advertising, they use social media pages such as Facebook to advertise their designs.

Coupon Life ● Custom Made ● Smarket

A

Dot Baires

Using coupons for online shopping is almost a tradition in Buenos Aires nowadays, especially for young people. It gives you the facility of buying every kind of product, from household items and clothing to services like a spa day, weekend holidays, restaurant lunches and more. In the case of Groupon, the vouchers you buy have great discounts and allow you to pay half on buying and half on arrival at the restaurant, or wherever you are going.

D

Concierge Services


● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping

This is the best example of a traditional shopping mall for high/middle class society. Not only has a wide variety of quality brands of clothes, but also a lot of technology stores, car dealerships and other interesting facilities such as Hoyt cinemas, popular hairdresser chain Cerini and a playground for children. Dot Baires has well-designed outdoor and indoor spaces that invite you to explore the entire place which, by the way, is extremely big. This makes the shopping mall not just a nice shopping promenade but also a great meeting point for friends.

Shop Hop BA is a custom shopping tour service for tourists and wealthier locals. More affluent people would use this type of service if they wanted to find an important gift and didn’t know where to find more original shops or designers. For USD40 per hour, an expert will take you to private appointments with local designers and to quality vintage shops. You can also choose to go without the expert and pay USD60 to receive a tailored itinerary (which also includes private appointments with designers). The itinerary matches the customer’s budget and personal style. C

Designer Showrooms ● Shop at First Sight ● Custom Made ● Social Shopping

B

Open Everyday ● Smarket ● Disruptive Retail

The small supermarkets run by the Chinese community are the typical convenient stores where people, from almost every social class, go to buy those few items you forget to buy or suddenly run out of (like toiletries, fruit and vegetables, meat and cheese, candles, etc.) when other shops are closed. They are wellknown for being open every day of the year, which is great for customers who need to buy something at the last minute, or for example on Christmas eve if you run out of anything there’s always a store open of this kind near your home.

This is a clear example of the innovation in clothes shopping and illustrates how showrooms are increasingly recognised in the fashion world of Buenos Aires. Victoria Hache is a young independent shoe designer and like many other brands of independent clothes and furniture designers, she advertises through her Facebook page. Her store is located in an apartment in the Recoleta neighbourhood and to see her products you have to make an appointment with her through her Facebook page, as Victoria always serves her clients personally. Her shoes are distinguished by their good quality, originality and reasonable prices – that’s why not only famous people buy her products but also the middle classes.

A. Dot Baires shopping mall offers quality brands, technology stores and entertainment B. Convenient stores run by the Chinese community are open all hours C. Shoe designer Victoria Hache introduces a personalised service and showroom D. Shop Hop BA, a customised shopping tour service for the wealthier and tourists E. Organic markets around the city are becoming a more popular choice


E

Organic Markets ● Pure Shopping

Nowadays, thanks to the Internet and the media, people are better informed about the adverse effects of agrochemicals on crops, our planet and our health. As a result, it is becoming more and more popular to buy organic products in special fairs, where you can buy them at a reasonable price. This type of markets sell seasonal products and usually offer suitable food for celiac, vegans and vegetarian people. These fairs are normally made up of many producers who get together to sell their products. Some of the fairs are placed in warehouses or in parks and each day they are in a different place.

Scout María José de Alba García

City Mexico City


Comfortable Experiences Consumers in Mexico City with lower incomes usually do their shopping in local shops or markets. Whilst those who are better-off tend to visit American-style supermarkets, hypermarkets and malls. Markets have traditionally been a practical retail solution, simply allowing consumers to buy the basics. However, a growing number of trendy markets are now attracting higher-income consumer groups too. For example, the Mercado Roma is a great gastronomic market where people can buy speciality ingredients. Current retail innovations in Mexico City are mainly focused around making the shopping experience more comfortable, such as the Starbuck’s drive-thru shops or malls like Reforma which combine shopping, housing and other facilities like gyms and bank branches. Online shopping is on the rise but fails to reach the same popularity levels as in Brazil or outside Latin America. Many people go online to research their purchases but at the actual point of purchase, they will only use the internet for a limited amount of products and services (e.g. travel) – this is usually due to a lack of trust in making online transactions.


We have seen an increase in the number of online stores and digital tools available, for example more campaigns now feature QR codes and apps like Donde Ir and Hello Food also share recommendations based on your location.

C urrent retail innovations in Mexico City are mainly focused around making the shopping experience more comfortable

A. Reforma, a large mall with apartments and offices for the busy urbanites B. Group buying site ClickOnero offer great deals on products and leisure C. Linio, the ‘Amazon’ for Latin American consumers D. Mercado Roma, from trendy gourmet food to artisan producers

C

Conquering LATAM ● Smarket ● Custom Made ● Disruptive Retail

Linio is a Mexico City-based e-commerce which is quickly expanding across Latin America and positioning itself as the Amazon for Latin American consumers. Linio is available online but also has its mobile app – both of which allow consumers to order products from a wide range of categories and also gives the option to its customers to pay by card or cash on delivery.

A

A Way of Life ● Smarket ● Buying Sensations

Reforma – a new shopping centre located in one of the main avenues in Mexico City – is a large mall where you can find the usual variety of shops and restaurants, some banks and gyms; but in the same building there are apartments and offices as well. It claims to be a small city built in 173,000m2. For the people who work and/or live there it is very accessible to do shopping. This is a clever solution for a big over populated city like Mexico, it makes life and shopping very practical and comfortable.

High-End Experience ● Buying Sensations ● Smarket

City Market is a high-end supermarket which is part of the larger Comercial Mexicana chain. With only five stores across Mexico City, City Market is a more sophisticated grocery concept which is mainly aimed at the higher socio-economic groups. Despite being hit by the financial downturn, City Market is now again a very popular retail proposition. Their stores are very nice and so include an area with coffee shop, bar and a couple of small restaurants which sell salads, oven pizza and Spanish pinchos. To further enhance the shopping experience, City Market have their own shopping app and organise in-store cooking events.

B

Smart Experiences ● Custom Made ● Smarket ● Buying Sensations

Mexico City has seen an increase in the number of e-commerce sites and shopping apps available. In particular, the group buying concept has become very popular and many people are using sites like ClickOnero to find great deals for products and things to do. It is a great way for brands and services to attract people to certain experiences which they normally wouldn’t have researched.

Location Based ● Smarket ● Custom Made ● Made in…

Mexico City now has a wide range of apps which recommend places and shops, often based on someone’s current location. This is changing the way people shop as they are now more aware of what is going on in their area. Urban DF is an app which gives users news and updates on Mexico City and recommends restaurants and shops. Time Out Mexico and Donde Ir (translated as ‘Where to go?’) are a handy guide to local bars, restaurants and retailers. Hello Food tracks where you currently are and shows you which restaurants you can go to or order from in the same area – they also share relevant discounts or deals.


D

Artisan Markets ● Buying Sensations ● Shop & Go ● Made in…

Mexico City currently has a lot of new, trendy markets and bazaars popping up in strategic places, mainly during the weekends. These markets go beyond the traditional markets, which usually have on offer the basics, and instead allow people to find speciality and gourmet food from artisan producers, food trucks, craft drinks, jewellery and clothes from local designers, etc. Some of these markets are temporary but others, such as the Mercado Roma, are permanent. The Mercado Roma is a high-end gastronomic market where chefs and artisan producers sell their specialist ingredients.

Scout Renata Acioli

City Rio de Janeiro


Relax and Shop!

In Brazil, malls are the most popular way to shop. According to the Brazilian Association of Shopping Centers, the number of malls grew by 30% from 2006 to 2012. Malls aren’t necessarily restricted to just one socioeconomic sector but they usually aim to attract the rich and the middle class by having a mix of boutiques and standard department stores. There are also more ways to purchase now and it’s very common for the middle classes to pay for products in instalments using special schemes where the shop has its own credit card for this. Rio is a seaside city and Cariocas (people from Rio) are more relaxed. The malls are colourful, fresh, some of them have open areas and, as the city is hot, you normally see people walking with sandals or Havaianas inside the malls. In the past they used to be like a closed box, with no natural light so customers would lose sense of time, but this concept is now outdated and today more malls are airy with natural light. They are also about entertainment. In Rio, it’s a place to relax, walk, eat, see beautiful exhibitions, watch shows, theatre and movies.


Brazilian consumers are more connected with technology than just a few years ago. They research more, seek recommendations, use social media websites to complain and are generally more demanding. Brands are also using social media to create stronger relationships with customers.

alls are airy M with natural light. They are also about entertainment. In Rio, it’s a place to relax, walk, eat, see beautiful exhibitions, watch shows, theatre and movies

Creativity Flair ● Buying Sensations ● Shop at First Sight

Creativity and design are present in all malls in Rio. The experience begins outside, with gardens and architectural design. Inside there is lots of natural light, attractive food squares and beautiful features and adornments in the ceiling.

B

Google Wallet ● Smarket ● Pure Shopping

A

Green World ● Pure Shopping ● Custom Made

Malls are full of health food stores. The store Mundo Verde is the largest network of stores specialising in natural, organic and wellbeing. This is one of the most successful and offers natural products and organic snacks. It’s not just to get thin, but to have good health. To be a wellbeing worldwide brand is their mission. They offer a varied mix of products, intended for different audiences and anyone who simply cares for health, beauty and wellbeing.

Discount Cards

Google decided to include Brazil in Google Wallet, the means of digital payment. The app is not available for Brazilian stores yet, however, you can create an account and use it to make online transactions. A lot of Brazilians are doing this already and is expected to be used when it arrives in shops. According to IDC (International Data Corporation), last year smartphone sales in Brazil surpassed standard mobile phones.

A. Mundo Verde chain store dedicated to natural, organic and wellbeing products B. Google Wallet, a solution for cashless transactions C. Meu Shopping, a shopping mall within Facebook D. Cultural experiences in shopping malls

Culture Malls ● Buying Sensations ● Made in… ● Shop at First Sight

C


Some stores – such as Casas Bahia, Americanas and Ponto Frio – sell their products in up to 24 instalments. Clothing stores like C&A also offers 12 instalments. These stores also offer their own credit cards with discounts and more instalments. Given that people in Brazil have to pay for essential services like schools and hospitals these schemes help to make a real difference.

D

Facebook Mall ● Social Shopping ● Smarket

Meu Shopping describes itself as a shopping Mall within Facebook. Meu Shopping lets Brazilian brands open an online store inside this Facebook space and make their products open to customers in the network. It is an interesting system because it brings people in one place to both well-known and up and coming brands. As many young companies are from Rio this is a good place for them to reach out to the public in other areas.


In Rio, we can see the culture in art exhibitions inside the malls. The city’s history and culture, like Carnival party, are some of the themes, but we can find also art projects, book festivals, theatre and shows. These are creative ways to offer more entertainment. For example, in specialised malls for the home and decoration there is always an architecture or design exhibition, and in the case of more generic shopping malls dedicated to the family and kids you will often find movie characters. Some of the malls have their own venues to house shows, both national and international. For example, in Barra da Tijuca, we have Citibank Hall inside the Via Parque Shopping.

Scout Tom Powell

City Los Angeles

Region North America

Exclusive and Ephemeral Outdoor shopping centres remain high-traffic destinations in LA, though increasingly they seem to be attracting more tourists than locals. Without a robust public transportation infrastructure like New York or Washington D.C., it is difficult for Angelonos to visit their favourite stores during peak traffic times. The ease of shopping online has lifted this burden completely. Retailers like ASOS, Nasty Gal and Reformation have built massively successful businesses without physical storefronts at all. Venture-backed commerce company Beachmint, based in Santa Monica, has created a host of destination websites tailored to women who love shopping for affordable luxury from the comfort of their couch. On the social media front, Instagram and Pinterest have accelerated demand for the beautifully curated life. LA is home to a number of popular, widely influential lifestyle blogs: DesignLoveFest, Oh Joy! and Justina Blakenely, to name a few. These blogs link to the products featured on their sites and offer ‘Pin it’ buttons on photos so readers can collect images for their own mood boards.


LA is currently experiencing a local revolution. Whether shoppers are hunting for home goods, organic produce or clothing, exclusivity is king. Etsy is a one-stop shop for vintage and one-of-a-kind pieces, and Angelenos will flock to seasonal events such as the Echo Park Craft Fair, the Parachute Market and Unique LA to find vintage and handmade goods.

L A is currently experiencing a local revolution. Whether shoppers are hunting for home goods, organic produce or clothing, exclusivity is king

Radical Transparency ● Pure Shopping

A C

Inspirational Lifestyle Blogs Tourist Mall Experience ● Shop at First Sight ● Shop & Go


Oh Joy! is one of the most popular LA based lifestyle blogs. The blog by graphic designer Joy Cho and her team discuss not only design, fashion and food but also Joy’s personal life and adventures. Many people in LA use blogs like this to gather lifestyle inspiration and link content to their Pinterest pages.

The Grove, The Americana at Brand and the Third Street Promenade are high-traffic destinations, although they are increasingly used more as tourist locations. These retail areas offer an all-encompassing shopping experience. Bands play live in the middle of the street at The Grove on a regular basis. Food trucks can also be found, which offer a different experience to the mainstream restaurants such as a The Cheesecake Factory.

Everlane is an online fashion store and LA start-up that seeks ‘radical transparency’. This is what makes it a truly modern idea – not only does it desire to cut out the middle man, thus saving the customer money, it seeks to be completely transparent. A visit to their website will allow the customer to click on any of their factories around the world and read stories about them. These are incredibly informative – they list the exact number of employees working there, the year it was founded, how they came to work there, what materials are used and information about the owners. Their website is clear, clean and upfront with how the customer is saving money (e.g. cutting out many of the middle man fees).

Celebrity Curation ● Custom Made ● Social Shopping ● Disruptive Retail

B

Traditional Supermarkets ● Smarket ● Pure Shopping

Stores such as Ralphs, Vons, Trader Joes and Whole Foods are located all over the Los Angeles area and are easily accessible in many suburbs and neighbourhoods. These stores span the whole spectrum of customer – from Ralphs, which is on the cheaper side, all the way through to Whole Foods, which is by far the most expensive out of the group. All of these stores sell mainstream food brands as well as their own make of foods. Whole Foods, however, will sell more organically grown produce, which is a pull for the young adult customer.

Quarterly is an LA start-up, which seeks to go one-step further than Twitter and offer a tangible interaction between us and our favourite influential people. Customers receive an individually curated gift package by a chosen designer. These designers include actors, fashion designers and many more. They describe it as ‘like a magazine, but instead of words on a page you receive actual items’. Prices start from around US$30, and the package is delivered every three months. Customers can expect a blend of items – original, exclusive and consumer items – that are ‘timeless, practical and exciting’. Each product will reflect the person who curated it and help you understand them more. Certain items will not be able to be bought anywhere else. Current curators include: Pharell Williams, Bill Nye and Rosario Dawson. A great modern business!

A. Oh Joy! is one of the most popular LA based lifestyle blogs B. Vons chain stores of healthy food and products C. The Americana at Brand shopping mall for LA tourists Good Eggs delivers to your door sustainable food from local farmers


D

Ethical and Organic Delivery ● Pure Shopping ● Made in… ● Smarket

FarmBoxLA is a company that seeks to bring ethical and organic farmer’s market food to your door. Aimed at the customer who hasn’t got time to make it to their local farmer’s market at the weekend, FarmBox partners with a number of farms in the LA region that support ethical production. Good Eggs is a new company with bases in LA, San Francisco, Brooklyn and New Orleans that seeks to grow and sustain local food systems worldwide. Customers order on the website and choose which farmers and produce they desire, and Good Eggs delivers straight to the door. Hassle free, ethically aware, and supporting new emerging ideas – the perfect combination for the modern shopper.

Scout Eugene Carral

City Miami


Creative Renaissance Outdoor shopping centres remain high-traffic destinations in LA, though increasingly they seem to be attracting more tourists than locals. Miami’s shopping behavior is really dictated by where you live in the metropolis. If you live in one of the more urban areas like Downtown, Midtown or Brickell, you are going to find many more people gravitating toward what’s close by, which are smaller specialty shops that are all relatively new. In the suburban areas outside the hustle and bustle of the city, you will find people willing to make the commute to larger stores, malls and wholesale stores for their shopping needs. Miami is currently in the midst of a renaissance both industrially and demographically, what once was niche fine art, music or cultural experiences in parts of town now have become more mainstream, embodied in boutique stores such as Wynwood and Design District. With the market for environmentally aware consumers growing, sustainable fashion has also been emerging a lot more in Miami and organic cotton is a big trend in reducing carbon footprints when shopping.


With the exception of those of an older age group who are not as technologically savvy, the move toward online shopping has become tremendous in Miami. While some people will still leave their homes for a deal, many would prefer the convenience of not having to engage in Miami’s nightmare traffic landscape – almost everyone does their research online in some way with the most popular site used in our area is Yelp.com.

any would prefer M the convenience of not having to engage in Miami’s nightmare traffic landscape

Fashion ‘Conscious’ ● Buying Sensations

H&M is a prime example of a retailer using the term ‘conscious’ as an invitation for consumers who are interested in the environment to learn more about the merchandise that includes this wording. My friend who works at H&M stated that he receives numerous inquiries about the term and what H&M is doing in an effort to reduce negative impacts to the environment. Knowing that the items they are buying are environmentally-friendly, yet fashionable and affordable tips the scales for many of these consumers to purchase these items instead of those made with inferior fabrics. Furthermore, the consumer gets even more excited about the purchase when he informs them about the garment collecting initiative that the store implements as a reward for turning in old clothing.

A

Drink Delivery ● Smarket ● Custom Made

In some larger cities, this concept of liquor delivery had already been established. However, this concept was relatively new to Miami outside of the large condo development areas. Recently, one of my friends sent me a link to Thirsty app that allows you to input your address to search in your area for nearby merchants. You can then browse through their inventory of liquor, make your selections (a minimum of US$40 is required) and submit your information and method of payment. You are guaranteed the liquor at your home within the hour, there is no delivery fee and many of the offerings are actually cheaper than they are at local liquor stores.

C

Rewards First ● Custom Made ● Smarket B

Buzz Kill ● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping ● Social Shopping

The turnover with some businesses in Miami is frighteningly fast if you don’t generate buzz or, worse, if you generate bad buzz. Websites like Yelp help consumers share ideas about what is the better option. For instance, my friends gathered recently to determine whether we should check out a new restaurant down south that specializes in Cuban/Asian fusion (Finka) or go back to a tried and trusted restaurant that we’ve been to in the past, but haven’t frequented recently. While both restaurants have three and half stars in their reviews, one particular negative comment tipped the scales for the majority of the group.

By far, the better your store’s reward policy, the more likely you will be to get my business. I tend to research a store’s reward policy before making decisions on shopping there. For example, for work clothes, I have several different places I could patron to get the typical set of dress shirts, slacks or suits. However, of all the places that offer slim fit shirts, slacks and suits, the only one that gives me money for shopping there is Kohl’s. During certain periods, for every US$50 you spend, you receive US$10. This sort of perk makes me more interested in spending money there. For example, I began buying my bedding and housewares items there because of the value.

A. Thirsty mobile app, finds liquor stores in your area and delivers within an hour B. Yelp reviews helps to make better choices C. Rewarding shopping at Kohl’s department stores D. Target, one stop store to get everything you need within your budget


D

Experience vs Practicality ● Buying Sensations ● Shop at First Sight ● Pure Shopping

In Miami, you have a wide range of households with vastly different earning capacities. Miami has moved away from the enormous malls with chain stores and concrete parking lots in favour of the higher end open-air malls with boutique shops. If you have the money, you can come to the heart of the Biscayne area Mary Brickell Village to enjoy a day of shopping at high-end stores and have yourself a nice lunch in a fine dining establishment. However, if you live away from the high rises and are raising a family in suburbia, you’ll likely find yourself shopping in a Target where your one stop will get you everything you need under one roof keeping you within budget and on time if you have a hectic schedule.

Scout Nathanaël Corre

City Montreal


Local Connection

There are two main profiles for traditional shopping in the Montreal area. First, the city dweller who uses public transport, walks or cycles and shops at local supermarkets, boutiques or fruit and vegetable markets. Second, the suburbs dweller who drives everywhere and shops at malls and chain stores. From fruit and vegetables to fashion items there is a rather strong and explicit trend to market local products as Made in Québec. There are several popular yearly events that promote local design and creation such as Braderie de la Mode Québécoise, Souk @ SAT and Le Salon des Métiers d’Art de Montréal.

F rom fruit and vegetables to fashion items there is a rather strong and explicit trend to market local products as Made in Québec


A noteworthy change in shopping is that more and more fashion stores have a Facebook page (even when they don’t have a website) and newsletter lists, so they can invite people to so-called VIP parties where customers are treated to fashion-counsellor advice or get free beauty treatment along with some canapés. Buying from one’s own networks and local platforms for second hand classified ads like Kijiji have become a big thing too. Another shopping trend that I have recently noticed in Montreal’s Mile End is clothes swap parties; it’s a social gathering where people bring clothes they don’t want and if two people want the same item, they take turns performing a fashion parade with the item and participants will vote on who it fits best and should keep it.

High Street Feel ● Buying Sensations ● Smarket

A

Underground Shopping ● Buying Sensations ● Smarket

The so-called ‘underground city’ is a large interconnected malls complex linking metro stations in the city centre. It started in 1966 when the metro opened and was designed to combine the need for a comfortable escape from the cold weather in winter with high street shopping. Although promoted as an important tourist attraction by most Montreal travel guidebooks, many Montrealers don’t even realise they’re in it while they commute; it is thus a sort of organic entity where shopping activities are seamlessly merged with commuting, giving marketers a large scale of opportunities to put their products forward.

Quartier DIX30 in the suburban city of Brossard is not a regular mall. The aim here is to give the visitors the same feeling as shopping on the high street in downtown Montreal while having easy access by car. It is an open air mall that gathers retail shops along with cafés, restaurants, hotels, services, cinemas, a 300-condominium complex, nearby new residential developments and a couple of nursing homes. It opened in 2006 and embodies a new generation of suburban malls. This one is located on the South shore of Montreal. Another major one is Centropolis in Laval (North shore).

Optimum Weekends ● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping

Pharmaprix drugstore offers a fidelity reward card called Optimum that accumulates points. These points can be redeemed as a discount on new purchases any time, but on given weekends the points acquired when buying are 20 times bigger than usual, thus offering a bigger credit on the next purchase. That builds a solid relationship between the store and its customers who get used to waiting to be notified about such opportunities.

D

Popular Apps ● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping

B

C

Clothes Swap Party

Health and Organic

● Pure Shopping ● Social Shopping ● Shop & Go

● Custom Made ● Pure Shopping

Montreal’s Mile End is known as an influential bohemian, arts and craft neighbourhood, sometimes compared to Brooklyn as trendsetting. Some creative friends I have over there organise clothes swap parties. What makes it interesting are the rules. It’s a social gathering where people bring clothes that they don’t think they’ll wear anymore. They pile them all together in a stack. Everybody is welcome to search the stack and make a small personal stack of the items they’re interested in. If two persons are interested in the same items (and have equal personal stacks) they have to take turns performing a fashion parade with the item and the participants will vote on who it fits best and should keep it.

Organic food store chain Rachelle-Bery has enjoyed an amazing growth since it opened its first shop in 1984 in Montreal at the corner of rue Rachel and rue Berri. It recently opened a 10,000 sq. ft. store in Boucherville, 60% bigger than its city centre sister branches and meant to be in-between a local and a destination supermarket. An interesting fact is that one quarter of the employees are qualified advisers (i.e. naturopaths, herbalists, etc.).


There are a number of apps that are popular in the Montreal area, in particular Pages Jaunes Canada, Shopwise Canada and Red Flag Deals. Pages Jaunes Canada lets you search for any business in your area. You can call straight from the app, get directions and reviews. One great feature is that it will give you the current prices in a gas station and show you where the cheapest one is on a map according to where you are. Shopwise Canada allows users to search and browse for bargains close to where they are and show their location on a map. Red Flag Deals easy to use interface enables users to search and browse for deals – they only have to click on ‘Get The Deal’ to receive an email bearing the deal.

A. ‘Underground City’, a mall complex connecting metro stations B. Montreal’s bohemian neighbourhood Mile End is witnessing cool clothes swap parties C. Rachelle-Bery healthy and organic chain stores provide expert advice D. Pages Jaunes, one of the most popular apps to find local business information

Scout Pieter Colpaert

City New York


Dissolving Boundaries

Most Americans are used to shopping in massive supermarkets and big shopping malls. New Yorkers go shopping in smaller local supermarkets and individual, often flagship stores. Younger people and especially people with busy professional schedules do their grocery shopping online. Websites like FreshDirect or soap.com can usually get your goods to you in less than 24 hours. In many cases they offer free delivery and are even cheaper than the supermarkets in Manhattan, which often have ridiculously high prices due to their location. However, at the same time, farmers markets with fresh produce have gained a lot of popularity in the last few years, especially in more gentrified neighborhoods. Pop-up stores and events are more popular than ever, especially with established stores opening up pop-up shops for flash sales or concept stores. This trend is even followed by restaurants and bars, with open-air popup locations in summer. One of the most remarkable things in the last few years is that the barrier between shops seems to have disappeared. A clothing store is no longer just a clothing store, in most stores you’ll also be able to buy books, music, accessories, perfume, gadgets, jewellery, and more and more stores now include the ‘experience’ element.


clothing store A is no longer just clothing store, in most stores you’ll also be able to buy books, music, accessories, perfume, gadgets, jewellery…

Daily Deal Inspirations ● Made in… ● Custom Made

A

Experience Store ● Buying Sensations ● Shop & Go

Space Ninety 8 is an Urban Outfitters concept store in Williamsburg which offers the classic Urban Outfitters clothing, accessories and gadgets from different hip brands and largely focuses on a young demographic. However, it also has a larger than normal record and book selection and a section called The Marketplace, which offers clothes and accessories by Brooklyn based artists and fashion designers. It has a basement which functions as a pop-up shop for different brands, a bar and restaurant, and the top floor is completed with a rooftop space. This all functions within the trend of making shopping more like an experience – being more than just a clothing store, but a brand with an image that includes all these things.

LivingSocial is a website where you can buy products as well as ‘things to do’ for your city. It helps you to save a lot of money on things such as spa, gym, theatre, comedy, sports and wellness but it also sells other items like decoration, electronics etc. One innovative item is the Daily Gem, a flash sale where you can get an item at an additional discount for just a few hours. It is also quite innovative because it deals not only with chain stores but mostly with smaller, local places, and you are able to find deals very close to your exact location. They also sell a lot of coupons, where you pay US$20 for example, but get to spend U$50 – which is a good way for certain, local stores to bring new clientele into their stores instead of selling actual, physical goods.

C

A. Urban Outfitters’ concept store Space Ninety 8, a place for multiple experiences B. Fresh and organic grocery chain stores Whole Foods keeps up a luxury image C. Amor Y Amargo bar shows consumers how to make bitter cocktails D. Story concept store organises by themes their items for sale

Diversified Book Experiences ● Shop & Go ● Custom Made ● Buying Sensations

Strand Bookstore sells new, used, rare and antiquarian books. They are innovative as a bookstore because they have several tables organised according to themes, tables with books curated by authors or celebrities and hand-written recommendations by their staff. To battle online sales, they also have tables where they display books that are ‘cheaper than Amazon’ or ‘cheaper than e-books’. They also sell a wide range of merchandise with their Strand logo – backpacks, tote bags, bookmarks, pens, notebooks, etc. – and some literary novelty gifts. To add to the ‘experience’, they offer not only the standard lectures and Q&A’s but also special activities like literary speed dating and literarythemed mixers.

Bitter Love ● Custom Made ● Buying Sensations ● Pure Shopping ● Made in…

B

Fresh Luxury ● Pure Shopping ● Buying Sensations

Whole Foods is a store that has built an image of providing local, organic, ethical food and goods. They detail their efforts of supporting sustainable agriculture and giving fair prices to farmers with informational posters and tags in the store. It keeps up its image as a luxury store with fresh, organic and specialty foods, informing the costumers of the background of their produce to compete with online retailers like FreshDirect. They also have a buffet where you can buy prepared food (per lbs) – which is very popular and also a smart way of marketing the produce they sell.

Amor Y Amargo is a bitters bar in the East Village, very small and cosy. The bartenders who work here are extremely savvy about their drinks and make custom cocktails with their special bitters. It also has a store where you can buy supplies to make your own cocktails, books, as well as their specialty bitters. They also offer classes where you can learn to mix your own drinks, but also get a taste of the history and background of their bitters. It is another example of the synergy that stores/bars/restaurants try to provide: you get the full experience, where you get to try out the product, buy it, learn to make it yourself and get to know the background/ history behind it.

Interactive Fashion ● Shop at First Sight ● Smarket

Kate Spade ran an interactive storefront display in 2013, partnering with eBay. At four locations in New York, they had large touchscreen displays previewing clothes by using model photos. Shoppers could purchase items right on the sidewalk and have their items delivered within one hour.


D

Concept Store ● Shop & Go ● Buying Sensations

Story is a concept store in Chelsea. It is a boutique store with a lot of random and quirky gift items. What makes it unique is that it has rotating products: the items they have for sale are organised around a certain theme which changes every four to six weeks. They describe themselves as: “Story is a retail space that has the point of view of a magazine, changes like a gallery and sells things like a store”.

Scout Emily Iseman

City Toronto


Small is Big

Traditional shopping happens in a variety of ways in downtown Toronto. From large and established stores concentrated in retail districts or malls to more local and independent businesses based outside of the city centre. The more affluent tend to travel further for particular goods, whilst people who rely on public transportation shop more locally at smaller businesses or the nearby large discount retailers. These traditional shopping behaviours are not getting pushed out, but they are being overtaken in certain parts of the city by independent, locally owned businesses, pop-up shops, and weekly markets. In certain parts of the city and for certain types of shoppers, boutiques and online purchasing are making big department stores obsolete. Local and ethical shopping are significant trends in Toronto. There is a heavy culture of social consciousness so there is a big market for sustainable goods, retailers engaged in fair trade and goods made by local sellers. There are also several local pop-ups every week: farmers, craft and vintage markets.


A prominent trend in Toronto at the moment is all of the small scale merchandising that goes on. Sometimes cafes will retail a small assortment of pantry items – even locally made crafts – and established retail stores will host pop-up markets to expose local brands or throw events in-store, like a DIY tutorial night that also promotes merchandise.

I n certain parts of the city and for certain types of shoppers, boutiques and online purchasing are making big department stores obsolete

Personal and Organic ● Made in… ● Pure Shopping ● Custom Made ● Shop & Go

A

Big Box Experience ● Buying Sensations ● Shop & Go

The Eaton’s Centre and Loblaws are the typical big box shopping experiences in Toronto. The Eaton’s Centre displays international brands in a large, centralised shopping centre and Loblaws is a large Canadian owned chain grocery store. Frequented by all demographics, both have a big selection and competitive pricing compared to smaller retailers and they are usually more centralised, as opposed to embedded in residential neighbourhoods. I would estimate that limited thought is put into the social and environmental consequences of shopping in these types of places, nor the effect on the local economy. They tend to be extremely well kept to provide people with a sterile and predictable shopping experience.

B

Stasis Preserves is a typical neighbourhood specialty food shop in Toronto. The store is stocked with a small but deliberate selection of high-end food goods. Almost all of the products are either produced locally or are from domestic farms and dairies. There is an emphasis on organic and ethical products. The staff on hand are highly educated in food production and their suppliers, and will regularly engage with the clientele about the information surrounding any particular item. Some of the selling involves merchandising special featured items in the centre of the store, offering samples for the clientele to try or making personal recommendations based on rapport, which is integral to a neighbourhood business in the retention of a regular customer base.

C

Pop-up + Entertainment

Search and Shop

● Shop & Go ● Pure Shopping ● Buying Sensations ● Custom Made


The Night Market is an ongoing group popup event, thrown in different places around the downtown neighbourhoods. It features vendors of all sorts: craft, vintage, artisanal food, etc. These are largely online based businesses, without enough capital and local market to have a storefront, and so supplement online sales with pop-up events. Usually advertised through social media and attended as more of a recreational event than a necessary shopping trip, they often include some form of entertainment like live music. Here, buyers can be exposed to and become familiar with small brands, and talk directly to the people behind the goods – a lot of this shopping experience and selling relies on word of mouth.

Developed in Toronto, GroceryCo is an app which gathers the content of websites like Metro, Loblaws, Food Basics, No Frills and Sobeys to collect all the ongoing sales in their regularly updated mobile database. This makes it possible for users to search for specific items and find out about the best deals available in Toronto. Users can also search for specific stores only or for stores in their nearby area to narrow down the search results.


D

Passionate Connoisseurs ● Buying Sensations ● Pure Shopping ● Custom Made ● Smarket

The Likely General is a small, independent shop that sells an array of artful items, with an emphasis on locally produced and designed goods. The aim of this store is to cater to lots of different shopping needs; a pair of friends come in together, one might buy a soap and candle, the other leaves with home furnishings and a few small press greeting cards. It is important for the shop owner to be passionate about all items for sale, to be able to inform potential buyers of their value, production and effect on society as well as endorse the merits of products with little visibility or advertising to their name. This particular shop has a back section where they throw events, lead DIY tutorials and launch products. Classes are held about once or twice a month and can teach attendees a wide variety of (often random) skills (i.e. silk screening for paper print and making candles tutorials). They are very intimate and low key as they can only accommodate up to 8-12 people. Usually people have to pay a small fee to take part but they get to take home their own creations.

A. The Eaton’s Centre and Loblaws, the typical big box shopping experiences B. Stores and entertainment in one place at Night Market pop-up event C. GroceryCo mobile app provides information on supermarkets the best deals D. Eclectic store Likely General organises tutorial and DIY classes events

Thanks to Our Contributors: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Kantar Retail, Linio, Order Dynamics, Walmart, Punta Carretas, Al Yasra Group, We Are Pop up, Perry Court Farm Future Foundation for the contribution to our Scout Network

The Mindshare Global Network: Julian Ireland, Sam Reid, Nicky Owen, Rabih Soueidi, Marco Quartucci, Zeenah Vilcassim, Hector Neil-Mee, Amy Keaney, Tom Morgan, Eleni Danika, Julia Brizi della Rosa, Kirsty Toomer, Karen Saba, Mai Mackey, Yousef Muna, Yasemin Worrall, Mary-Ann Swanepoel, Hadi Jawad, Rollo Millership, Davide Melli, Adam Palczewski, Josefina Kaplan, Romina Furci, Florencia Trigo, Ariel Pelliza, Barbara Degastaldi, Adriana Vigil, Juan Manuel Alvilares, Fernanda Gutierrez, Soledad Alejandra Granelli, Victoria Iviglia

And the Mindshare Culture Vulture team: Global and Europe Victoria Cook Rita Ibarra

North America Mark Potts Alexis Fragale

Latin America Matias Galimberti Ana Stramucci

Asia-Pacific Deepika Nikhilender

We would love to hear what you think and what more you would like to know. So, please do contact us at: [email protected]


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