Store becomes classroom – and 4 other retail trends

What will a store look like in the future? A new study, ordered by one of the world’s largest shopping center owners (Westfield), gives us a view on the shape of physical retail in 5 key trends.

Radically different

Researchers have questioned more than 13,000 experts and consumers, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, Westfield’s two active markets. Their conclusion is that shoppers expect physical retailers to go beyond the transaction, that they offer them a more valuable experience. 

“Fashion stores of tomorrow might look radically different”, Myf Ryan (Chief Marketing Officer, Westfield UK & Europe) said. She paints a picture of a fashion business that invites to a vintage fashion convention, rewards them financially when they recycle old clothing, helps them choose a new outfit with virtual reality and loans them that outfit for a weekend party.

These are the five retail trends according to Westfield:

1. Rent, not buy

Consumers are getting used to the sharing economy, thanks to Uber and Airbnb. Retailers are now expected to jump aboard, with 1 out of 5 British consumers prepared to rent items from their favourite store. Particularly millennials (46 % from the 25 to 34-year olds) consider renting to be the standard. 

Fitness devices (19 %), cars (16 %), consumer electronics (15 %), bicycles (14 %) and clothing (10 %) rank the highest. 20 % of Brits would be willing to pay 200 pounds or more every month to get an unlimited clothing subscription.

2. Store becomes classroom

Shoppers not only consider a store as a location to acquire new items, but also as a classroom, a location to learn new skills and build a social network.

Consumers want to learn how to create something or how to repair something. They are interested in health or fitness lessons, creative cookery, expert sessions on make-up or digital up-skilling.

3. Reward good choices

There is a growing consumer demand for loyalty programs, rewarding good life choices instead of merely financial transactions. Shoppers want to be rewarded for several efforts, like recycling, physical activities, family life, getting enough sleep and charity.

4. Virtual assistance required

The study predicts that virtual reality will become omnipresent in the future and shoppers expect VR technology to bring store products closer to their daily life. 

They would like to use VR headsets to see how products would be in their own home or how they would look with new clothing.

5. Play all the senses

As technology becomes ever more important, the demand for extraordinary sensory retail experiences increases as well. All five senses have to be overloaded, all at once. Scientists, architects and designers will have to collaborate to create such exceptional environments.

The opportunity to see products, to feel and try them, remains the biggest attraction of a physical store.