On the occasion of the Euroshop 2020 in Düsseldorf, the 4th Biz Dialogue was held by Design Lodge in partnership with Vizona, Visplay and Ansorg. Under the direction of Design Lodge publisher Natalie Häntze, an international panel of experts discussed ideas and challenges for the retail trade of the future. The event started with a keynote speech by Sebastian Kemmler from the Berlin creative agency of the same name, which also created the concept for the trade fair stand. Shared Spaces was the motto of the presentation and was intended to illustrate how worlds of experience, product categories and industries are intertwined in a completely new and unexpected way, dissolving old dividing lines and redesigning the space. During the panel, Benoit Mareschall (Burberry), Jochen Schmidt (Swarovski), Richard Lems (Rituals), Sigrid Brewka-Steeves (Puma), Johan Fischer (Polestar) and Hannibal DuMont Schütte (Stayery) discussed current market developments.
Cooperations
For more than a decade, cooperations have not only been the big thing in making brands more interesting for their own fanbase and more exciting for new target groups, they are also a source of revenue that should not be underestimated. The sports industry has shown the way: The never-ending athleisure trend started with collaborations between Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto as well as Stella Mc Cartney and is far from over with Louis Vuitton and Supreme.However, the precondition is that both brands fit together perfectly and customers see the benefits as very high and innovative in themselves. If this is the case, new customers from the cooperation partner‘s customer base are very likely, according to a study on brand cooperation by the Splendid Research Institute. This finding was also confirmed by Sigrid Brewka-Steeves, Head of Global Retail Environment at Puma.
Trade
The study „Trends in Retail 2025“ by KPMG concludes that digitization means much more than just an online channel for the retail trade: „Instead, the entire business model is increasingly changing as a network of relationships between producers, suppliers, service providers, retailers and customers. Richard Lems, Director of Format & Design at Rituals, explains that online and stationary trade do not cannibalize each other, but on the contrary can stimulate each other: „A well-functioning online trade pays off for our stores as well. They profit greatly from it.“
Luxury
„Luxury brands invest heavily in innovation, design, technology and brand communication because the level of innovation is of central importance to them. This is intended to maintain and further expand not only their high quality but also their market-leading position,“ says the 2019 annual report of Walpole, the association of the British luxury industry. „The aura of luxury is linked to the special nature of the product and leads to a high level of desirability. This means that the buying experience, whether physical, digital or a combination of both, is an integral part of the brand experience,“ it continues. Classic luxury brands have already made their way out of the store and into the online channels, using elaborate digital strategies to appeal to the target groups they reach.
Car brands in particular consciously seek the luxury environment on the high street in order to position their brand in the appropriate neighborhood: „Sustainability and technology also characterize our two new Polestar Spaces in Oslo and Beijing, where minimalist design is seamlessly combined with digital interactivity. By the end of 2020 Polestar plans to be present in nine markets, from LA in the west to Shanghai in the east, including six countries in Europe,“ explains Johan Fischer, Head of Global Retail at Polestar, the Norwegian e-mobility car brand.The luxury sector in particular is now facing the challenge of ensuring that its goods live from the special atmosphere of the presentation, but this is much more difficult to achieve in the digital salesroom. Swarovski has chosen a special approach in this respect. In collaboration with the Patricia Urquiola design studio, the Crystal Studio was developed in which the digital and stationary worlds are brought together in a new experience space. „We want to bring the product closer to the customer. Open presentation, trying on without obstacles, experience the product. Another approach is to connect offline and online between the consumer touch points, so that they can jump back and forth without obstacles and thus experience the brand interactively,“ describes Jochen Schmidt, Vice President Distribution & Real Estate at Swarovski.
Hotel
People are working more and more independently of location and at the same time at home in many places. The hotel stay takes on a new meaning: „Home Away From Home“. It is becoming a place that can be both a temporary home and workplace. In Germany alone, more than 570 new hotels have opened between 20017 and 2019. The guest wants to find a working atmosphere in which he can act professionally. At the same time, however, there is also a desire for deceleration, well-being and familiarity. Holistic living is the keyword under which new urban concepts are developed.
This text is a shortened version of the article that was published in the DesignLodge. You can find the complete article here.