5 inspiring retail concepts

To stay relevant to the modern consumer, retailers keep experimenting with business models, concepts and strategies. Get your retail ideas flowing by checking out these 5 inspiring retail concepts we found during our annual trip to New York and the NRF Retail’s Big Show 2019.

Showroom shopping

The fashion store Reformation located in NoHo, Manhattan, operates as one giant Showroom. You will only find one of each piece of clothing on the hangers and can use one of the ten touch screens to find the entire product range, both in terms of sizes and colours. When you have selected your favourite pieces, the screen will guide you to your dressing room. There, the staff will provide you with the pieces of your choice via a wardrobe that opens both in the front and back. If you need to try a different size or colour you can get this by using a touch-screen inside the fitting room.

Interactive staff

The fashion retailer Chico’s has integrated its employees to be a part of the seamless shopping experience. By using Chico’s app, customers can talk to their favourite employees while shopping. This allows staff to serve as personal shoppers giving advice and recommendations. According to Ann E Joyce, Chico’s Chief Customer Officer, the online conversion rate has multiplied by ten since the app assistance went live.

Interested in more examples of inspiring retail concepts? Check out our report on Retail Trends 2019.

Convenient returns

The department store chain Nordstrom has identified the need to facilitate returns, no matter what channel the purchase came from. For instance, at their store near Central Park, they offer express returns where the customers can register their items on a screen before they put the return in a box.

Taking online habits offline

Amazon is known to challenge the way of retail. Recently they opened a new store concept called Amazon 4-star where every product in the store has an online rating that equals 4 stars or above. The shelf labels are updated in real-time and the assortment is constantly curated according to the online ratings. The products are presented in sections such as “Most Wished For” and “Frequently Bought Together”, which is an interesting attempt to turn online shopping habits into offline.

Virtual shopping

The Instagram influencer Coffee ’n Clothes opened a virtual cafe where customers can find coffee, clothes and shoes that are available to shop online. The store does not exist offline but is designed as a brick-and-mortar store to give customers the right experience by using VR technology.

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