What we saw in 2014…• For 2014, experts predicted that

omnichannel will become the norm, empowering customers to interact and complete purchases on their own terms, in a smooth and seamless way.

• The importance of personalized in-store experiences and mobile solutions have also been paving the way for a new retail era.

• The following 25+1 exciting retail and e-commerce initiatives are a clear sign of these game-changing trends.

• Note: some of the examples have been introduced earlier, but thanks to their pioneer spirit, they’re still worth mentioning.

Current trends

Rebecca MinkoffNorth-AmericaCombining a brick-and-mortarexperience with convenient online shopping

• Partnering up with eBay to better integrate channels.

• Their shop is equipped with oversize screens where customers can browse apparel or request items in their size to try on.

• In exchange for their phone number, customers get a text notification when their fitting room is ready. Inside, they can use touch screen mirrors to request further items or ask for live assistance.

• An assistant can help shoppers check out straight from the fitting room via PayPal. Customers can request a link to the items they’ve tried on so that they can buy them later online. Minkoff took a problem-solution approach to technology:

“What would be the ideal way of shopping that would take away the pain points?”

Omnichannel Insight: 84% of customers believe that retailers should be doing more to better integrate their offline and online channels.

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Kate Spade SaturdayNorth-America

Interactive storefronts for non-stop business

• Kate Spade Saturday partnered up with eBay last year, creating an authentic 24/7 shopping experience.

• The store has been equipped with shoppable windows, so that customers may even purchase products after a late night dinner or on a sleepy Sunday morning.

• A store that virtually ‘never closes’ and combines the retail experience with the convenience of online shopping.

• One of the most exciting examples of the new ‘click-and-mortar’ retailer generation.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOUy98Y_AkY

“Suddenly the physical store, by virtue of online technology, extends to any space that’s interesting to use.”

Omnichannel

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JustFabNorth-America

Integrating online features into thestore

• A formerly online-only merchant who has also tapped into the brick-and-mortar world to combine the online customer experience with the joy of physical retail.

• However, they’ve kept the perks of digital and integrated them into the physical space in smart ways.

• For example, customers can watch videos similar to those found on the retailer’s ecommerce website, explaining how to wear a particular item.

• The sales team has also been equipped with iPad and an app that allows them to search the inventory or request products.

• Promoting their core subscription-based online business, customers can also sign up to the service while visiting the store.

“We are giving customers a new way to connect with the brand and to experience the JustFab world in person.”

Omnichannel

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PiperlimeNorth-America

Ordering clothing straight from thestore

• Another example that has already been realized before 2014, yet it is still one of the most remarkable store initiatives dedicated to ‘omnichannel shopper needs’.

• No need to worry if the store has run out of a certain item: customers can use the touchscreens to purchase items and get them delivered straight to their home.

• On the other hand, the store itself can also work like a showroom, letting customers see the apparel instead of offering online preview only.

Omnichannel

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Deckers OutdoorNorth-America

‘Innovation lab’ in-store concept

• Deckers Outdoor opened its first brick-and-mortar store near the company HQ in California in 2014.

• The huge store features the company's seven footwear brands, most notably UggAustralia, all under one roof.

• The store integrates various high-tech investments as part of an ‘innovation lab’ concept, helping the company improve its omnichannel strategy.

• It’s equipped with iPads where customers can order items online if the shop has run out of stock and get them shipped free of charge.

• A large touchscreen monitor also allows customers to customize footwear such as boots or slippers – for a truly personalized shopping experience.

“With this 'innovation lab,' we're better able to listen to customers' feedback, make product adjustments more efficiently, and heighten the overall customer experience.”

Omnichannel

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WestfieldNorth-AmericaDesigning the connected mall of thefuture

• The shopping mall network’s Westfield Labs initiative has run experiments inside their San Francisco location, trying to find innovative ways to integrate digital into their physical space.

• They have incorporated different initiatives, letting providers and retailers test new ideas.

• For example, they have been testing a mobile and web based food ordering service that lets nearby office workers and residents order from the food court.

• With eBay’s help, they’ve also set up shoppable glass screens where shoppers could browse products from the different in-house retailers and buy them from a mobile device. “A lot of companies that have started online are interested in

figuring out the brick-and-mortar world, but they want safe environments to test it out.”

Omnichannel

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SelfridgesEuropeStrengthening online for marketexpansion

• In Fall 2014, London-based Selfridges department store announced that they were going to invest £40 million in multichannel sales innovation.

• The company plans to pay special attention to their online presence as 80% of its available brands and products are also sold online besides their core retail location.

• This is also crucial in terms of market expansion, as many of the online customers are international, multiplying their sales potential.

• They’ve also been experimenting with an interesting click and collect service: practically a ‘drive-thru’ for luxury products where customers could purchase the desired goods online and pick it up any time.

Omnichannel

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OasisEuropeSeek & Send: multi-channel inventory

• Oasis has introduced some innovative solutions integrating offline and online.

• For example, sales assistants carry iPads in the store so that they can help customers by checking colors, sizes and availability.

• If the product the customer has fallen in love with isn’t available in that specific store, the assistants can use the tablet to order it for the customer online.

• They also have a service called Seek & Send which works the other way around. It searches the company’s physical stores’ inventory and sends an item straight to the customer’s home if it is sold out online.

• These ways, they can better integrate channels and ensure that customers will always find – and get – what they want.

Omnichannel

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BoxparkEurope

Market Place: combining in-store with online payment

• Boxpark is a trendy pop-up mall in East London, featuring cool consumer brands in verticals such as apparel, home design and consumer electronics.

• Market Place is a partnership between Boxpark, Magento and PayPal that provides tenants with ecommerce, digital marketing and iPad-based point-of-sale solutions to be able to run business across all channels from their stores.

• Customers are able to feel and try on the goods at the different Boxparkstores, yet they can still complete the purchase by convenient online payment.

“Nothing can replace the touch and feel of being in a store. A store is the best experience you can give a customer.”

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY9EcOePp7Q

OmnichannelOmnichannel

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SephoraEurope‘All in’ for a great shopping experience

• At their stores, they organize special events and sessions to make them worth a visit. Interactive mirrors developed by AR provider Modifacemake the experience even more innovative – and fun.

• However, they’ve also made their e-commerce website easy to purchase from, besides setting up a shoppablesocial network called Beauty Board.

• The cherry on top is their mobile app, allowing customers to scan barcodes or access their previously assembled online wish lists to complement their in-store experience.

• The ‘My Beauty Bag’ function also makes it easy for customers to keep track of their favorite products and be able to order them from any device.

“By connecting the store with mobile, Sephora is able to combat showrooming, provide an enhanced shopping experience and drive loyalty.”

Omnichannel

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BonobosNorth-AmericaGuideshops: ‘fitting room’ concept complementing online

• Even if New York-based Bonobos opened their first of 10 retail stores back in in 2011, their expansion (further stores to be opened by 2016) and unique approach makes it worth to be included in the list.

• The stores showcase a limited inventory of the physical product range so that customers can determine their size and choose styles and colors.

• The goods are then delivered to their home from a warehouse or can be collected later at the store.

• Bonobos claims that customers who see the products at the brick-and-mortar stores spend roughly twice as much as those who only see the products in ‘2D’ in the online store.

Store as showroom The physical store is not disappearing; it’s simply becoming enhanced by digital.

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Warby ParkerNorth-AmericaSophisticated brand experiences

• An online eyewear retailer that has reached ‘hip’ status thanks to its well-maintained image and its social awareness (donating a pair of glasses for every pair sold to people in need).

• They’ve decided to complement their ecommerce business with physical stores, dedicated to a genuine brand experience besides showcasing the product range.

• Their NYC flagship store looks like a library, offering a soothing ambient for their sophisticated customer base.

• Shoppers can try on glasses and have their portrait taken by a professional photographer.

• They’ve also launched the Warby Parker Class Trip, a mobile school bus that looks like a vintage elementary school classroom – a truly ‘moving’ retail experience. “People want to feel the products they are buying. When you

walk into our store compared to other stores, it’s a better experience, because we were very thoughtful about it.”

Store as showroom

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BirchboxNorth-AmericaProduct discovery gets physical

• Birchbox, the popular beauty sample delivery service that had previously been built on online business model only, has opened a brick-and-mortar store in NYC.

• They wanted to complement online with a physical space that lets customers experience products from close proximity.

• Beauty enthusiasts can also pick samples to build their own Birchbox, promoting the online service in an offline way.

• Customers can use iPads or seek the advice of store assistants before purchasing a new beauty product – the sales assistants’ role can be interpreted as customers’ ‘beauty editor best friend’.

• There are also free beauty classes for the online subscribers of the Birchbox delivery service: an omnichannel customer loyalty solution. "We set it up like an internet store. Consumers shop by

category — like lips, hair, eyes — instead of by brand."

Store as showroom

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StoryNorth-AmericaRestlessly reinventing the customerexperience

• Story has ‘point of view of a magazine; changes like a gallery; sells things like a store.’

• It is an exciting brick-and-mortar initiative in NYC, a space dedicated to move customers’ imagination.

• Every 4-8 weeks, Story completely reinvents itself, featuring a new trend or theme through merchandise selection and the interior design of the store itself – from tech to DIY to Christmas.

• Originally launched in Beta as a ‘Startup Store’, showcasing emerging concepts in the world of digital retail.

• Their digital presence (above all through Social Media word of mouth) makes sure their impact on shopping culture is multiplied.

“Don’t think about sales per square foot, but experience per square foot.”

Store as showroom

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FiatEuropeShowing cars to online visitors viareal-time video from the showroom

• A disruptive solution to the painful problem: is it possible to sell cars on the internet?

• Fiat has been using Whisbi’s solution for Retail & E-commerce businesses to teleport online visitors to their car showroom in real time.

• Online customers are able to see the cars through the eyes of the store assistants, through real-time video streamed with Google Glass or Android smartphone, straight from the dealership.

• A ‘theatre’ for cars providing a unique omnichannel customer experience: it connects the worlds of ecommerce and retail to show products to remote customers as realistically as never before, convincing them in real time.

Store as showroom

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Yves Saint LaurentNorth-AmericaPersonalized beauty tips recorded in real time

• Recording make-up counter makeovers in real time with Google Glass camera at the branded YSL corner at Bloomingdale’s department store in New York City.

• The make-up artists show the customers how to get the most out of their face and the products.

• They then provide the customer with the recorded video to help them follow the same steps at home – using the recently purchased products, of course.

Store as showroom Insight: 76% of adults believe it’s important for wearable technology to help them get more out of the time spent shopping in stores.

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SwimSpotNorth-AmericaLive personal assistance forconfidence

• After successful experiments with pop-up shop projects, swimwear e-tailerSwimSpot has decided to open three permanent brick-and-mortar locations in the USA.

• Why? They’ve found that the retail locations were quite effective thanks to the reassurance live assistance meant for the customers.

• After this, the company actually put extra effort into training the sales people accordingly.

“The personal confidence of having someone there with you is always going to be stronger in retail than it would be online."

Store as showroom

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Macy’sNorth-AmericaPersonalized offers in-store

• Macy’s has been experimenting with the iBeacon technology, sending personalized location-based alerts in store.

• Customers who enter the store and have the Shopkick app installed on their iPhones will be notified about special deals and products they may be interested in.

• Experts argue that while there is a risk of annoying shoppers, it may be an effective form of location based precision marketing.

Beacon technology Beacons provide insight into in-store foot traffic and customer preferences, allowing retailers to build better experiences and brand loyalty.

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WaitroseEuropePersonalized offers at the rightmoment

• Waitrose has also been one of the first retailers experimenting with the iBeacon technology this year.

• Beacons placed near the entrance are able to recognize customers as they walk in and send them notifications on their phones, highlighting specific items and offers.

• The app also lets customers scan a product’s bar code to find out more information and reviews – or call for real-time live assistance by the sales people.

• If a customer chooses to do so, a staff member receives the request on an iPad, informing them that a customer is waiting for help. It also provides useful info about them based on their shopping history.

“We want to bring digital into the store and tailor our offer in a digital way to help the shopping experience.”

Beacon technology

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Bloomingdale’sNorth-America

Mobile app combining features foronline and physical retail

• Although their app has been introduced before 2014, it’s still a good example of a smart cross-channel retailer app.

• The app allows customers to use different functions depending on whether they are in store or at home.

• For example, they can browse and buy items straight from their phone, yet they can also look up store events and special offers.

• They can even scan items at the department store to save them for later (e.g. for a wedding wish list).

As physical and digital retail comes together, mobile works as a “personal shopper” that is key in the added value retailers can offer to customers.

Mobile solutions

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HointerNorth-America

Self-service jeans

• At the Hointer flagship store in Seattle, there are virtually no salespeople. Once customers have chosen the desired items, they can just swipe a credit card at the unmanned kiosk on the way out.

• By downloading the app at the store’s kiosk, the customer can try on apparel in their own size within half a minute. They only need to scan the number on the item, placing it into a virtual shopping cart, then head to the fitting room the app has sent them to.

• The shoppers may even buy what they like without having to leave the fitting room, swiping a credit card on a tablet inside.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i9348H-mw4

Mobile solutions

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CVS PharmacyNorth-AmericaVirtual tour connecting mobile withphysical stores

• CVS Pharmacy is focusing on personalized experiences and targeted offers across channels.

• In 2013 they launched a ‘virtual mock-up store’ inside their iPad app, allowing remote customers to access pharmacy services, the photo center or departments where they can shop.

• By using MyWeekly Ad, a personalized digital circular, customers can browse weekly deals personalized based on what they buy most. They may also assemble a digital shopping list featuring the deals they especially like.

• The shopping lists are connected to physical locations where customers most frequently shop, telling them where they can find the products in store.

“Both in-store and digitally, the offers customers receive will be more personalized and targeted.”

Mobile solutions

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IKEAEuropePreviewing products in home environment via augmented reality

• IKEA has launched an augmented reality app accompanying their 2014 catalogue.

• All the customer needs to do is place the catalogue in any space inside their home and launch the app.

• Tha app turns their home into a virtual showroom: in seconds, they can see how a specific IKEA sofa, bed or table fits into the room – making sure they get something that matches the style and size of their home.

“Many customers have suffered from ‘square peg, round hole syndrome‘, buying the wrong-sized furniture for their rooms.”

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDNzTasuYEw

Augmented reality AR creates a new digital experience that enriches the relationship between the customer and the brand.

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LoweNorth-America

Holoroom, an augmented realityfurniture showroom

• Lowe’s Holoroom is a home improvement simulator that applies augmented reality to provide homeowners an intuitive experience by watching the ‘room of their dreams’ come alive.

• It was introduced in stores near Toronto in 2014 to help customers remodeling their homes. At first, customers were able to experience bathroom furniture in real time and pick the desired items.

• This helped Lowe minimize inventory space and streamline customer demand.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pHOgrJibnQ

Augmented reality

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TopshopEurope

Sharing a runway experience in real time

• For the London Fashion Week AW14, Topshop Unique partnered with a digital technology agency to create a virtual reality version of their live fashion show.

• Lucky fans who won a front row seat at the virtual show were sitting in the window of Topshop’s Oxford Circus store in London, enjoying the experience in real time thanks to virtual reality headsets.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUal_Lrhec0

“The Topshop Unique show is not only strong in terms of the collection but also in how we share the experience with our customers at home and in our stores.”

Augmented reality

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+1: AmazonNorth-AmericaGiant brick-and-mortar dreams of the e-commerce giant

• This year, Amazon has secured a 12-storey building in a busy commercial street in NYC that had already been used as a warehouse back in the day.

• Rumors and ambiguous press releases were hinting at the fact that Amazon may be opening its first giant store in the heart of the city.

• Even if the project has not been realized yet – and the latest news report that it probably won’t be operating any time soon – it has generated much buzz in the e-commerce and retail worlds alike.

• However, Amazon did open some pop-up stores in California for the holiday season as an attempt to connect with customers in the physical world and provide the immediacy of a real store. “While customers can already see our products online, we

wanted to provide another option to try out our full lineup leading into the holidays.”

Buzz of the year

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What will we see in 2015?• As contemporary customers want to

shop when, where and how they want, retailers will continue to solidify the cross-channel retail experience.

• The physical brick-and-mortar store will not be disappearing; it will simply become increasingly enhanced by digital.

• In general, customer-centricity comes first, across all touchpoints.

• Retailers need to embrace the hyper-connected consumers’ need for a synchronized, personalized, communal, multi-device, omnichannel retail experience.

• In a nutshell: we can expect to see more of the innovative, disruptive solutions connecting the worlds of online and physical retail.

Future trends

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10 tips to create an effectiveomnichannel retail experiencein 2015

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