design:retail - March 2016 - (Page 40)

searching for steve jobs 040 That Which Makes Us Tick ROBERT HOCKING RETALE MATTERS robert@retalematters.com @rhockinguk I N A FALL 2015 interview, Alber Elbaz, creative director of luxury fashion brand Lanvin, spoke of his industry, saying: "Maybe we are no longer the industry of newness, because that was taken by technology, but we're still an industry of a man and a woman, of a thread and needle, and of fabric, and a dream." This so reminds me of the essence of great retail design. I've had the chance of late to spend time looking at the luxury industry, to try understanding what brands in this space value and how they express themselves through both their products and, as importantly, their retail environments. I've always argued that the retail execution of a product company-a brand-is almost always superior to that of a pure retailer. The former begins with a "brand" that is understood through a collected set of experiences, and retail for a brand often is the richest expression of how they see themselves. It has a human personality, a voice, an aroma and an experience that enhances brand perception. Pure retailers, on the other hand, have almost always focused on efficiencies-of the time spent shopping, of the space they give products. One approach favors the heart, the other the head. I recently read a thought piece from a leading retail design firm in which they posit the view that the past few years have been "all about experience" and that the new "it" word for retail is "agile." The author goes on to say that agility, as an approach, was the gift of the digital space. But I question whether this is a gift at all. And since when did we get so good at creating experience that it's time to move on-perhaps we've been a bit too agile in rushing to this conclusion? Their particular point focuses on the attention span of Millennials, and they quote from an MARCH 2016 DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM Accenture report on this cohort that "retail today is under-delivering against expectations." But here's the thing: values are pretty constant, and what attracts people to all manner of things, be it a brand or social cause, is the value of the idea that sits at the heart of what we're asking people to engage with. And Millennials, like all of us, value "experience" above most other things-experience that isn't onerous or cumbersome, but that taps into our intrinsic emotional needs. A couple of years ago, I had the chance to interview an interesting 23-year-old who was educated, traveled and came from a level of affluence. She described how she'd taken her father to a soccer match, but realized at halftime that she'd spent the whole game watching through her smartphone; this to better stay connected to her social group-to share the experience. Imagine a young woman surrounded by the singing, chanting and the roar of humanity, and GLOBALSHOP.ORG yet her focus remained on a device, not in the moment. We could write her and her generation off and say we've lost them-clearly it's all about technology. But spend a while longer with her, as I did, and you'd also hear that she loves spending six hours in her favorite department store, because it gives her the chance to "play." So this child of the digital age, most connected to the world through a piece of technology, will put the lie to these overly simplistic definitions by engaging through her senses with a physical retail environment. Huh. I recently interviewed Dr. Dimitri Tsivrikos, an academic at University College London, who specializes in consumer psychology. He explained that the majority of our decisions as consumers are led by our emotions, and they color how we see the world and what motivates us to make purchase decisions. He went on to explain that many companies struggle with this idea, because it requires them to look at the fuzzy, hardto-measure reality of us humans. He said we're hardwired to avoid things we can't control, and we find comfort in spreadsheets, because we can see it, quantify it. But sadly, those metrics we may find comfort in are leading most companies down a rabbit hole. Design at its core is all about tapping into and solving human need. At a time when it seems "on sale" never ends, when brand loyalty has never been lower, I'd argue that "agility" is a poor substitute for doing the hard work of getting to the root of what really matters. Remember, moving quickly to nowhere is still going nowhere. ROBERT HOCKING IS A LONDON-BASED RETAIL BRAND CONSULTANT WHO LOVES RETAIL BUT HATES SHOPPING-AND CONTINUES TO SEARCH FOR STORES THAT WILL CHANGE HIS MIND. Illustration by ANN_MEI/ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of design:retail - March 2016

design:retail - March 2016
Contents
Editor's Note
GlobalShop Talk
On Trend
We Love This!
Designer Picks
Clicks & Mortar
Postcard
Perspectives
Have You Heard?
The Visual Eye
Searching for Steve Jobs
GlobalShop 2016
Chelsea Collective
Primark
Marqt
Ports 1961
Art Van Furniture
Ted Baker
Design Leaders Listing
Products
Backstory

design:retail - March 2016