November 14, 2016 by CallisonRTKL

Putting Holiday Spirit into Retail

The shopping season is upon us. CRTKL’s Joan Insel talks retail branding and how the smartest retailers will stand out this year.

While Silent Night may be a time-tested holiday classic, silent nights are perhaps a retailer’s worst nightmare. As technology and online shopping expand their grip, retailers are looking for new ways to attract the hustle and bustle to their stores. We’ve collected a list of some of the top trends that the smartest retailers are using to stand out from the crowd.

The Power of Positivity

This time of year, everyone wants to be on the nice list. In fact, more than three-quarters of young people are attracted to brands that spread positivity and support social causes, and 93% of global consumers want to see more of the brands they use supporting worthy issues (Futerra, 2015).

Needless to say, with those kind of numbers, national retailers are embracing the power of positivity. Here are just a few examples:

REI: Last year, REI made retail history when the company decided to suspend retail activity, including online sales, on Black Friday while continuing to pay its employees—all 12,000+ of them—so they could have a day to enjoy the outdoors. REI’s #OptOutside returns for Black Friday 2016, and this year, it’s bringing along more partners, including state and national parks, schools, corporate partners like Subaru and Google, and outdoor brands such as Keen, prAna, Burton, Arc’teryx and Yeti.

Life Is Good: For 20 years, Life is Good has built its brand on the power of positivity. Now, the company is applying its feel-good messaging to the state of politics in the U.S. with the launch of its Positive State campaign. For the 50 days leading up to the 2016 Presidential election, the brand is promoting a life-affirming story from each of the 50 states. Followers are asked to submit recaps of their do-good efforts with the hashtag, #GROWtheGood, and as an added incentive, participants earn a chance to win $500 for their submission.

Starbucks: Known for its loyal, caffeinated fan-base, Starbucks is making positivity, not coffee, the focus of Upstanders, an original collection of short stories, films and podcasts that share the experiences of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to create positive change in their communities. Produced by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a former Washington Post editor, the Upstanders series hopes to inspire people to be better citizens. The brand is promoting the effort through its own retail and digital channels, including its mobile app, which has had 20+ million downloads to date.

Experience (Still) Matters

The millennial rallying cry strikes again; experience is king. We’ve said it before, but now it is truer than ever as 78% of millennials would chose to spend money on an experience rather than a good and 55% of millennials say they’re increasing the amount they spend on events and live experiences (Harris Interactive).

Some retailers are fulfilling this need through the creation of branded hotels, which offer young consumers distinctive experiences around the company’s products. So if you’re shopping for a millennial this holiday season, you might want to consider a trip with a retailer like one of these:

West Elm: West Elm recently announced that it will debut hotel properties in 2018, managed in partnership with hospitality group DKK. In entering this sector, West Elm aims to bring its unique character to the hotel experience and help guests feel connected to the nearby community. In addition to using its own products, West Elm is partnering with independent makers in each hotel’s location in order to incorporate local design elements and make each property personal. It will also develop community programming, including communal dinners, maker events and charity outreach.

Camper: Footwear company Camper is best known for its funky, yet functional shoes and innovative retail spaces. It’s been getting attention for its hospitality presence, too. Taking their eye for design outside the traditional storefront, Camper has built hotels in Barcelona and Berlin that evoke its ethos with a youthful, minimalist aesthetic that also aligns with the current “hotel as hostel” trend being adopted by some of the larger hospitality companies targeting millennials.

Next Level Technology

Chestnuts may be roasting on the open fire at Grandma’s, but you can bet numerous households are simply watching the toasty red flames lick from the screen of their Apple TV. Technology has made its way into so many aspects of our lives, and smart retailers are capitalizing on our desire for the ease of technology. So what will retailers be focusing on this year?

Mobile Payments: More than 20 million people used smart phones to pay for a transaction in 2015, and this number is only going to rise as consumers stray from cash to apps like VenMo, Apple Pay and more. While the numbers may still be somewhat small, their rise is steady. 36% of consumers paid for holiday shopping with PayPal last year, and 49% of retailers accepted PayPal, 20% accepted Apple Pay and 8% accepted GoogleWallet. With the rise of cash- and card-free pay, consumers can look forward to quicker check out times, shorter lines and more efficient, sustainable stores.

Virtual Reality: It’s not just smartphones and mobile pay that will bring tech to the retail holiday scene this year. Augmented and virtual reality are officially amongst us. TopShop offers augmented reality fitting rooms that allow customers to “try on” clothes without having to actually change—allowing consumers to try on more clothes in a shorter period of time as well as to review and compare outfits. It also virtually eliminating the mess and disorder that is caused by dressing rooms, giving store associates more time and energy to focus on their customers rather than re-hanging merchandise. Zeekit has released a new virtual fitting room with 3-D image processing techniques from the military, and Urban Outfitters will introduce visual searches that help customers find more things they may like—by just taking a picture. This interactive tech is a must for millennials and GenZ, as their desire to both read reviews of purchases and then share their purchases on social media is growing. Not only does this help promote the brands, but it turns customers into outspoken brand ambassadors.

The Upshot

What does all this mean, and where is it going? Smart retailers have evolved to meet consumers on their terms. While many retailers have embraced the concept of abundance, offering myriad, seemingly infinite options for the products they sell, this strategy runs counter to what consumers, and more specifically millennials, value. They value quality, simplicity and transparency over abundance and excess. And they expect the products they buy to act as outward expressions of their core beliefs. Forward-looking retailers, like REI and West Elm, are tapping into these fundamental values to earn their “love” and create lifelong brand fans.

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CallisonRTKL

For more than five decades, Callison and RTKL have created some of the world’s most memorable and successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions and public entities. In 2015, our two practices came together under the Arcadis umbrella, expanding our sphere of influence and the depth and breadth of our resources. Our team is comprised of nearly 2,000 creative, innovative professionals throughout the world who are committed to advancing our client’s businesses and enhancing quality of life.