I came across an interesting and relevant blog post by Paul Broome, CTO at TOREX. He lists a number of examples of innovative retail trends and experiments such as, Ebay shop on Oxford Street, Shoreditch Boxpark, John Lewis pop-up shops (listed below) and then argues that IT can play a significant role in leading such future innovations.
- E-tailer giant eBay has taken its proposition to an empty shop just off Oxford Street where it has opened the eBay Boutique. The store is stocked with 350 eBay bestsellers ranging from perfumes to digital cameras and flatscreen TVs. There are no tills, instead customers pay with their smartphone by reading QR codes on product tags.
- Shoreditch's Boxpark project mall recently opened; this being the world's first pop-up mall, built from stripped and re-fitted shopping containers.
- John Lewis pop-up shops at the Vintage at Goodwood festival for the last two years running. The shop was geared towards the festival's audience, stocking vintage products and running sewing workshops, fashion and furnishing advice.
In an example of how technology can respond he cites Apple example. Apple has been using its own products as portable POS system for some time. The combination of a HTML5 POS with the portability and low cost of tablet computing means this type of technology is well-suited to retailers, restaurants and bars looking for a flexible solution. The technology is applicable for delivery through a cloud-based service, making it easily accessible, without a big investment in hardware and can be set up in a matter of minutes. He argues that, such agility and flexibility could allow retailers to explore new sales channels to meet targets, particularly in the run-up to Christmas and over the January sales.
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