Retail Trends 2024

One of the big trends in 2024 will continue to be the pop-up store format. It is an opportunity for a brand to test a new concept quickly and flexibly in a variety of locations. It's not about making temporary use of empty retail space, it's about creating an experience for your customers. Take Fred Perry in Malaysia, for example. There, the latest fashions were displayed in an old, burnt-out cinema. Another trend in the next few years will be multi-branding. One of the challenges here is retail design. You have to create an environment that looks uniform and yet allows each brand to develop in its own way. Multi-branding can come to us in different ways over the next few years. Brands within a group can share a multi-brand presence in the store, for example through a joint shop-in-shop. Or they can do it like the New York multibrand store Showfields. This store offers temporary inspiration for 3 months in a niche for young online brands.

Showfields shows that you can't do without bricks and mortar, or rather, as a brand, you can't do without the experience of a physical store. And this is backed up by figures and statistics. According to EHI, 57% of the 1,000 online shops with the highest turnover also have a physical store. Many of these offline stores have natural digital links and components. Stretched screens, bar screens, long narrow screens, whatever you want to call them, are becoming more affordable and therefore more attractive - not only for pilot projects but also for series production. Their slim format makes them ideal for floor placement without sacrificing merchandise. With an Internet connection, content can be controlled and rolled out via a content management system, and with the growing importance of W-LAN for customers and brands in the retail sector, it is increasingly possible to rely on on-site infrastructure. The result is a trend that is invisible to customers, but all the more important to brands and retailers. Data and tracking are the buzzwords. After all, almost anything that is digital can be measured, and if it is online, it can be measured in the comfort of the marketing office. Employees can see the performance of their product presentations in dashboards, allowing them to check their targets and adjust them if necessary.

It is not possible to focus specifically on one company or one industry. In the fashion and cosmetics industry, many new trends can be identified. Just by the introduction of a new product. For example, a continuing trend is to test products digitally first, show them to the community and sometimes only produce them if there is sufficient demand. Lego, for example, lets customers decide what they want and then produces the model with the most votes. It is a win-win situation - the customer decides and gets what they want, and Lego produces what the customer wants. The customer's experience of contributing to the creation of a product is also crucial. But marketing is also at the forefront in the DIY sector. The wide range of products available in DIY stores calls for innovative concepts, and customers often know better than the store staff. Some people have experienced this themselves, so technologies such as Lift & Learn are used to explain the differences between products in a simple way to the person standing in front of them. In addition, the behaviour can then be digitally evaluated and you can learn more about the products and the customers.

Personalisation is one of the retail trends that will continue in 2025. At asos, customers can customise their shopping bag on the spot and take their purchases with them. The customer stays longer while the bag is being made, has fun or an experience in the store, and may be asked by other people around them where the bag is, so it's doubly good for brand marketing. Brick-and-mortar retail also needs to become more environmentally conscious and sustainable.
It is now possible to do without a lot of plastic and to make entire displays out of organic material.  At ARNO, we do this in the cosmetics industry, for example. In the coming years, more and more product packaging will come onto the market made from organic materials, or packaging will be eliminated wherever possible. These are the products that retailers need to focus on in order to be successful, as the shift in society towards higher product quality is clearly noticeable.

Not every trend can be applied to every target group. The focus should always be on value. What is the value of this development or technology for me as a brand or for my customers? The added value for your target group is crucial. Only if this is given will customers accept it. Also, give the target group time to get used to your new concept, do not make hasty decisions but develop mature and well thought-out solutions.

Consult studies, retail agencies and shopfitters who have experience in this area and may already be developing other solutions for the future. From time to time, a new target group analysis and consideration will also help. Is my target audience still the same or has it changed? What moves my audience? Use these opportunities to ensure that you are well prepared not only for 2024, but also for the years to come.