Ideas
Explore the world's #1 largest database of ideas and innovations, with 474,896 inspiring examples.
Trend Reports
Discover why 1,276 brands rely on our AI-powered Trend Reports to get better, faster insights.
Newsletter
Join 305,555 subscribers who rely on our weekly newsletter to keep up with need-to-know trends and insights.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Consumer Insights
Uncover major shifts and emerging opportunities with our exclusive PRO research.
Trend Reports
Discover why 1,276 brands rely on our AI-powered Trend Reports to get better, faster insights.
Newsletter
Join 305,555 subscribers who rely on our weekly newsletter to keep up with need-to-know trends and insights.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Advisory & Services
Accelerate innovation and ignite disruptive thinking with our award-winning programs and research.
Trend Reports
Get fast, customized trend reports, presentations and deep dives 20x faster than traditional research.
Plans
Get started today with a free consultation, our self-serve tools, or a dedicated program.
Articles & Magazine
Get inspired with our 4,223 innovation strategy articles, keynote, videos and innovation tools.
Innovation Awards
Trend Hunter’s Innovation Strategy Awards recognize the best innovation tactics gathered from our interviews with some of the world's most notable business leaders, authors and change makers.
Advisory & Services
Accelerate innovation and ignite disruptive thinking with our award-winning programs and research.
Innovation Assessment
Enhance your innovation potential with a deeper understanding of your unique innovation archetype and how your organization benchmarks.
FuturistU
Prepare for the years ahead with 100+ lessons, tactics, tools and frameworks with our full learning database.
Innovation Books
Join 20,000,000 people getting better and faster with our New York Times Bestselling books and keynote videos.
Jeremy Gutsche
Ignite your event or virtual event with our CEO, a NY Times Bestselling Author and one of the top innovation keynote speakers.
Our Team of Speakers & Virtual Presenters
Inspire your group with our most popular speakers on innovation, trends, change and futurism.
Custom Training & Events
Bring the Future Festival experience directly to your team or co-hosted custom event.
Custom Masterclasses
Join the world's leading brands who leverage our custom programs to accelerate innovation.
FuturistU 5-Day Program
Become a Futurist with our immersive 5-Day program at Future Festival World Summit.
Online eLearning
Learn the fundamentals of futurism and trends with 100+ online courses about innovation.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Contact
Get in touch to learn more, ask a question or submit a tip.
About Us
Learn more about Trend Hunter and how we accelerate innovation.
Follow-Us
Join our 3,500,000 social media followers, on the cutting edge.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
FAQ
Get answers to common questions about Trend Hunter.
Community
Stay on the cutting-edge with the help of the Trend Hunter community.
Team
Meet the team trusted by hundreds of leading businesses worldwide.
Jobs
Find opportunities to accelerate your career with the #1 Trend Firm.
News
Catch up on noteworthy Trend Hunter news and media mentions.
Join
Build a portfolio and put your trend-spotting abilities to the test.
Advertising
Supercharge your marketing by partnering with Trend Hunter.
Portfolio
Visit your public portfolio and browse your past articles.
Add a Trend
Write up an article and showcase your trend-spotting skills.
My Trends
Edit your articles and see how they stack up on the leaderboards.
Settings
Edit your profile, connect your social media accounts, and more.
Add a trend, customize your dashboard, or track topics.
Future Festival
Innovation Events
Join the world's top innovators at our in person events.
Free Webinars
Learn to innovate through chaos, navigate the new normal and maintain work culture from home.
Custom Training & Events
Bring the Future Festival experience directly to your team or co-hosted custom event.
Search our database of 474,896 cutting edge ideas.

4 Innovative Retail Strategies That Go Beyond Traditional Brick & Mortar

Katherinev123
August 3rd, 2012
With technology changing the way consumers make purchases, the retail industry has been undergoing a transformation to allow for the convergence of both online and offline selling, creating a retail environment substantially different from the environment only a few years ago. The following innovative retail strategies allow for retailers to capture mobile consumers, decrease costs and take on less risk:

1) Pop-Up Stores. Pop-up shops provide considerable advantages for retailers, including lowered overhead costs from temporary real estate contracts and the ability to introduce new products to customers over short durations. Pop-up retailing also allows a business to leverage the benefits of a traditional brick-and-mortar establishment by giving customers a physical store environment. Trend Hunter has seen many established brands, such as Nike and Louis Vuitton, create pop-ups to provide their customers with a more focused shopping experience while decreasing costs associated with a longer-term retail strategy. On the other hand, new brands can benefit from pop-up retailing as they provide a lower-risk way to test a new product or service in the marketplace.

2) Offering Virtual Selling in Physical Space. Recently, Trend Hunter has seen a trend in physical stores adding a virtual element to the shopping experience. For example, the Korean home goods store Homeplus launched a virtual version of its store at a major subway station, allowing commuters to purchase goods on-the-go. To do so, they just had to scan the products' QR codes, with the selected items delivered later to the shopper's home. Similarly, the British retailer John Lewis launched a giant virtual window store that featured scannable product images, allowing customers to conveniently buy products as they pass by the display. By combining the virtual with the physical in this way, retailers are able to satiate a tech-savvy shopper's appetite for virtuality while simultaneously provide the familiar elements of a physical shopping experience.

3) Shops on Wheels. Like pop-up shops, mobile stores offer retailers with convenience, portability and lowered risk and costs. Traveling boutiques are still relatively new on the landscape as well, meaning that consumers are more likely to become intrigued and stop to shop. Examples of traveling stores include the StyleLiner, a fashion boutique on wheels that offers limited edition fashion goods and accessories. Hitch Couture is another traveling fashion boutique that provides high-fashion products as well as personalized shopping, private parties and photo shoots.

4) Bringing Online Offline. Although online shopping has increased significantly in popularity over the last several years -- online consumers spent about $202 billion in 2011 -- some retailers are recognizing that there are product categories that are better sold via traditional physical stores. For example, both eBay and Amazon have launched physical stores to better display their offerings. In the case of Amazon, which opened a store in its homebase of Seattle, the physical retail location enables customers to explore Amazon's brand of electronics, such as its Kindle eReader tablets. By providing customers with a hands-on experience, Amazon is better able to capture a market (those less inclined to buy things online) that might go to a place like Best Buy to purchase their gadgets.

For more innovative retail strategies and creative ways brands are venturing out of the traditional brick and mortar sphere, download Trend Hunter's Retail Trend Report and access Trend Hunter PRO for trends like Pop-Uptailing and Modular Retail.