PSFK Macro Analysis: Retail Innovation Landscape
January 2024
Current trends in retail innovation revolve around five main themes.
The first, innovation in delivery and fulfillment, sees companies using technology and unique measures - like drone delivery and AI-enabled carts - to streamline and enhance their delivery process.
The customer experience is being prioritized, with AI and interactive events being used to increase engagement and enhance the overall shopping journey.
A growing focus on sustainability and social responsibility is apparent, with retailers embracing eco-friendly designs and ethical practices.
The fourth theme is the integration of technology in retail, such as using shoppable TV, distinct tools for merchants to emphasize their visibility in search results, and combining physical and digital elements for an immersive experience.
Lastly, collaborations and partnerships form a crucial trend as retailers team up to provide unique experiences or tap into new markets.
Recent Retail Innovation Case Studies That PSFK Has Been Tracking
This week - what is retail? Where does it start and end?
Best Buy Introduces New Health Tech Service in partnership with Stripe
Best Buy is expanding its health and wellness category by offering glucose monitoring devices, with support from payments platform Stripe. Learn More
Walmart Enhances Shopping Experience with AI and VR
Walmart is investing in retail innovation with AI-powered store assistants and virtual reality training for employees, aimed at improving the shopping experience and streamlining operations. Learn More
Amazon Fashion Introduces Fit Insights: Reducing Returns and Enhancing Sizing Consistency
Amazon Fashion's new AI fit tool, Fit Insights, aims to reduce returns and improve online fit by analyzing customer feedback and sharing sizing inconsistencies with brands. Available for free to US apparel and shoe brands enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry with at least 100 units sold in the last 12 months. This move addresses sizing frustration and enhances the shopping experience. Learn More
Instacart Trials Smart Cart Advertising in Stores
Instacart is experimenting with in-store advertising through its AI smart carts, offering a promising avenue for personalized advertising within physical stores. Learn More
Bank Relocates Employees to Mall, Focuses on Workspace Design
Bank of Montreal has relocated 3,000 employees to a mall in Toronto, offering insights into inclusive and sustainable workspace design for retail and commercial real estate. Learn More
Alison Roman Opens Innovative Food Store in mid-state New York
Chef and entrepreneur Alison Roman's new store in the Hudson Valley is dedicated to artisanal food and explores innovative ways to blend technology and digital media with food experiences. Learn More
Mean Girls Experience: An IP-Retail Fusion in LA
The Mean Girls Experience in LA allows fans to immerse themselves in the world of the Plastics with themed food, costumes, makeup, photo opportunities, and exclusive merchandise. Learn More
Courrèges and Dizonord's Pop-up Celebrates Music and Fashion
Courrèges and Dizonord have collaborated on a cross-cultural pop-up in Paris, featuring printed objects, books, and magazines dedicated to niche, pop, and underground music. Learn More
Studio Wok's Minimalist Design Reflects Japanese Culture at PAN
Studio Wok's minimalist design for PAN in Milan draws inspiration from Japanese culture and minimalist principles, featuring a vibrant counter and textile installation. Learn More
Mastercard Advances Inclusive Growth Efforts with Multilingual, Multicultural AI Chatbot
Mastercard aims to reduce loan decision bias by creating an AI chatbot to help small and midsized businesses with questions about planning, grants, marketing, and more in English and Spanish. Trained on Mastercard's content and licensed business data, the chatbot aims to support multicultural and minority business owners by providing unbiased and relevant responses. Learn More
Business Strategy Research
This section requires PSFK IQ membership:
Snap's AI Strategy will rethink AR Experiences
United Airlines to Challenge the Travel Industry Status Quo with AI Strategy
Chase expects to enable Exceptional Conversational Experiences with AI
Red Bull expects change with AI-powered Strategy
JPMorgan Chase Set to Alter Banking Experience with its Future-Forward AI Strategy
Citi Embraces Generative AI: Revolutionizing Customer Experience and Compliance
Amazon to Revolutionize Customer Experience with Advanced AI and Machine Learning
How Nordstrom wants to Set a Bar High for Future Strategic Advantage
Petco to Transform Pet Wellness through Revolutionary Retail Strategy
Take A New Look At PSFK’s AI Powered BI System
In 2023, we updated the PSFK IQ research and business intelligence platform with additional features, tools and content.
Here's what we have going:
- 250 Trends - After a fresh round of mega-mega pattern recognition we updated our database of trends on Jan 1 this week. The trends we track are related to key industries, technologies, CX stages, and more. Case studies, reports and other content is indexed against each trend so that when you look at a trend, you'll see all the related content.
- 1,000 Companies - We have a new section on the site where we track innovation case studies, news and data connected to major brands and retailers. We are not only matching innovation case-studies but we are pulling insights from content shared by executives when they give speeches at conferences and on their investor calls. Check what we've written about your corp/client here: https://www.psfk.com/company-index
- 4,000 Case Studies - Every day since Jan 1, 2023, we have been carefully adding progressive innovative projects, products and ideas to our database. Each case study is indexed against trends, technology, industry and other topics. And did I say that we updated this daily?
https://www.psfk.com/case-studies
- Focused Newsletters - Last year, we were publishing dozens of different newsletters and then in December we decided to focus on delivering the PSFK and Retail Innovation Week really well, rather than 40 kinda average ones. To subscribe to these newsletters today for free visit: https://www.psfk.com/newsletter-free-signup
- AI-Report Generation - We spent the 2nd half of 2023 trying to perfect the perfect innovation report and no doubt, we'll spend the first half of this year doing so too. But for now, all Members have access to a process that creates a draft-version of a report in 30 minutes that used to take our analysts 3 weeks to develop.
https://www.psfk.com/instant-innovation-report-trend-god
- AI Chat - Our chat bots now sit across 2 databases: Macro Chat leverages 190 non-psfk industry reports and Micro Chat leverages our Case Study database, currently with up to date 4,000 data points.
https://www.psfk.com/ai-research-chat/macro-trends
https://www.psfk.com/ai-research-chat/micro-trends
PSFK IQ
All of the above goes alongside the existing content and tools:
- 800 reports in our trend and innovation library. New studies added weekly.
- 700 industry stats and 350 expert quotes collected each week and refreshed since mid-2023.
- 200 analysis pieces that studies industry futures and company dynamics
- 2,250 experts and 1,000 solution-providing vendors that we're tracking indexed by topic, industry and technology. Updated monthly.
https://www.psfk.com
For more information & Pricing
https://www.psfk.com/psfk-iq-business-intelligence-with-pricing
Stat Of Note
Consumer preferences for secondhand shopping are on the rise, driven by sustainability and economic considerations. 93% of shoppers in the U.S. have or are open to buying secondhand products. Read More
AI Notice: Using human research as its foundation, the content, analysis and certain imagery has been developed using multi-step, fine-tuned artificially intelligent tools. All newsletter content has been reviewed by human team.