Revenge of the High Street: This Time It’s Personal

This year at ISE, we are bringing our future vision to life. Our display solutions — from outdoor signage and video walls to LED displays and curved monitors — are smarter, better customised and differentiated to provide new opportunities and drive growth for our retail customers.

As a consumer brand, retailer and enterprise technology company – Samsung is witnessing radical changes in the retail industry. The altered behaviour and inflated expectations of today’s consumers has exposed weaknesses in many of today’s traditional retailers. Those that do not adapt may not survive. Only those willing to experiment and challenge the status quo will have a chance to lead in the future.  They are the businesses who seek innovative combinations of physical and digital to exploit untapped opportunities and competitor weaknesses.

Rather than treat e-commerce, m-commerce and physical shopping as different sales channels – the retailers that pull ahead of the pack in 2015 will be those that cherry pick the best bits of each and combine them into seamless shopper journeys.

Samsung predicts a comeback focused on convenience and engaging, personalised experiences. The revenge of the High Street. This time it’s personal.

Shopping between online and offline worlds

Footfall rates are decreasing as people can shop for almost anything from the comfort of their own homes. When shoppers do visit a store they are increasingly better informed and connected than the shop’s own staff. Retailers will see that as a call to use shops differently: to create memorable experiences that drive brand engagement and loyalty.

Samsung is helping major retailers to adapt to this transformation. The Concept Mall Bikini Berlin, in collaboration with Nike, uses technology to take in-store customers on a personal journey. Each shopper can experience clothes fitting in a virtual environment meant to recreate the childhood dream of becoming a football star. When trying on t-shirts, football boots or sports trousers, the shopper sees a football field and receive guidance on how to pass the ball. From there, Samsung’s SMART Signage display monitors shows a stadium filled with cheering fans and gives the shopper an option to replay personal game highlights.

Although many people enjoy shopping online, there’s no doubt they’ll continue to be attracted to the “real” store experience.  The streetwear label store RAG in Vienna has created a shopping wall to virtually enhance customer advice in their store, using an interactive digital catalogue, shopping advisor, shopping basket and social networks fused together.  Customers can easily navigate Samsung’s 2.5 metre touchscreen to find out where products are located within the shop or transfer individual virtual shopping baskets to their mobile devices.

A new generation of shops overcome high rent and space constraints

As the lines between online and traditional retail continue to blur, tablets and interactive displays will extend shop walls, creating “endless aisles” and “shoppable windows”.  With rents spiralling ever upwards this is good news for businesses as it means they can deliver a great physical environment without the need for large shops.  One such innovation is ‘CenterStage,’ Samsung’s new digital in-store display.  The interactive 4K UHD display enables Samsung to showcase entire product suites in a life size environment.  A consumer looking to purchase a new refrigerator, for example, could potentially browse the home appliance in multiple colours; visualize how the fridge would look in various kitchens settings; and scroll through clear explanations of product features and benefits.  Samsung predicts this type of one-stop-shop for all appliance needs will appeal to consumers as it enhances and makes their home appliance shopping experience easier than ever.

When KENZO’s brand was first launched, the French luxury retailer’s vision was to take its fashion to the street, appealing to young, spirited individuals whose style was trendy and fun.  The vast majority of customers, who are under 40, primarily like to browse and purchase products online while sharing information with friends using their smartphones or tablets.   Realizing this, KENZO has created an energetic interactive experience in their real-world stores, appealing to these same online shoppers.  KENZO has delighted shoppers by installing Samsung’s VideoWalls which show garment textures in fine detail, displaying immersive video animations and pictures.  In addition, staff provide personalised attention by giving customers the ability to browse e-catalogues and select merchandise on their Samsung Galaxy Note 3 tablets.

In 2015, we’ll see continue to see the convergence of the physical and digital where it’s not just about “The High Street” or “Online,” it’s just “Shopping.”  In the meantime, be ready for the revenge of the High Street.