Future Retail Forms

Retail Knowledge Bank

What is the future of what we call retail? What will be the forms, the governance, the offer? What influence will digitalization wield and what elements will remain analogue? Will we travel to stores or will they come to us? How will new store formats fit into the customer journey?

In 2018, the Centre for Retail Research began researching the future form and function of the physical store. Since then, we have continued to work with important questions on this theme within several research projects. Our findings have been shared in many formats, which you can access via this page.

Ease or Excitement?

There is no doubt that retailing is undergoing a significant structural transformation. During the last decade or so, many stores have closed. Yet, at the same time, online retailers are opening physical stores and showrooms and many long-established retailers are investing in new and innovative store formats. This suggests that the physical store is not ‘dead’ but that its role and function is changing.

Read more about the important of different store formats for customers in this 2021 blog post by Carys Egan-Wyer.

Re-examining the Place of the Physical Store During the Digital Retail Era

This open-access chapter shows that physical stores need to be inspirational, to have knowledgeable staff, and to make sure that consumers get personal service and care when visiting stores.

Excitement is not the only experience

Expectations of what constitutes a positive customer experience have changed over time. New store formats and diversified retail offerings have enabled new kinds of customer experience. As have developments in technology and digital services. Regardless of the form it has taken, customer experience has always been of paramount importance to retail managers. And it continues to be so. Over 50% of participants at Postnord’s Retail Day 2023 stated that improving customer experience was their top priority for the coming year.

Read more about customer experience in new store formats, in this 2023 blog post by Carys Egan-Wyer.

IKEA Bedroom

What made IKEA go against the trend and move into city centres, when other retails were moving out to external locations?

Read more about IKEA's decision to experiment with new store formats in this blog post from 2019 by Jens Hultman and Ulf Johansson.

New research methods for new store formats

The new retail landscape is complex. New types of touchpoints and new store formats mean messy, non-linear customer journeys with multiple online and offline touchpoints. If we want to understand these journeys, and what value customers derive from new and innovative touchpoints, we must use methods that allow them to explain their own complex customer journeys in all their messy glory!

Read more about messy customer journey self-mapping in this 2022 blog post by Carys Egan-Wyer.