Shownotes
New research reveals Gen Z will transform Britain's high streets into social, tech-driven hubs by 2050! Sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso.
According to American Express research, 65% of Gen Z says each trip should deliver something they can't get online, while 79% want future retail destinations to blend shopping with dining, drinking, and leisure. Three-quarters believe retailers should use AI for immersive in-store experiences.
Lisa Collier, fresh from London, shares her perspective on whether this evolution is realistic, drawing parallels to how malls served Boomers. We discuss the importance of experiential touchpoints, planning organizations, and ensuring the technology actually works. Is this clickbait or genuine strategy? Our panel weighs in.
🔔 Subscribe for retail trends!
For the full episode head here
#genz #retailtrends #highstreet #experientialretail #AIretail #futureofretail #brickandmortar
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Transcripts
Success on the high street will depend not just on what businesses sell, but on quote, how they make consumers feel.
Speaker A:Blending technology experience and community into every visit.
Speaker A:End quote.
Speaker A:For Gen Z, the high street visit is about far more than shopping, says study.
Speaker A:Two thirds or 65% say each trip should deliver something they can't get online, while nearly 4 and 5, 79% want future retail destinations to blend shopping with dining, drinking and leisure.
Speaker A:Three quarters or 76% of Gen Z believe retailers should use AI to create more immersive in store experiences, while 60% say they would be more likely to visit shops offering digital trons or AI generated stuff.
Speaker A:Styling advice.
Speaker A:Lisa, you were just in London so we're gonna go to you on this one.
Speaker A:Are you buying or selling?
Speaker A: to social tech driven hubs by: Speaker B:I have to say when I first read the headline, my first immediate reaction was no way.
Speaker B:Like, that was my immediate, like quick reaction.
Speaker B:And then as I thought about it and I stepped back, I was just in London, I, I moved my dog, my youngest daughter over there to do a master's program for a year.
Speaker B:I thought New York was the city that didn't sleep.
Speaker B:But London, I don't know, it may have something on New York.
Speaker B:It sits pretty heavy traffic over there and crazy at all times.
Speaker B:But as I stepped back and thought about it and really loved all the statistics in the article because it's true, I do think the Gen Z is demanding experiential, they're demanding connection points where they want to meet up and go together.
Speaker B:It's kind of going to have to, I think replace what the mall was to the boomers.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:If you think about it now, Gen Z wants to be on the high street.
Speaker B:They want to be social.
Speaker B:I think that they're going to want to have, they're going to have to want people, make people want to go there because it is a trip, right?
Speaker B:And I think it is going to happen.
Speaker B: thought about it, I go, okay,: Speaker B:So I'm pretty sure they can figure out how to make it happen.
Speaker B:But I think they're going to have to do it to keep the real estate prices in check.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, at least how would you be advising brands, especially having your background working for some large, large brands, especially in the fashion and apparel space, how would you be advising them to start thinking about this?
Speaker A: like, build this strategy for: Speaker B:I do think it is about the consumer touch points.
Speaker B:I'll go back to one of my old alma maters who is doing quite well today.
Speaker B:So shout out to Levi Strauss and company.
Speaker B:Levi's is having a moment and it's amazing to see.
Speaker B:And I think I remember when we started putting tailor shops on Regent street and Oxford street and that allowed for that connection, that gathering also allowed for that creativity.
Speaker B:So I think you have to take a step back and think about how does my brand connect with consumers?
Speaker B:And then what experience could I give them that is so relevant to my brand?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:And how maybe, like, what are you driving them there to do, too?
Speaker A:Like the tailoring, for example.
Speaker A:Like, maybe you're not buying something that time, but you're bringing them in because you're offering a special kind of tailoring or enhancement to their current product.
Speaker A:And then you're, you're building on that experience while they're there.
Speaker A:That makes sense.
Speaker B:And you're building on kind of the passion for the brand.
Speaker B:Because everybody loves a story about their old Levi's or their first Levi.
Speaker B:So imagine you're bringing it in and maybe blending it with new product and old product.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, I think, you know, another way we've seen the sports brands show up and be interactive.
Speaker B:I think, you know, the big guys, Nike and Adidas have been testing this for some time.
Speaker B:I don't know that they've exactly got it right.
Speaker B:The one thing I will say, and I think I said this in a question the last time.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:They got to make sure the tech works.
Speaker B:They got to make sure the tech works, right?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah, yes.
Speaker C:Lots of digital screens, right, Lisa?
Speaker C:That's what they do.
Speaker D:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker B:And they have to make sure it's interactive.
Speaker B:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker A:Chris, are you in agreement with Lisa this time around?
Speaker A:What do you think of High Streets and their Gen Z approach?
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, I agree with everything she said, but I, I mean, when I step back and I put my, you know, God, how long is it now?
Speaker C:How do you want to age myself?
Speaker C:Almost 30 years of being in retail.
Speaker C:I just kind of look at this headline and think it's a nothing headline.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's not saying anything, really.
Speaker C:All that, you know, evocative, like, okay, younger generations want tech.
Speaker C:They Want more social experiences, they want a reason to go to a store.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's our job as retailers to figure that out and how to do that.
Speaker C:It's been that same way forever.
Speaker C:It's not anything new, so it's not earth shattering to me.
Speaker C:It's just good retailing it the way like the words that came to my, the word that came to my mind as I was listening to Lisa talk is like, yeah, you're on high street.
Speaker C:You got to have a good flagship strategy to hook people and get them to come in and the tech's got to work.
Speaker C:So, like, yeah, I don't know, I thought this was more of a clickbait headline than an actual, like, transformative indication of how things are going to change.
Speaker A:Sure, that makes sense.
Speaker A:Manoah, close us out here.
Speaker A:What do you think?
Speaker A:Where, where do you land on this clickbait or is there strategy here that people should be thinking about?
Speaker D:I mean, I think it's a little bit of both.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker D:Because I, yeah, yes, young consumers, they are, for them, you know, buying is not the, the experience.
Speaker D:Buying is just, you know, you can do that online, you have so many options.
Speaker D:It's not this, you know, we went and walked them all and that was the experience.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Kind of like shopping and maybe thinking about shopping or transacting.
Speaker D:So, yeah, I think it's, you know, that's just that their lives are more tech infused and that's just how they're going to live their lives in retail and in everything.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So I do think it's going to be a natural evolution and it's underway.
Speaker D:So it'll happen.
Speaker D:But is it super shocking that it'll happen?
Speaker D:I, you know, maybe not.
Speaker A:What do you, what do you think about, like, one of the things that I thought was missing from this article is worrying about product availability.
Speaker A:Like, there's nothing in here talking about, like, how do you make sure that you have inventory?
Speaker A:Like, if they are going to be coming physically to the high streets, like, what is your investment in your product strategy and what the right products are that you're going to be carrying on shelves?
Speaker A:Mano especially.
Speaker A:I think this is important in the beauty category.
Speaker A:Like, I want to be able to try that, you know, moisturizer that I saw on TikTok.
Speaker A:If I'm going to the high street, do you think that that's a component that retailers are thinking about or, you know, is this something that AI is able to do as they insinuate in the article?
Speaker D:I can't do it yet.
Speaker D:I Don't understand things where like I don't know that AI can tell you what a moisturizer is going to feel like on your face ever.
Speaker D:But you know, so yeah, I, I think it's that balancing of the.
Speaker D:And as you have add more experience.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:You shrink the space to hold actual goods that you're to convert people into.
Speaker D:So yeah, I, I do think it's a point.
Speaker D:And they're going to have to be smart about, you know, maybe which categories.
Speaker D:Absolutely.
Speaker D:It's non negotiable.
Speaker D:You have to have it in the store and which places.
Speaker D:It's like, okay, maybe you're buying this jacket and you can use a magic mirror to see it in the navy versus the gray that we have store and we'll ship it to you next day.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So I think there's places where you can have that compromise.
Speaker D:But.
Speaker D:But yeah, there's going to be things that you need to touch and you need to, you know, swatch in the inside of your wrist to see if it looks good or not.
Speaker B:So something that comes to my mind is an area that I think we under emphasize in, in the retail and fashion space is the importance of planning.
Speaker B:Because what you're talking about is, is the inventory at the right place at the right time and really how the planning organizations are really going to think about end to end and be able to hit on multiple experiences.
Speaker B:So I think it's a watch out for retailers because I don't think we put enough emphasis into that either from a people priority or tools.
Speaker B:And that's the one thing.
Speaker B:As soon as you asked Manola the question that came to my mind because I'm super passionate about it because I used to think the merchant was the most important role and now I sometimes say planning.
Speaker B:I do say it's the central nervous system of the company and everything has to run off of that engine.
Speaker B:And I think it's going to need to be prioritized when we think about all the things we talked about today where AI is going to play a role because it really is right product, right place, right time and how do you get it there?