On Wednesday 23 October, Qudini hosted a breakfast event for retail leaders alongside Samsung's Customer Experience and Showcase teams at the Samsung KX space in King's Cross. The Future of Retail event included insights from Qudini's CEO and Co-Founder, Imogen Wethered, who shared some interesting insights into why retailers are transforming "shops" into spaces for brand relationships, community and inspiration. Read her speech here and let us know what you think. For more information about Qudini, visit our website: www.qudini.com

1. THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
RETAIL LEADERS’ BREAKFAST AND TOUROF SAMSUNG KX

2. Transforming “shops” into spaces for brand
relationships, community and inspiration...
As presented by:
Imogen Wethered
CEO and Co-Founder
Qudini

3. Photo by MarcinKempaon Unsplash
“Which brands will remain relevant to
modern consumers?”
“How do I ensure that my brand
continues to remain relevant?”
Retail is changing rapidly. It’s becoming more
dynamic, faster paced and increasingly more
competitive. So, we should be constantly
asking ourselves these questions.
At Qudini, we’re big believers in the power of
the High Street in driving brand presence and
relationships and, as a result, securing lasting
brand relevance.

4. https://news.samsung.com/uk/samsung-kx-fuses-pioneering-design-with-local-heritage
We’re driven to ensure that the magic of retail
thrives into the future through creating a world
where retailers own their future and their
stores become essential and strategic tools for
driving lasting brand relevance.
And we’re seeing leading global brands like
Samsung working to this concept with
incredible results by creating spaces that
transform away from the traditional concept of
what the dictionary defines as a ‘shop’.

5. https://news.samsung.com/uk/samsung-kx-fuses-pioneering-design-with-local-heritage

6. Brand Interaction Hubs
Stores are becoming magical and exciting playgrounds where brands
build more powerful and lasting relationships with modern customers
through providing them with:
• Memorable experiences
• Inspiration
• And a sense of community.

7. And here in Samsung KX, we even see a pioneering example of a
brand delivering upon this new concept of a physical location
becoming an essential space for driving meaningful brand
interactions in the very fact that Samsung position KX as “Not a
Shop”..... but a place you can #DoWhatYouCant.

8. The growing importance of stores for brand interactions is further
demonstrated by other manufacturers, digital businesses and
previously pure-play/online only retailers who are also building
stores: Google, Amazon and Warby Parker, to name a few.

9. Why stores are
transforming…
Let’s look at what is driving retailers to turn
their stores into these exciting “brand
interaction hubs” before going into some
examples of what some retailers are doing.

10. Theaverage social media postis seen by
200 people and 60% are influenced by
it.
E-commerce, social media and the digital
world has significantly increased retail
competition and left us at the hands of
customers who can share their opinions with
hundreds of followers in an instant.

11. In-storetransactionsaccountsfor83%ofall sales
82%of Millennials still prefershoppingin-store
This revolution within retail has thrown us into
a new era where the consumer has more
control than ever before.
To win the attention of this far more
promiscuous, vocal and demanding customer-
base in an increasingly competitive market,
retailers need to increase their brand presence
and build stronger customer relationships
through highly compelling omni-channel
offerings.

12. Customers want to have a great
experience

13. Value experience as much as
a brand’s products and
services.
4OUTOF 5
Customers are willing to
pay more for a great
experience
16%more
The first way that retailers need to adapt to appeal to modern customers is
through offering more novel and engaging experiences…
But to do this well, retailers are realising that they need to accurately understand
who their customers are and to adapt their store to deliver powerful experiences
to them specifically.

14. https://news.samsung.com/uk/samsung-kx-fuses-pioneering-design-with-local-heritage
Samsung have a number of immersive
experience offerings, from VR simulators, a
connected car you can drive in, entirely
immersive product showroom style
displays and this wall which even turns into
a digital graffiti wall.

15. Has done a great job of really knowing its
demographic and making changes to tailor its
experience to them.
Retailers are inclined to group products together
based on their purpose, such as dolls, cups and
clothes, but children don't. Children buy products
based on their favourite character or film. For
instance, if they like Mickey Mouse, they want things
to do with Mickey Mouse. As a result, Disney group
their products by character and show.
In addition, they put all the toys in-store at child
height for children to easily access and engage with.
Disney

16. Has done a great job of tailoring their experience at a
highly local level through using data.
Their Nike by Melrose store in LA, which is exclusive only
to Nike plus members, uses data analytics from their app
to predict what their local customers will buy. They have
a curated section at the front of the store which is
stocked with pilot products tailored specifically to the
local lifestyle, as opposed to following their standardised
global trends.
Furthermore, they evolve their customer relationships
by showing an understanding of their customers fast-
paced lifestyles. The Melrose store enables customers
coming to store to collect their online orders to text
when they arrive and a staff member will meet them at
their car.
Nike by Melrose…

17. - Vice President of Nike’s stores, Cathy Sparks
Retail is not dead, but boring retail is dead.“ ”

18. A brand offering a great experience that truly adds
value to the everyday lives of its customers, whilst
intelligently creating an opportunity to try out its
products, is the mattress company Casper.
Last year, Casper launched the Dreamery in New York
City, where consumers can book a 45-minute nap to
try out its mattresses. Customers arrive to these nap
pods, are given luxurious dressing gowns and are
able to reinvigorate themselves for their afternoon of
work or evening of fun whilst trying out the brand’s
mattresses.
Casper mattresses

19. Customers want a sense of
community

20. Our second insight is that, in a social media driven world, modern
consumers are eager for a sense of community. They want to be
connected with people that share their tastes, interests and
passions. So, to increase their brand relevance, we’re seeing more
retailers using their stores as community spaces to connect customers
through their brand.

21. Enables communities and even celebrities to use Samsung KX to host events and
to connect people through the Samsung brand.

22. Lifestyle and clothing brand, American Eagle, has a store in New York City that connects college students together by
inviting them to stay awhile through providing usefulness within their everyday lives.
The store has an upstairs lounge with power outlets and free laundry machines. In the back of the store, they even have
a ‘makers studio’, where customers can customise and patch up their clothing.
American Eagle

23. Another brilliant example of connecting communities in-
store comes from the athletic clothing brand Lululemon,
who opened their first experiential store in Chicago
earlier this year.
The space includes two fitness studios, a meditation
space, areas for visitors to work, a cafe and, of course, a
massive retail space.
Instead of trying to appeal to anyone and everyone,
Lululemon made the conscious decision to focus solely
on appealing to their target audience who care about
fitness, mindfulness and work, whilst living busy urban
lifestyles.
By doing so, they have been able to create a truly
authentic community experience that enables them to
build genuine relationships with the people that matter
most to them.
Lululemon

24. Pay more for sustainable
products
57%
Will switch away from a
non environmentally
friendly brand
61%
But customers don’t want to just be a part of any community, they want to be a part of community
that reflects their values.
Sustainability is something that’s playing heavily on the minds of today’s more conscious consumer
base, leading to a very strong demand for greater transparency and accountability from big brands.

25. In an effort to become more sustainable,
Ikea has recently pledged to use only recyclable
materials in its textiles by 2020.
It was also one of the first brands to completely
eliminate straws and single use plastics from all
their bistros and restaurants. Ikea even
celebrated its sustainability goals by putting its
'Last Straw' on display at The London Design
Museum.
Ikea

26. Customers want to be
inspired
but it needs to be
tailored to the them

27. more likely to shop with brands that
recognise them and tailor offers
+50% of expect to receive
personalised offers within 24 hours
24hr91%
Our final insight, into how stores can be used to build more powerful
relationships with customers that converts in-store and across channels, is
that customers want inspiration and they want it to be highly personalised
and context relevant:

28. https://www.standard.co.uk/fashion/westfield-trending-store-ai-pop-up-save-the-children-a4154196.html
A very unique example of an innovative way to
inspire customers in a tailored and highly
contextually relevant way was The Trending pop-
up store that ran in Westfield throughout July.
This store used machine learning and tracked over
400,000 global fashion influencers in order to
establish the top 100 fashion items of that day.
These top 100 trending items were then given to a
team of stylists who ran around and hunted out
similar clothing and accessories from across the
shopping centre every morning, for customers to
buy that day.
The Trending Store

29. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-12/zara-s-hot-spotted-dress-is-a-bet-on-human-brains-vs-big-data
Another great example of a brand combining data with slick operations to maintain a competitive edge is Zara. Zara
very intelligently incorporate AI, automation and big data technology into its supply chain strategy.
This enables it to consistently order and deliver new lines of clothing to their stores every week, helping it to keep up
the pace with pure-play online retailers like ASOS.
Zara

31. It’s not just you, but every strong brand that is constantly questioning
their ability to stay relevant to modern consumers.
That’s why we’re seeing so many leading brands using their current
stores, and even building stores, that serve as “brand interaction hubs”,
to ensure that they continue to win over the hearts and minds of the all
powerful modern customer within this increasingly competitive market.
All through providing them with engaging experiences, a sense of
community and tailored inspiration.

32. - Global Consumer Markets Leader at PwC,
John Maxwell
Whether your organisation sells household goods, health
services, cars or financial services, delivering a superior
experience will be what makes you a winner… Because
consumers today are so discerning and powerful, it's our
perspective that most organisations need to invest far
more in customer experience (CX).
“ ”
PwC say what we all intuitively know to be true: that experience is what makes a
brand a winner and investment in experience is essential.

33. And new metrics are even emerging to help retailers to measure
and prove this, such as PwC’s new concept of ROX, Return on
Experience.
Unlike a “Return on investment”, which is typically immediately
measurable through sales increases or cost reductions within a
single channel. “Return on Experience” is a metric that relates to
your entire omni-channel offering its ability to develop short-term
sales but also lasting brand-relevance.
However, creating a truly effective “brand interaction hub” that delivers a strong and
consistent Return on Investment and a Return on Experience takes work. And to
work to their full effect, great customer experiences need to be underpinned by
highly efficient operations and valuable data capture.

34. After graduating university, aged 23, I attended a corporate hackathon
sponsored by O2 where I met my co-founder Fraser and bonded over a passion
for the magic of retail.
And we formed Qudini and started building solutions centred around helping
helping retailers create superior customer experiences, advance their in-store
store operations and capture data insights at every possible opportunity.
Our objective has always been to build a central store tool that helps retailers
retailers increase profitability and ensure lasting brand relevance through
better managing and analysing everything going on in-store.
Samsung use our tools to enable their customers to book appointments and
events online in advance, greet walk-in customers and assign them to the
best advisor for their needs and better choreograph their colleague activities
across the shop floor.

35. THANK YOU
CEOandCo-FounderatQudini
ImogenWethered