The portfolio of suppliers continues to both broaden and narrow. Consolidation; changing capital investment strategies among retailers with mature economies; and putting pressure on mainstream vendors, while continuing globalization, brought a new broad participation at EuroShop 2020 from select suppliers based in Asia and India. We also saw ideas that have grown out of manufacturing innovation such as 3D printing, smart shelf technologies, and the rise of “showrooming” (also known as webrooms, labs, studios, etc.). These showrooms have evolved to define the digital to physical retailer space around programming and education versus purely a merchandise play.

Six Tactics That Resonated:

1. String is the thing. A modern-day version of a “potholder” frame, design “spiders” weave a web from organized and gridded to free and changing.  They allow for division and transparency between spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Mixed Media. A mash up of lighting, graphics, materiality and digital signage suggests that in some cases enough is never enough.  Layers that are static, moving, act and interact, adding depth and illusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Self Staff. Self-checkout, self-dispensing, assisted self-selecting, and even self-cooking brings out the “maker” in all of us.  Objectives such as sustainability ecology, fun and efficiency are driving self-staffing to become a key part of the shopping experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. High Engagement. The lowly shelf, previously only a vehicle to hold and contain product, now becomes an apparatus by hosting signage, interactivity and shopper analytics. We’ll see information at your fingertips and increasingly mechanisms to allow you to shop, order for remote fulfillment, or customize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Ingredients. We saw some unique connections of material and process of “donor” material (e.g. recycling) shown in proximity to the result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Home Sweet Home. Residential peak, gable, window and doors to communicate a warm, inviting and cozy sensibility was ever present. Something that we can all find safety and comfort in these days.