It is no secret that retailers and shopping malls are suffering.
They are having a difficult time getting consumers to shop in a brick and mortar store, versus online. JC Penny’s, Sears, Gap, Wet Seal and dozens of others are clothing stores trying to adjust to the market disruption in retail. With foot traffic down in shopping malls over the last five years by 57%, something new is needed.
Some creative folks are finding ways to change the ‘user experience’ of a retail store.
Reinventing Retail
In San Francisco, a store named Reformation is using technology to alter how women shop for clothes.
As you enter their shop, they provide you with a giant touch-screen monitor where you can browse and tap things you want to try on in your size. Instead of rummaging through the racks, you just click a button and a store employee brings those garments to your dressing room.
Founder Yael Aflalo walked through stores like a web designer, thinking how to make navigating and experience a store better. She wanted to eliminate every annoying part of shopping – the messy racks, difficult finding your size, schlepping clothes in and out of a changing room, terrible lighting in the dressing room and an ease of engaging with store help.
Oak Lab is a company that is disrupting the online and in-store experience, through touch screen technology. Reformation and other retailers are using their systems to help change how customers shop. They have smart mirrors in dressing rooms that allow you to adjust how you visualize what environment you are in and how that little black dress looks on you.
The Mirror’s Image
How can you change your customer’s experience eliminating the things that cause friction and resistance to purchasing? I hate to shop but particularly hate the in-store experience. Unless someone improves it, I’m ordering stuff online because it is easy.
For people who enjoy shopping, eliminating the difficult hurdles can only help. Think of retail like web design, greatly in need of improved UX.
Why shop till you drop? Why not have an enjoyable experience instead? Marketing professionals focus on how they can change your experience with a brand, and lessons from the online world are spilling back to the real world.
Hello, disruption.
Are you shopping for some disruptive help in your business? Need a fresh pair of eyes to help you see some new paths forward? I can help. Email me at jeffreylynnslater@gmail.com or call/text to 919 720 0995.
Photo courtesy of Oak Lab
