Idea PikaPika XIV “Fusion and fleeting: two pillars of the future Retail” by Maria Callis.
In order to connect, be competitive and be aligned with the interests of their potential clients, the entrepreneurs of the twenty-first century must consolidate their businesses in these two ideas. On the 14th ed. of IDEA PIKAPIKA by Grup Idea, held at the Roca Barcelona Gallery, we introduced the concept of FUSION RETAIL.
Fusion is a physical process by which the matter results from solid into liquid. As a result of heat on the atoms, they vibrate faster. It is a process that affects a person as a consequence of the environment. The enterprise must assume a way of acting that enable to change quickly and respond to the unstable consumer whom intends to attract. The general discomfort of the society where we live, constantly submitted to obtain results in a short period of time has induced this fusion process.
This fusion affects the enterprises at different scale.
The first thing is to confront definitely that Retail Marketing is an integral vision of communication with the client. It must deal corporatively any space, both digital and physical, points of sale or offices. Wherever the brand is, everything must communicate. The physical spaces of sale must be enhanced as brand transmitters using the five senses to strengthen it, face to off-line sales.
Successful enterprises must respond with their strategy to the three main features of twenty-first century society:
• The speed. It is a consequence of a society submitted to stress and defeated by excess. There is an excess of information, alternatives and experiences. As the South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han explains, it is the society of performance, an enslaved man who is submitted to the environment proposals and who is unable to say no. The twenty first century client does not like to make decisions.
• The Ephemeral. It is the consequence of a man who cannot reason and who focuses on the present. He only cares about here and now. We live in a present that does not want to give up any possible future. In a conscious way, we do not make decisions in order to avoid compromising it. The twenty first century customer does not like to assume commitments.
• The Passenger. Where there is no sacrifice, there is no commitment. The individualistic society focuses on the pleasure itself. We make use of everything, making finite an infinite consumption. The client of the twenty first century wants one thing today and another thing tomorrow another.
We are talking about a simple, unfaithful and changing consumer that leaves aside the long-term vision to focus on short-termism. Companies need a structure that enhance a quickly decision in a changing manner. The strategy puts in hands of multidisciplinary teams that give a guidance of managing and communicating.
For this reason, it must be willing to remove borders between industry, distribution and also between different sectors. It must adopt a management model that enhances to be quickly at making decisions, defining partnership and collaborations.
The communication should be clear and generous in the approach of the business model at the point of sale. There are more and more cases of enterprises that work with fusion and fleeting, each one in its own way. For example, Camper, Urban Outfitters, Bond N0 9, Generator Hotel, Stance Socks, Story, LNFA Concept store Agency, & Other stories; Loft; Dover Street Market, Sence of place, Muji, the hotel Koé, Tenoha coworking or Soho house.
The interior design in all its disciplines (retail, workplace, healthcare, hospitality, …) should reflect these trends. With this environment, the decision on the type of material employed in a project is no longer taken for its durability, but for its inspirational, ecological and transmission of the brand values. The store and any corporate space is a display that must change to continue awakening interest. As in the theater behind the scenes. We have to talk about the theatricality of the stores, the dynamism and not about the design. The function of the theater must change every day or we pass away. It is the “lighting up your brand” and that is not achieved only with technology, but also with materials, light … with everything that impacts the consumer’s senses.
By María Callís