What will the shopping places of the future look like and how will the consumer change? Will technology and design continue to have relevance or is this just a moment of transition? These questions were answered by Alessandro Lorenzelli, who chaired the meetings organised by the magazine Platform at HOMI on the topic of New retail and brand valorisation, with the aim of providing participants with an insight into the world of retail design through the analysis of international trends in shop design. In-depth discussions addressed the role of the physical shop versus the virtual shop, its showcasing and the importance of the shop window in the brand-consumer relationship experience.

If the retail experience is based on the ability to intercept the new needs and expectations of the end consumer, how should the shop highlight the product?

One of the most glaring mistakes one can make is to think that the market and companies are entities living in a space detached from the rest. We are actually talking about people selling and buying goods and services with "human" logic. In fact, right now on the one hand, we are witnessing a generational change of consumers who can spend - we are talking about "generation Z" (those born between 1997 and 2012) - but in ways and with logics that are for many non-traditional.

The strongest shift is towards the concept of the omnichannel.  And on the other hand, retail is massively exposed to technology, so we have to follow the changes to survive, but understanding the market shift first, technology - or the "omnichannel" approach per se - does not solve strategic mistakes.

So how can shops be relevant to the customer? What does it mean today to sell an object, a product, and how should it be "staged" in order to tell its story?

Undoubtedly, retail grows with certain economic conditions - cyclically for some, less so for others - and must evolve according to the context. We are currently living in a time in which the shop becomes the terminal of an omnichannel process (i.e. involving the integration of the physical and online worlds). This allows us to create visually unique experiences, as in the case of the Wow in Madrid - a project by architecture firm External Reference - which is a union of physical and virtual, total and radical experience.

The retailer must know its clients so well that it can design a truly effective solution for an immediate need.

Purchases are 89% influenced by a visual component, which must therefore be an important part of the flow of sensations that move between logic and feeling, between needs and desires.

What is the role of technology?

Optimising technology brings together all the buying behaviours of the client, while creating an innovative experience that can remain memorable. the goal is to become fixed in the client's head, especially now that the client is making aggressive choices. we have to create a space in the client's mind that is dedicated only to us, exclusive, where we dictate the rules.

And the role of design?

It is a matter of integrating the designer's creativity with the ability to use technology, which, combined with knowledge of the client's purchasing behaviour and preferences, allows for the construction of a truly distinctive and memorable retail experience.

So what is the impact of technology and design on the future of retail? How much of what is happening in terms of technology and design will remain?

First issue: retail is physical in all cases and as such has costs, so everything that needs to be done must be dogmatically applied to business management planning logic. Second issue: technology - and a certain creativity - can support the increase in turnover per square metre with impacts - however - on the cost base and shop operations.

The question to be asked is whether or not this machine can be managed.

It is often forgotten that retail also has to be managed by a good manager, so one has to be rational about the news that reaches us, even and especially if it implies changes in the way we operate and relate to the client.

In the face of the possibility of creating high-performance machines, it is therefore necessary to know how to guide and be on the right track. At that moment you have to know a lot and at the same time be humble in wanting to know the new. One must be able to listen and implement quickly, but always with a clear strategy in mind, dictated by the market.

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(*) Alessandro Lorenzelli - Managing Director and Head of Strategic Analysisdeconstruct.eu