100 Keyword Predictions 2023 | Retail and Commerce (61-69): Co-creation, Saving Money, and Repair

WPP's brand Wunderman Intelligence released its latest trend report, which has a bright outlook for 2023. They predicted 100 keywords for 2023, and people are determined to fight against the ongoing difficulties with resilience, innovation and joy. This series shares 10 sections. The following is the seventh article in this series - Retail and Business. I hope it will be helpful to everyone.

Continuing from the previous article "2023 Global Top 100 Trends Report":

• 1. Culture (01-10);
• 2. Technology and the Metaverse (11-20);
• 3. Travel and Hotel (21-30);
• 4. Brand and Marketing (31-40);
• 5. Snacks and drinks (41-50);
• 6. Beauty and Makeup (51-60)

Let’s take a look at Part 7 today.

Chapter 7: Retail and Commerce

61. Multiverse Design:

In this new creative era, people are reimagining real spaces with dreamy, otherworldly designs.

Real spaces are gradually moving towards dreamlike or whimsical designs - taking visitors into imaginative worlds and switching between different realities. With the development of digital environments and virtual worlds, real spaces are ushering in a creative and modern new architectural style - characterized by unlimited creativity that transcends the constraints of physical reality.

In April 2022, Balenciaga covered its entire London store in pink faux fur—skinning the walls, floors, and shelves with the fluffy material, giving visitors the feeling of stepping into a witty and whimsical alternative world.

In May 2022, fashion designer Simon Jacquemus designed a series of pop-up installations for Selfridges that the company said looked like "reimagined surrealist" bathrooms. "I wanted to create crazy, unrealistic installations that were all about water and the imagination of the bathroom," said Jacquemus.

In June 2022, Louis Vuitton designed a life-size toy runway at the Louvre in Paris as the runway backdrop for its Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show. The brand said: "The giant children's toy runway became the imaginary yellow brick road. We turned children's fantasies into reality on this evolutionary path."

The design of Xiao Da Dong | Blues Art Restaurant in Shanghai "presents a sensual, dreamlike dining experience." Its sculptural partitions, dark surfaces illuminated by otherworldly blue and purple lights, "hazy" background music, and mirrors covering the ceiling that create distorted reflections of diners and restaurant staff all work together to create "the dreamy atmosphere of this space."

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

Catalyzed by the promise of the Metaverse, we are entering a new golden age of creativity. Digital design is becoming increasingly complex and advanced, and is beginning to unleash real-world creativity—opening the door to multiverse design in both real and virtual space.

62. Co-create business

In the next retail era, will people see virtual products and stores of user-created brands?

Nike's new Web3 platform, .Swoosh (Dot Swoosh), allows consumers to design and sell their own virtual sneakers.

• The platform went live in November 2022, and Nike describes it as a combination of a virtual marketplace, a VIP loyal customer community and a creator economy.
• The platform will be a place to buy and trade Nike virtual goods, and users can participate in community challenges to gain exclusive access to unlock events and products, and co-create Nike products with the brand.
• Nike revealed that Swoosh will expand its community challenges next year to include competitions that will provide members with the opportunity to design virtual Nike products with brand designers and even earn commissions on the sales of these products.

"We want to redefine the concept of creators," said Ron Faris, vice president and general manager of Nike Virtual Studios. American mass fashion brand Forever21 is inviting consumers to curate and operate their own virtual stores on Roblox.

• In December 2021, the brand announced the launch of Forever 21 Shop City, introducing a new user-generated retail model to the Metaverse.
• Users can create, stock and operate their own Forever 21 virtual franchise - managing everything from purchasing, greeting customers, operating the cash register, hiring employees to decorating the store windows. Users can fully customize their store design and select furniture, art, lighting and music that reflect their personal style.
• They can even curate the Forever 21 products they want to sell and select items from the brand's latest collections - every time Forever 21 releases a new physical product, its virtual version will be updated simultaneously on Roblox.

Metaverse commerce is constantly evolving, giving rise to new retail models.

According to Bloomberg data, the size of the metaverse market is expected to reach US$783 billion in 2024, far exceeding the US$479 billion in 2020. Nike Digital is the fastest growing division of the Nike brand, currently accounting for more than a quarter (26%) of the brand's total revenue.

As of November 2022, its Nikeland virtual experience on Roblox (which allows users to customize their own Nike sneakers) has attracted 26 million fans; as of August 2022, its Web3 products have generated revenue of $185 billion.

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

Co-creation will become the future trend of virtual retail. Creativity is becoming a new identity symbol in the upcoming Web3 era, and brands are also adjusting their virtual activities to take advantage of creativity and co-creation commerce in addition to releasing traditional products.

In the future, we expect to see more brands democratize virtual commerce by providing consumers with creative control.

63. "Twilight Shop"

This hybrid of express station and store adds a convenience element to the "behind-the-scenes store" model.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the trend toward ultra-fast delivery, with dozens of on-demand logistics companies using a network of hyperlocal “dark shops” to deliver goods within 10 minutes in many cities around the world.

However, more recently, operators of dark stores and dark kitchens have begun to enforce bans on dark stores in some countries. When the long-standing issue of dark store location first became controversial, brands began to introduce a new hybrid model that incorporates a community element. This model, called the "Twilight Store," adds a convenience element to the original model, allowing operators to deal with locals while still selling goods to customers passing by.

• German delivery service DPD has opened a dual-purpose “Twilight Store” in Berlin that serves as both a micro-warehouse (for local deliveries via e-bikes) and a store, solving the pain points of deliveries and collections.
• On-demand delivery company Deliveroo’s Hop “twilight stores” are grocery delivery hubs in neighbourhoods around London, but they also contain a reception area where customers can pick up their groceries and passers-by can place orders.
• French takeaway brand Taster (which describes itself as a “takeaway-first restaurant” rather than a “kitchen behind the scenes”) has opened two pop-up stores in London to launch British chef Jamie Oliver’s new takeaway brand PastaDreams.

According to Taster CEO Anton Soulier, the advantage of this hybrid model is that it increases efficiency and allows brands to "connect directly with their customers."

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

Dark stores still have the convenience advantage, but they cannot efficiently use space in densely populated areas - this phenomenon has given rise to new hybrid retail models that can balance the three considerations of space, convenience and community.

64. Crypto Education

Financial institutions and fintech brands alike are looking to demystify the meta-economy.

In March 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department launched a campaign to educate the public about the risks of crypto investments. The Treasury Department's Financial Literacy Education Commission is responsible for writing textbooks and organizing publicity efforts to educate the public on how crypto assets work and how they differ from other forms of payment.

According to Reuters, Nellie Liang, the U.S. Treasury's undersecretary for domestic finance, said the move will raise awareness of the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies as digital assets move from the fringes of the financial system to the mainstream. Financial brands are also stepping in to fill the gap in crypto education.

• Fidelity Investments opened a financial education center in the Metaverse in April 2022. Located on the Decentraland platform, the eight-story virtual learning center is designed to help visitors learn about investment basics, the Metaverse, and Fidelity's newly established Metaverse exchange-traded funds. The brand said that they established this center to "provide information for a new generation of investors."
• In February 2022, Chengshida Card added consulting services on cryptocurrencies, NFTs and open banking. This new set of services will help banks and businesses adopt digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs, address risk assessment issues for digital currencies and NFTs, and provide advice on developing digital wallets, crypto credit cards and crypto loyalty programs.
• Visa launched its crypto investment advisory service for financial institutions and merchants in December 2021. The company said the service is aimed at financial institutions that want to attract or retain customers through crypto products, retailers that intend to delve into NFTs, or central banks exploring digital currencies.

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

The Metaverse and Web3 are giving rise to new retail channels and an emerging digital goods economy — both of which will inform consumption patterns and spawn a new crypto ecosystem.

But the premise is that people should have this knowledge. The future of Web3 commerce depends on people's acceptance of it, but it is even more inseparable from consumers and brands' understanding and cognition of it.

65. Accessible Business

Brands are leveraging advances in voice recognition technology to help everyone engage in both physical and digital spaces.

Tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft are working with the University of Illinois' Speech Accessibility Project to use speech recognition technology to more effectively understand those with speech impairments.

The project will create a representative dataset of speech samples, including those of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. This dataset will be used to train the machine learning models that support speech recognition technology so that it can better respond to the needs of these patients. Such developments in speech recognition technology provide brick-and-mortar retailers and e-commerce companies with the tools to help them create more inclusive and accessible retail channels.

• Alibaba's Taobao is expanding its use of voice search technology to make it more accessible to older users living outside first-tier cities. The search function, which was previously available only to Mandarin speakers, can now recognize dialects from Tianjin, Shandong, Henan and Hebei.
• Starbucks pledged to "design, test and scale more inclusive design standards and experiences across its store portfolio" and announced that the brand is piloting speech-to-text technology in its stores. This will help customers and employees see all conversations visually displayed in real time during the ordering process, making Starbucks more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

Brands that fail to design spaces and services that are universally accessible risk losing significant market share. Voice recognition and speech-to-text technology are playing an important role in helping brands create truly inclusive physical and online retail experiences for everyone.

66. Money-saving retail brands

As a result of the financial crisis, brands are following suit to help their most vulnerable consumers. During the worst period of the pandemic, many brands began to take an active role in their communities to ensure that customers had access to necessities. At a time when the cost of living is rising and the purchasing power of consumers around the world is weakened, companies are once again extending a helping hand to their consumers.

Retailers are making strong commitments to help those who are poor by cutting prices or introducing great-value alternatives.

• On-demand fast delivery platform Getir has slashed the prices of key grocery items to 1990s levels, allowing customers to buy bread, pasta, chocolate, toothpaste and toiletries for up to 80 per cent of current retail prices.
• Grocer Loblaws is freezing prices on 1,500 products in its affordable No Name line as inflation hit a 41-year high of 11.4 per cent in September.
• In Japan, MUJI has also cut prices to provide affordable necessities. The brand's "MUJI 500" stores, inspired by the dollar store model, sell household items for less than 500 yen (about $3.3).

British supermarket Sainsbury's has taken a different approach, choosing to educate shoppers and guide them into more frugal spending behaviors. The supermarket's Recipe Scrapbook website shows people how to prepare family meals for less than 5 pounds (about 6 U.S. dollars), and it has launched tutorials at the Sainsfreeze pop-up store in London to teach people how to freeze leftover fresh ingredients to help customers maximize their living costs.

Budget supermarket Iceland is also working with energy supplier Utilita through its Shop Smart Cook Savvy program to provide people with advice, including instructions on the most energy-efficient and cost-effective cooking methods in-store and on packaging.

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

As the cost of living crisis intensifies, consumers are looking for money-saving life hacks to keep their budgets from going overboard. Brands can play a role in this by demonstrating the value they create for their communities and fostering long-term customer loyalty.

67. Web3 Markets – Emerging markets are changing the e-commerce landscape.

Consumer shopping habits are changing, and new platforms for digital retail and commerce are offering more immersive and engaging buying experiences. Draup is an upcoming digital fashion platform that is building a marketplace where digital fashion products can be sold, bought, traded, and displayed.

• Draup will be a place where “digital fashion can be managed, displayed, and ported in an off-platform virtual environment,” Draup founder and CEO Daniella Loftus wrote in a paper published in January 2022.
• Daup has raised $1.5 million in seed funding, with the goal of “curating a community of digitally native creators and consumers, providing them with all the relevant access and education to maximize the value they gain through digital fashion.”

In New York City’s SoHo district, Zero10 has partnered with creative studio Crosby Studios to bring digital fashion to the popular shopping district.

• Zero10 is an augmented reality (AR) retail pop-up store that allows customers to visit and try on virtual clothing in a real-world brick-and-mortar store environment.
• “As the fashion industry adopts AR technology more broadly, the industry will become more sustainable and interactive,” Zero10 CEO and co-founder George Yashin told Wunderman Intelligence. “Consumers, including Generation Z, are returning to physical stores in search of new immersive experiences that AR offers.”
• Yashin predicts that retailers will be able to “sell items that are not in stock in the store but can be pre-ordered,” by integrating AR mirrors or AR try-on apps like the one created by Zero10. “People can try on virtual looks through augmented reality without having to produce more clothing.”

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

These initiatives offer a glimpse into the future prospects of Web3 shopping.

68. Digital Nesting – Major retailers are helping avatars design their virtual homes.

The lifestyle design retailer is pioneering new directions for Web3 commerce through gaming.

• Mobile gaming startup Robin Games has introduced Playhouse, an interior design game, to its "lifestyle games" product line. Playhouse combines gaming and shopping experiences. Consumers can add furniture and decorations to their digital homes, create their own space and room designs, add sofas, wall art, plants, tables and chairs, and adjust the size and layering of these items as they wish.
• Other games like CrowdStar’s Design Home and Playtika’s Redecor have similar features, but Playhouse is bringing lifestyle games to life by partnering with physical design and furniture brands, allowing players to purchase the products they need for their physical homes directly through the app. The game has partnered with brands like Article, Lulu&Georgia, Jenni Kayne, and Society6 to bring their creative designs to life, allowing consumers to further redesign their homes and physical spaces with the touch of a button.
• West Elm Home Design, the furniture brand’s first metaverse experience, launched on Roblox in October 2022. Users can customize their homes with more than 150 digital versions of the brand’s physical products, visit virtual stores and coffee shops on the West Elm Hub, and collect wearable West Elm accessories for their avatars.

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

People are nesting in their own digital spaces, building comfortable and warm homes in the metaverse.

69. Patching services enter the mainstream market

High street brands are bringing the idea of ​​mending to the mass market through innovative in-store services.

Inflationary pressures and environmental awareness have led to a renewed desire to recycle and save money. Retail repair services, once the preserve of luxury brands, are now common on the high street.

Uniqlo recently expanded its mending service at its Regent Street store in London, after already struggling to keep up with customer demand for patches, piping, embroidery and basic repairs. The Japanese retailer plans to roll out the service across Europe, adding to existing services in Berlin and New York.

H&M is also promoting this thrifty philosophy. The global fast-fashion giant has opened a repair and remake workshop at its store on Amsterdam's Kalverstraat, where customers can repair H&M or other brand items.

Nike is taking a high-tech approach. In late 2022, the brand piloted its Bot Initiated Longevity Lab (BILL) service in its London stores, a "robotic augmentation system" that repairs and cleans customers' sneakers. The in-store robot uses 3D scanning to identify worn areas on a product and then repairs it with a patch of the customer's choice.

Apple launched its first self-service repair program in Europe in December. The service will be launched in the United States in the first half of 2022, providing repair services for iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. Some MacBook users are also using the program to obtain repair manuals and more than 200 parts and tools for maintaining their devices. Although consumers are already trying to curb consumption, the crisis of rising living costs is still further driving people to downgrade their consumption.

Research by clothing retailer Penneys (Primark’s Irish brand) in July 2022 found that 62% of respondents would choose to repair items to save money, with this figure rising to 95% among Generation Z.

Madeline Michell, social conscience communications officer at UK retailer Toast, which has been offering a repair service since 2018, told Wunderman Intelligence: “It may seem counterintuitive to encourage customers to stop consuming and accept repair services. But we hope to reshape people’s consumption habits and encourage people to pay attention to quality and lifespan, changing the consumption concept of pursuing newness at the expense of durability.”

Why you should pay attention to this trend:

Repair services are no longer just a privilege for luxury brand customers. For ordinary consumers, under the pressure of saving money and protecting the environment, the mentality of "repairing and still being able to use" is also a wise and sober choice.

This article is from the official website of Wunderman Thompson: https://www.wundermanthompson.com/

Author: Brand Yuan, WeChat public account: Brand Yuan (ID: brand-yuan)