New Retail and Living Habits
New ways of being, new consumer habits, new type of retail
The pandemic has changed the way we live, but have our consumption habits, relationship with commercial spaces, and the brands themselves changed?
We are now, without a doubt, New Consumers with emerging lifestyles and distinct needs. Just think of how we paid for most of our purchases before the pandemic. Yes, we have discovered a world of contactless possibilities, and these payment methods are here to stay. And we, as consumers, embrace this innovation, convenience, safety, and speed! A new type of retail is born!
Proximity
A proximity-focused city living makes people rethink how they move and explore the space around them, on foot or by bike, enjoying a more sustainable lifestyle. A new living mood and a new type of retail are being defined based on how we use our time considering what we consider essential.
We want our cities and neighbourhoods to be happier, more sustainable and accessible to all, with better quality of life that promotes progress.
Consumption
Both the consumer and the ways of consuming are different and commercial spaces themselves have evolved to keep up. For example, shopping centres and new types of retail have adapted to the new reality and innovated to respond to consumers’ current lifestyles. The way people now interact, which is also the result of the transformation of cities, dictates the evolution of commercial spaces made by and for people. A shopping centre is a living ecosystem, where people connect, shop, have fun, learn, access essential services, and so it is a place where lifestyles are also redefined. Therefore, commercial spaces (and tenants themselves) are evolving and increasingly betting on services that facilitate the consumer experience. Some examples include providing an app that helps us choose lunch at the food court without waiting in a queue or having a pick-up point in the car park for purchases made online. It is the so-called adoption of omnichannel strategies.
Mixed-use
With this new urban vision, in which proximity is decisive, the distribution of the essential elements of our lives are all within a 15-minute radius, commercial spaces and the new types of retail are increasingly becoming mixed-use. The idea is that they have other purposes than just commercial retail. They are becoming more sustainable, flexible and adaptable to other uses, be they co-living, co-working, healthcare or even hospitality. But we are not talking about futurism here, as this is already our reality.
Take the example of a Nhood project in Italy, the Merlata Bloom Milano – Milan’s first smart urban district, where a shopping centre has created a real sense of community and the essence of a new type of retail:
✔ Spaces with large openings to the outside that strengthen the bonds of a unique neighbourhood;
✔ It has all the shops, services, and commercial components, but also a hospital, a sustainable research and innovation centre, a university campus, and a residential neighbourhood;
✔ It has more than 300.000 m2 of green spaces;
✔ It has an urban farm with approximately 20.000 m2;
✔ The main source of light is natural;
✔ 10.000 m2 of unrestricted access to cultural facilities
And keep in mind: it is a participative project in which the local community, residents included, helped choose the commercial and cultural amenities according to the needs they identified for themselves and the collective.
Merlata Bloom Milano is a place where everyone – families, residents, students, and workers – can have fun without feeling like they are in a commercial space with new spending habits.
Digitalisation
Nowadays, the customer journey through a commercial space is quite different, due to the changes the pandemic has had on lifestyles, considering a new type of retail and new spending habits. For instance, the preparations and purchase decisions are often made online and outside the physical space, without devaluing the on-site digital services that provide that convenience, speed and security during shopping and leisure time. Digitalisation has clearly been accelerated by the pandemic, witha new type of retail innovating and evolving to make the shopping experience fit for the new consumer.
We’ve all come across digitalisation in commercial retail, from payment with contactless technology to apps that make shopping easier. But the developments in the field of digitalisation and consumer experience go far beyond that.
For example, touch-free shops are starting to emerge, which create new experiences using data, shopper profiles and artificial intelligence to take the thrill of shopping to the next level.
Whether it’s through a chat app that allows customers to receive exclusive content and personalised in-store experiences, and then share details with friends with a single swipe, or in other ways where no touch is required! Each item in the shop has a tag with a scannable QR Code for more information and unique data. As the customer moves around the shop, they also receive
personalised information. The more customers engage with this digital buying method and new retail, the more rewards they receive. They are transforming and becoming technology and media hybrid spaces.
Geo-location, 5G, QR codes and data analytics are the new fuel for innovation in a new type of commercial retail.
