Apparel Retail Trends

Personalised Retail

“One desire that is getting stronger than all other demands remains the desire to be unique” (John Galliano).

3 examples of where this trend is living and breathing in retail now:

Barneys Co-Op, New York

• Names bring walls alive: portraits cover walls and dressing rooms with captions like ‘Ron thinks life is too short’

• Salesgirls ask for customer's name at fitting room and writes it on your dressing room’s whiteboard

• Customer delight: “They asked ‘how are you doing in there Sara and mine even drew a little heart by my name. Which I loved.”

See the very good 'The Curious Shopper' blog for more on this: http://curiousshopper.blogspot.com/2006/05/name-game.html

Nike iD Bespoke, New York

• By appointment design experience; work one-to-one with design consultants - a step up from Nike ID

• Unparalleled creative individual design - customise up to 31 parts of the shoe

• Choose from 82 premium iconic materials and colours

http://www.highsnobiety.com/news/?s=bespoke

Shop Direct

• A little personal touch that goes a long way

• Handmade feel label attached to clothes when they're delivered

• Cheap good value purchases made to feel more special

http://www.shopdirect.com/

Any retailer, from online to premium to value, can add personalisation to their brand experience - customers delight as much in the small touches as they do the big gestures.

By Zoe Daniels