The Pop-up Experience
The pop-up store of the future is a blank storefront, an empty window, and white walls.
Any day now, on an empty lot in a creative cosmopolis, a truck of merchandise and high-tech gear will be set up in a stack of shipping containers and a hyper-real shopping experience will launch.
In 2008, IBM released a widely read executive brief on the topic of Immersive Retailing. They predicted that successful retailers will use immersive technology solutions to “stimulate people’s visual, auditory, olfactory and tactile senses to connect with shoppers on an emotional level to create unforgettable shopping experiences.”
In fragments, experiments, fits and starts, this has already happened. Fashion, footwear, automotive, and beverage brands have led the adoption of new technologies for engaging, experiential impact.
The storefront and windows
Architectural surfaces have been transformed in stunning and inventive ways. 3D projection mapping has been much hyped as the future of advertising. “Adidas Is All In” wowed crowds in Marseille projecting on Pharo Palace. In NYC, SyFy’s “Follow the White Rabbit” projections went mobile, giving chase to the rabbit assassin across multiple surfaces. Projections have created buzz for Ralph Lauren, Hyundai, Fanta, Nokia and Hot Wheels.
Window displays are evolving into interactive installations. A video model blows a real scarf in a Hermès shop. Viewers wave their hands to flip pages in a digital book at Christian Dior. Visitors paint in light on a Nordstrom window. Diesel created arty installations for their Rockin’ Dots and Be Stupid campaigns. A Starbucks window doubles as a touch-screen game.
The retail environment
Already inside many stores are surfaces that entertain and inform. A concept devised by students for bag maker Crumpler creates a branded experience on floor and walls. Toyota’s Prius Wall engages and delights. An interactive display table for Rolex takes sales to a new level. Even more impressive is the Adiverse footwear wall, which brings selection, branded video, and product reviews to a shopper’s fingertips.
Holograms walk the runway for Forever 21 and Burberry. Another use of projection mapping displays myriad options for New Balance shoes. Even the dressing room is digitally enhanced in the Harajuku Puma store, where an interactive mirror previews outfits without the shopper physically changing clothes. Perhaps the projections in this spot for Puma Lift will be the next iteration.
To date, there’s not been a complete retail environment created entirely from digital technology, but the idea is close to reality. Who will be the first brand to do it?
