Now that retail businesses have been able to return to their former glory, opening their high street doors and welcoming shoppers back, the industry can focus on developing new advancements and trends within the industry. This means that those exciting new trends and technological advancements that were put on hold during the country’s lockdowns can once again be enjoyed and shared in stores.
From our perspective, working with and supplying retailers with high-quality shop furniture and fittings, we gain valuable insight into the changes in demand, as well as the popular focusses of retail experiences. From this, we’ve put together a list of the retail trends we see gaining popularity across the UK in 2021.
Eco-Friendly Design
With climate-conscious figures, like Greta Thunberg and Sir David Attenborough, heralding the importance of the environment, eco-friendly design is making its way to every sector, including the retail industry. As such, many stores are now looking to rebrand and redesign their concepts to portray their brand’s commitment to the environment. This is often achieved with high-quality and sustainably sourced shop fittings and furniture. Or, alternatively, it can be as simple as replacing previously plastic store assets with more natural materials, such as woods and glass.
New Realities
Technology is being readily ushered into the retail experience and it seems to be getting exponentially more ubiquitous. Whereas, previously, some retailers have been hesitant to undertake rather simple digital additions to their stores, such as contactless payments, now they are being faced with more integrated and advanced experiences, such as virtual and augmented reality concepts. Stores across the UK are already replacing their mirrors with applications that enable customers to experience catalogue items in-store and even on their person entirely in the virtual world.
Self-Service
Over the previous decade, many stores have taken to follow supermarkets in offering self-service checkouts. These devices relieve staff to attend to customers in other ways and have been overall welcomed by the retail industry. Now, with the support of sufficiently advanced and personalised technology, the industry seems to be eliminating checkouts altogether, allowing customers to charge their chosen items to their phones, either manually or automatically as they leave the store.
Click and Collect
Ordering an item online had once been heralded as the end of high street shopping, promoting the idea that, when given the choice between home delivery or browsing brick and mortar venues, customers would choose the former. However, even amid lockdown, shoppers have demonstrated that this isn’t the case, more often preferring to choose click and collect options from their local store instead. This is largely credited to the prioritisation that customers place on speed, wanting to obtain their product as quickly as possible.
Crown Display
We strive to ensure that, no matter what trends occupy the high street, we continue to deliver high-quality items at an affordable price, meeting the ever-changing needs of retailers small and large across the UK. For more information on our products, or for a specific quote, please call 0800 587 5880.
