Can we stop imagining the store of the future now?
Technology is an enabler and while it might help improve convenience and create a more seamless experience it should never be the main event.
By Ben Davis
From John Lewis’s paean to its stores to Nike’s neglect of wholesale, 2024 has shown people are eager to physically experience products, and the best retail tech should let the store shine, not disintermediate shoppers from merch.
It’s striking that John Lewis will be adding grottos, choir performances and wreath-making to its stores over the holidays.
As a millennial raised on Christmas movies such as Gremlins, Home Alone, Jingle All the Way and Miracle on 34th Street – the link between department stores, malls and the holiday season seems particularly vivid. Some of the films in question might have had an anti-consumerist theme but that didn’t register with the kids so much – they were too excited by must-have toys and slush-covered streets.
