ESSAY:

MY VISION ON THE FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL

FASHION INDUSTRY IN 20 YEARS FROM NOW

Lisa Post, M2B

HOW LOGISTICS CHANGES RETAIL

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build
a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Buckminster Fuller
Leaving the clothing store without clothes. One would assume that the customer was
unable to find what he was looking for, as todays proof of purchase is a store
labelled shopping bag in the customers hand. The future will be different.
Logistics is changing retail. In the old economy, retail shops would hold stock. They
would ideally be placed in a prime location. Part shop, part storage space. The
customer could hold, feel and try the product. The retailer held every size, colour and
type for the customer to choose from and directly take home after purchase.
And than came Internet shopping. Slightly over 20 years the first Internet purchase
was concluded. In hindsight it has taken a long time for Internet shopping to change
consumer behaviour and become a threat to the traditional retail. Where the Internet
has sped up access to information, has globalised our world, has changed our ways
of socialising etc., the acceptance of the Internet as an alternative to the traditional
way of shopping, has been slow. Trust issues in regards to credit card payments, no
hold and feel and return policies. It took a while for customers to really embrace Ecommerce shopping as the new Messiah. The last 7 to 8 years though, E-commerce
has really taken off to such an extent that it is now becoming a real threat to the
traditional retailer. Online retail is commanding more attention along with emerging
technology like iBeacons and immersive personalised mobile experience is going to
enter in the brick-and-mortar stores. (Puneet Mehta, 2014)
Whatever priorities retailers are setting, their numbers of physical stores are likely to
shrink as the share of sales made online keeps rising. Consumers aged 24 to 35
already do about a quarter of their shopping online, says John Deighton of Harvard
Business School. In Mr Deighton's view the internet-retail revolution is over, in that
online buying is well established and will only keep growing.
When brands in the retail industry were growing they would open new stores, they
did this for decades. Things are changing. Now retailers hold a lot of stock in their
shops located at the most expensive place, the retail shopping area. Competing with
an E-commerce shop that holds their stock in a cheap area is virtually impossible.
Sure, the brick-and-mortar store has the advantage that the consumer can hold and
feel the product, but still a lot of their clients than decide to order online.
Consumer beliefs and needs have altered. The willingness of the consumer to wait to
be satisfied or served has reduced and they expect instant product availability and

gratification. The boundaries are blurring between the physical and digital retail
industry. (Heloisa Righetto, 2015) The brick-and-mortar store plays a different role
now and retailers have to reshape their store networks. (Louise Herring, Tobias
Wachinger, and Chris Wigley, 2014)
Consumers want their shopping experience to be as seamlessly as possible. They
are constantly looking for a memorable shopping experience (Laura Saunter, 2014).
Retailers have to invest in that experience for costumers to keep coming to their
stores.
The fashion shop of the future will still hold an own selection of brands and items.
Consumers will choose an individual shop because they think it will carry products of
their individual liking. But the store of the future will not be holding any actual clothes.
The consumer is stepping into a virtual world. Thats the view of one leading retail
expert, Philippe Loeb, from Dassault Systmes. While entering the shop, the shop
recognizes the customer by the chip in his I-Ring. Size, favorite color, purchase
history will all be used to set up the virtual shop to the individual taste of the
customer. Projected on the lenses that every person wears by then. A virtual
selection of the customers possible needs, in her personal size, in the colors that
match her, said Barbara Barclay, general manager of North America for Tobii, an
eye-tracking technology company. The virtual shopping assistance matches the
individual preferences of the individual consumer. Every consumer will experience
the shop differently as it is set to her individual preferences. Shelves will hold virtually
projected clothes. Trough virtual reality the consumer can choose, try and feel the
product. With the touch of their hands they will be able to experience shopping in a
traditional way but without physical garments. Users can pick items off the virtual
shelves, turn them around, and match a top to a pair of pants. They can feel the
virtual goods by sensors placed on their fingertips. Watching themselves projected on
their lenses in the clothes picked. Once chosen, the client can leave the shop and the
shop will communicate the value of the purchased goods with the chip in the I-Ring
and money will be transferred from the consumer bank account to the shops bank
account. The consumer will leave the shop empty handed. The shop will
automatically send a print file to the 3D printer of the consumer and when she arrives
home, all her purchased goods are printed, ready to wear.
3D printing is getting bigger and bigger. Technology is moving into the stores and 3D
printing is now finding its way into the hands of consumers. This trend has been
emerging over the past three years, allowing consumers to adapt and create
products themselves, says Lucie Greene, insight editor at lifestyle trends forecasting
network LS:N Global, a division of the Future Laboratory. This trend is only going to
expand further, to a point where there will be a 3D-printer in every home. Its
incredibly satisfying for people to make their own products, says Ruth Marshall-

Johnson, lifestyle analyst and senior editor of the Think Tank directory at WGSN
trend forecasters.
Shops will be smaller as they will no longer be holding any stock. Rents will be
cheaper. The retailer will no longer buy numbers of clothes from the producer, but
buys their 3d print files, what will also cause for a decrease in pollution because there
wont be any waist in producing the garments.
Eventually in a more distant future, clothing stores will be projected in the consumers
own living room, turning web surfing into a 3D experience. By inviting friends, the
social interaction while shopping will still exist, only now from their own familiar
surroundings. The physical clothing stores will completely be eliminated from the
streets. While sitting on the couch consumers will have the ultimate shopping
experience and physical stores will be considered unnecessary. It will all be about the
shopping experience without the heavy baggage.

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