Innovation on the high street to boost consumer interest

With fashion retailers heavily focusing on new online, multichannel led strategies and how to use everything from apps, to blogs, collaborations and facebook to improve customer loyalty and boost sales, it would seem actual offerings in

physical stores and across the high street are suffering.

Possibly one of the first fashion stores that wanted to tap into the young and hip market - one that sees music as fundamental to the ethos of the company - is Urban Outfitters. At the end of last year, the DJ Jaguar Skills known for his eclectic mixes sold out a live tour of the stores up and down the country. The youth retailer supports artists by selling their work, creating murals and selling musicians’s albums, an area of its marketing strategy of which it is particularly proud. A spokesperson for Urban Outfitters commented: “Visual displays produced in-house from reclaimed materials create a unique experience in each store and, along with local art installations and live music, reflect the personality of Urban Outfitters."

Whilst high street retailer, Anthropologie, has been looking at ways to be innovative and attract consumer attention; A window display at its store opening in Regent Street in the autumn of 2010 featured 1,200 teabags attached to thin cotton strings and suspended from the ceiling to create a snow globe effect. These may seem to be outlandish and daring techniques to seduce an expectant audience, though Michael Ross, Co-Founder and Director of eCommera, says that it is all part of creating a relationship with its customer.

He believes this shows a true understanding of consumer needs, adding: “A retail store is a story. A story that can be told, that makes it different to every other on the market whether that story be about the lifestyle or is about the history, or is it about the technology? Retailers fundamentally tell stories and these will appeal to different types of people.” In-store and online are slowing becoming more amalgamated, with John Lewis’s virtual dressing room trialled for six weeks at the end of April giving its visitors the opportunity to stand in front of a virtual mirror while the technology matches their dimensions to clothes in store.

Recently, fashion retail group Aurora teamed up with online payment company PayPal to allow customers to pay for transactions in - store through the use of their mobile phone, further blurring the line between retail and digital innovation, while fashion retailer Reiss announced today the roll out of iPads in its stores to enable customers to view its stock selection while out shopping on the high street.

While some may fear such technological advancements will lead to depersonalisation, Ross feels that developments will force retailers to provide a more service-driven environment. “Our shopping habits are changing as we browse both online and offline,” he said. “Increasingly, we are going to walk into stores, scan barcodes and create virtual wish lists, bringing better services to the high street.”