Shopping, as any person here will tell you, is often considered one of the top pastimes of Singaporeans. The profusion of boutiques and shopping malls seems to suggest a healthy retail industry. But, can the current successes continue?

At the recent POPAI Asia Summit at Marina Bay Sands, industry players talked about the changing face of the retail scene, not just here but around the world. Although there was a diverse group of speakers over the two-day event, one theme kept recurring: Brands must start engaging their customers in a big way if they want to stay competitive in the current retail climate.

TELLING STORIES

How do they do that? By telling their brand story, said Brian Dyches, director of Experience Design and Strategy and partner at digital media consultancy Openeye Labs. “Storytelling has always been a very germane part of the retail architecture,” said Dyches. “The key is: How do you tell a story — in a matter of seconds — that will convey to the consumer why they should buy the product?”

The brand stories should engage customers emotionally, said Bob Neville, global retail creative director and head of retail at New Balance. “If people don’t understand who you are, then they’re not going to buy into your brand,” he said. “Selling is a by-product. We need to be commercially viable; but it’s about emotional engagement first.”

Telling the brand story is more than just asking the consumer to click on the “About” link on a company’s website.

“A leather bag is a leather bag — apart from the different grades of leather,” said Neville. “Why would someone carry a high-end luxury brand bag when you can get a no-name leather bag that performs just as well? How good can the leather be to justify a price point difference of hundreds or thousands of dollars? You’re buying the story — that’s the important thing. You pay the dollars because you’re buying into history, heritage and what that brand stands for.”

Eraldo Poletto, CEO of Furla, agreed. “The consumers these days pay a lot of attention to how companies or brands do things. It’s not just about the technical aspect. People know what we do and whether we do it with passion or not,” he said.

THE DIGITAL VS PHYSICAL DEBATE

A change that has engaged consumer habits in recent years is the digital store, which has proven to be a healthy, viable option for brands and businesses.

“The beauty of (going digital) is that if you amortise between e-commerce and mobile commerce, and blend it with the brick-and-mortar experience, that’s the magical three legs of the animal of the future,” said Dyches. “If you synthesise these three, you’re very much in line with the consumer of today.”

Some stores have included digital spaces within the premises to help engage the customer. “The technology is so incredible that they can come in and ‘showroom’ as they say. They can find out all about the product,” said Neville. “In the old days, if you want to buy a car, you have to go to a car dealership where they have a big car yard and all the cars are there. These days, a car dealership can be no bigger than a high street store. They have a car there, but you can customise your car and see the results on a screen. That’s how digital and physical can mash up successfully.”

The problem with digital right now, said Dyches, is that companies just want to get hardware into the market. “So a lot of merchants have put screens in their store without any context to content or placement. As much as you may be intrigued by these beautiful OLEDs and 4K (technology) — and who isn’t? — you have to slow down and say, ‘Do I have content that’s going to engage with the consumer?’”

He continued: “If brands are looking to digitise, you must start with strategy, not hardware. Some places just put these digital signs behind the cashiers’ points, but what they show is just a repetitive cycle. That’s sad. They’re wasting thousands of dollars. And they wonder why digital isn’t working for them.”

However, Dyches did have some positive examples. “OCBC’s FRANK concept and how it’s geared towards millennials is quite brilliant. The way UOB has planned its digital branches is brilliant. Sephora in ION Orchard, if you look at what they have done digitally, boy, does that space feel alive, both on the macro and micro levels. But, they’re in the minority here.”

One thing the digital sphere does offer brands is a chance to communicate directly with the consumer. And brands should capitalise on that, said Poletto.

“With digital, the company has to always be ready to talk to the consumers. The brand used to tell the consumer what to do, what to buy. Digital is a two-way communication and the community has a very strong opinion about what you do — right or wrong. So companies have to accept that criticism. It’s a different game, it’s a different mindset. It’s not just about technology — that part is easy. It’s what’s behind (it) that counts.”

“I think that e-commerce is more versatile than a bricks-and-mortar establishment (and) it’s a barometer to where we’re going to move the market,” Dyches said.

MAKING FUTURE CHANGES AND CHOICES

So what lies in store for the future of retailing? Dyches affirmed that e-stores will not phase out the brick-and-mortar stores any time. “I don’t believe that physical stores will disappear. That’s been disproven. If you look at Amazon, they’re opening their own stores.”

“Physical retail is not going to diminish, but with technology, it’s going to be done in a different way,” said Neville. “But, it shouldn’t be about using technology for technology’s sake.”

Neville said some brands have been resorting to old-school techniques even as they push forward. “Previously, you had to go to a tailor and get yourself measured, and they’d make your clothes. Today, at Levi’s for example, you can just pick the material of jeans that you like and they can make it for you. That’s a fairly recent development, but it also harks of old-fashion retailing and customer service. In a day and age where iPhones are the key thing, they’re doing something traditional. That’s the dichotomy going forward.”

While Dyches said there are very few places in the world that can compete with the density of brand boutiques and shopping malls in Singapore (“Look at Orchard Road, look at Marina Bay Sands”), the current way they are marketing themselves will have to change as the population demographic changes.

“The malls of the future aren’t necessarily going to be sports-themed or luxury-themed. I predict that the malls of the future are going to be more age-themed and grouped into tighter age bands,” said Dyches. “A 19-year-old won’t want to shop where a 50-year-old shops. The restaurants they like are different, the way they socialise is different and the brands they like are different. That’s the future. The world’s retail has to reset itself for the way the world’s market is heading.”

This is where some brands have “miscalculated their calibration somewhat”, Dyches added. “Brands keep wanting to put more stuff out, but the younger consumer is going, ‘We don’t need all of these choices to know what we want’.”

It is important to know what young people want, said Neville, because they are future consumers. And what they want is to be unique. “They want to be different. So people start looking to personalise their clothes. Levi’s can tailor-make their jeans for you; Converse can give you prints that are unique to you. At New Balance, we have different collaborations. And people like that.”

That is why the population turns to e-commerce, said Dyches. “Some merchants don’t know how to connect with young shoppers and give them the variety they can get online. The brands must know who their product is directed at. The mobile generation or millennials have come to expect that information can be shared effortlessly, they have a command of information like never before.”

Brands, Neville said, have to understand the nature of what they are offering. “You have to know who you are and what makes you unique,” he said. “That’s why you get artisanal boutiques.”

He continued: “We have to remember that we’re dealing with emotions and people. Because the same people (who) come to Marina Bay Sands to shop (are) the same (ones) who go to a flea market to look for cool stuff. We need different types of stimulation, and your mindset changes depending on what you’re doing.”

Brands who are not adapting to change will face the threat of disappearing, said Dyches. “That’s why stores like Tangs, for example, undergo extensive renovation because they realise that if they don’t look to the future, they’re going to look like an aunty store,” he said.

“Retail is kinetic and you have to realise that it’s constant motion. A lot of managers and marketers think, ‘Oh, we have a beautiful store and our numbers are fantastic’, and they go to sleep. But, you can’t turn your back on where the market is going.”