Innovation and Technology: Key Points in the Future of Retail
The retail industry is going through a time of change. The emergence of e-commerce, coupled with new technological developments, has caused the retail trade as we know it to have to take on new approaches in order to survive.
For this reason, the scramble to provide new concepts and experiences is one of the challenges faced by companies related to retail, and one of HMY’s most important short- and medium-term objectives.
This is precisely what Régis Cao, BU West Marketing Director, references in a recent interview with the newspaper L’Yonne Républicaine. In the interview, Cao emphasizes HMY’s visions for the future, which focus on the creation of spaces and concepts in stores, as well as the organization of retail outlets as key parts of their strategy.
The key is not to stagnate and to keep advancing in order to keep up with advancing technologies and user demands. Cao stresses this point, emphasizing that HMY has its own design research and development department, whose purpose is to conceptualize new premium spaces which allow customers to have an innovative experience, different from what they may have while online shopping or in traditional stores.
“In shopping malls close to large urban areas, we already have a presence with dynamic displays, promotional films and interactive communication. We create concepts for these stores with our partners by writing a story board. We have entered the digital age,” says BU West Marketing Director Régis Cao, about the new areas in which we are participating to achieve this new marketing and communicative reach.
In fact, these types of advertising displays, as well as holographic displays or products integrated into furniture, are examples of what HMY is able to do when it comes to applying new technologies and combining them with the elements of stores in order to achieve new business concepts.
Another striking example of stores that have adapted to the new times also came from HMY. In this case, we emphasize the creation of elements which allow customers to interact with the characteristics and possibilities of the displayed products in a deeper way, and have a more personalized shopping experience that can not be had through online stores.
Beyond the world of sports, HMY works to create new premium spaces in other areas of retail, such as the wine, perfume and book industries among others. In fact, some specific cases can also be found in Italy and Spain, such as in Sephora’s stores, or at an international level, the new spatial concepts we created for Vodafone.
HMY is still an international leader in the creation of furniture and large commercial spaces. Every day, we furnish a commercial area of 12,750 m2, which is equivalent to 3 supermarkets or 54 stores.
But what really demonstrates HMY’s leadership is our commitment to innovation in conceptualizing commercial spaces. We see this as essential to the short- and medium-term future of the industry if businesses wish to compete without losing market share.