Physical retail now personifies brands’ past and present DNA.
: Flagships as cultural icons : Ambitiously renovated flagship stores such as Dior’s Avenue Montaigne and Tiffany & Co’s Fifth Avenue locations are leading large-scale luxury activity. These mega-projects are driving revenue, creating a lasting impression and defining a new class of retail spaces with true cultural clout. The latter is described by Tiffany & Co’s president and CEO Anthony Ledru as ‘the renovation of the century’ – and brims with history and cultural references, including the Breakfast at Tiffany’s café.
: Archive activation : Dior has prioritised archive prints as themes for concept pop-up stores, starting in Shanghai and expanding to London. In a collaboration with Harrods in August 2023, the London pop-up heavily featured the iconic Plan de Paris motif by Christian Dior from the 1950s. The print also appeared across ready-to-wear, bags, homeware and stationery – casting a new light on archival activations in retail.
: Design DNA : At Burberry’s London flagship store, a key attraction is a trench coat library showcasing both historic and bespoke designs – a major draw for curious consumers. Similarly, Bottega Veneta’s revitalised Paris flagship store explores its roots in artisanal craft through the lens of Italian modernism via heavy use of Venetian glass and numerous references to the brand’s iconic Intrecciato woven leather motif.
: Interactive storytelling : Brand storytelling meets interactive technology at the TAG Heuer Fifth Avenue flagship store. Here, heritage is highlighted via multimedia installations and a connected watch display vignette, which highlights how the brand’s craft has been blended with innovative technology in the smart watch category since 2015.
Continue the conversation: Discuss what aspect of Dior’s heritage interests your clients most. What role does the store play in conveying the brand’s DNA?
Images: Dior 30 Avenue Montaigne, France
Image: Scent-Sation by YSL, France
Perhaps the most important technology application in luxury retail will be about enriching the relationship between the customer and the sales associate.
: New clienteling tools : New tools will transform the interaction between customers and sales associates, enabling deeper, more personalised engagement. Putting generative AI into the hands of sales staff and managers, Microsoft has announced new AI tools for retailers, providing personalised shopping experiences and support for store operations through Azure OpenAI Service on Microsoft Cloud for Retail.
: Appetite for technology : Tech won’t replace in-person shopping, but offers new opportunities to seamlessly complement interactions with sales assistants. According to insights from Comité Colbert and Bain & Co, 75% of French, American and Chinese luxury consumers would adopt new technologies for improved appointment-booking, personalised wishlists, virtual try-ons and digital tags for detailed product information.
: State-of-the-art beauty : Beauty brands are using neuroscent technology to tailor fragrance discovery. L’Oréal teamed up with the neurotechnology firm Emotiv to offer a unique scent selection experience, while YSL’s state-of-the-art in-store experience Scent-Sation uses EEG brainwave analysis to provide personalised fragrance advice.
LVMH-owned beauty retailer Sephora’s second Store of the Future in Shanghai is another innovative retail space with seven digital touchpoints, including big data-driven skin analysis, AI-generated make-up recommendations and radio frequency identification (RFID) product labels for ingredient details.
Continue the conversation: Ask your clients if they find AI’s potential to provide a range of personalised recommendations and suggestions appealing.
