This year, we've witnessed game-changing innovations that are reshaping how we shop and do business. We’ve seen many retailers harnessing new technologies to enhance the shopping experience and reduce returns, and these new ways of approaching shopping are transforming the retail landscape. 

Earlier this month we hosted our inaugural Lead On Summit in partnership with Clearpay, focusing on the power of innovation in the retail industry, so it’s the perfect time to join us to dive into the retail breakthroughs of the year, where creativity and functionality meet to redefine the way we all experience shopping.

Rich Bayer, UK Country Manager at Clearpay, said: "The proliferation of innovative tech has seen retailers reach new heights both in improving efficiency and performance, but also in creativity. In an increasingly competitive retail space, where consumers are looking for seamless shopping journeys, it will be the brands that embrace new technical solutions that will thrive in 2024 and beyond." 

Puma increasing average order value with AI-Powered Styling 

Puma has been working with the visual merchandising platform Stylitics for a few years to increase average order value (AOV).  “Most retailers have beautiful stores with mannequins and other forms of inspiration, but this is totally lacking in the ecommerce experience,” said Deuskar, Founder and CEO of Stylitics. Through their work in AI-powered styling, Puma are able to generate on-brand outfit combinations, incorporate outfit carousels and ‘shop the look’ functionalities aimed at inspiring online shoppers to explore beyond the product they’re currently viewing. Through embracing new ways to inspire customers to buy head-to-toe looks, Puma have been able to move away from ‘what’s always been done’ to improve their bottom line. 

Hugo Boss launches their virtual changing rooms 

Hugo Boss customers can now create their own avatar to try on clothes from the online store, through the company utilising Reactive Reality’s AR solution PICTOFiT. The avatars can be edited to match the customers exact body measurements, which gives them a better idea of how the garments will fit. The aim of the initiative was to drive down returns and reduce waste, whilst enhancing the customer service experience and, in turn, increasing sales. Each return costs the retailer an average of £20, so this innovation not only benefits the customer but the retailer too. 

Childsplay Clothing integrating Buy Now, Pay Later with Clearpay

Following repeated customer demand, leading premium retailer in children’s designer clothing, Childsplay Clothing, integrated Clearpay's Buy Now, Pay Later technology to offer greater flexibility and payment choice to its customers. Through this integration, customers are able to pay in four instalments over six weeks. Childsplay Clothing partnered with Clearpay, to offer a competitive advantage and to reduce abandoned baskets. Nick Bassi, Founder & CEO of Childsplay Clothing emphasises that payment solutions aren't taboo for luxury businesses anymore. In fact, the impact on the business has been huge. Nick explains that Clearpay has driven more customers to the business along with healthy spikes in purchasing. "I've been pleasantly surprised by the Clearpay audience's spending habits—they're willing to make purchases not just at month-end but throughout the month. This consistent spending pattern brings welcome, periodic spikes to the business, beyond the usual payday surges."

The Crocs Jibbitz Experience 

Earlier this year Crocs partnered with 3D e-commerce company Obsess to create the Cros Jibbitz Experience. The store also allows shoppers to customise a pair of Crocs with their signature Jibbitz charms and then buy a physical version of the custom product they have created online. Neha Singh, founder and CEO at Obsess, said that “Obsess has built a strong partnership with Crocs over the past year, whereby both of our teams are empowered to lean into innovation and new virtual technologies, like the Jibbitz Customizer.”  Staying on top of innovations has been an instrumental part of the success Crocs has received this year. In Q2 they reported a quarterly revenue that surpassed the billion dollar mark, signifying a 12% growth compared to the previous year. 

Aldi’s Pinterest festive partnership

Supermarket chain Aldi, along with their iconic Christmas mascot Kevin the Carrot, have teamed up with Pinterest to leverage the power of the platform's new ad formats. The new formats include Lead ad, Premiere Spotlight, which is designed to help advertiser’s reach large audiences, and Breakthrough video and Aldi’s campaign also features a ‘secret board.’ To tie the Pinterest campaign to the in-store experience Aldi will also display scannable Pinterest codes in its aisles to drive traffic to the secret board. Karen Bloom, Creative Strategy Lead at Pinterest UK, comments “We’re excited that Aldi leveraged our insights and ad formats in such a creative and cut-through way in order to surprise, delight and inspire people with the very things they're looking to buy this festive hosting season.”

IKEA’s Place App

With IKEA’s new augmented reality app, built of Apple’s new AR kit, you can place true to scale 3-D models of IKEA furniture in your home. The app will automatically scale a product to match the shopper’s space and they can then save the rendering as a picture to easily get the opinion of family and friends before making a purchase! This is particularly important as consumers looking to make big purchases like furniture need to feel that their purchase will be a good fit for their home. IKEA has also launched the IKEA Home smart app and the IKEA Finance app to ensure buying their products are easier than ever. 

All these companies exemplify how embracing new technology and using it in innovative ways can keep shoppers engaged and spending. It’s time for retail leaders to sit up and pay attention to how new ways of doing things can help businesses thrive.