It is the 13th year in a row that VMSD magazine (Visual Merchandising & Store Design) publishes its annual list of winners of the Designer Dozen award (March 2025). The young designers chosen (age 35 and under) are considered the best and brightest designers in retail in their generation. The 12 designers specialise in interior… Read More
The Rising Wonder of Smart Vending Machines
A new generation of automated smart vending machines, including refrigerators and coolers, is taking its place within stores (e.g., food, pharma, convenience) and in public spaces (e.g., train stations & airports, malls, service waiting lounges). There is variation in their models and features, but they have some common characteristics: they are AI-augmented, data-driven, and often… Read More
Digital Price Display: Opportunity & Risk
The landscape in food stores is gradually changing with a transition of retailers from printed price labels to digital price tags, formally known as electronic shelf labels (ESLs). When looking from some distance, shoppers may not notice the difference in appearance of the label, but the digital price display can have implications that shoppers may… Read More
Jelmoli Prepares for a New but Different Chapter in Its Retailing Legacy
Jelmoli is a Swiss department store in Zürich well-known to residents and visitors of the city. Last year (2023) the retail brand celebrated “190 Years of Jelmoli” with the tagline “Full of Stories” (e.g., posted on the store’s front windows). However, this celebration also marks in all likelihood a conclusion of its function as a… Read More
Globus: A Department Store Changes Its Face
A visitor returning to the flagship department store of the Swiss chain GLOBUS in central Zurich after a long absence is headed for a surprise. The visiting shopper is about to encounter on entry a completely different landscape — bright and flashy, with a large avenue stretching from the front entrance (on Bahnhofstrasse) to the… Read More
Digital Changes Coming Ahead for Marketers and Consumers
The digital landscape in marketing and e-commerce is fluid and evolving continuously. In the meantime, the patterns and habits of consumer shopping behaviour also keep changing. Most notably in recent times, consumers were driven to modify their shopping behaviour due to restrictions imposed during the course of the coronavirus pandemic. However, consumers have had to… Read More
Is Inflation in Consumer Prices Lurking for a Bite?
Countries face several economic challenges while they are trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic: recuperating the economy from a traumatic recession (shock-induced shutdown and negative growth); increased budget deficit, possibly leading to larger debt; combatting high (and stubborn) unemployment, together with changes in the job market. But reigniting the economy might be tied with… Read More
Retail in Recovery
Wherever relief from COVID-19 is evident, we can see signs of recovery in offline retail, that is at physical stores and shops. In the first months of 2021 countries have lapsed again into third and fourth waves of COVID and lockdowns, which caused a reversal of earlier signs of recovery experienced. But where a recent… Read More
Pondering About the Post Corona Pandemic Era
While we are still deep in the coronavirus pandemic, people wonder how life will look and feel like in the aftermath. There have been major changes in behaviour of businesses and consumers since the beginning of 2020, largely compelled by concerns of people about their health and measures imposed to curb the COVID-19 disease. But… Read More
A New Opportunity Arises for Pop-Up Stores
Temporary stores pop-up in recent years more frequently in different retail locations such as central shopping districts (e.g., on high-streets or inside urban quarters) and in malls; as you might expect, they are called Pop-Up Stores. These stores or shops may operate for as short as a few days to as long as two or… Read More
Consumer / Shopper / Customer Behaviour 