Does the combination of the future of the way we live and the future of our cities, equal the future of retail? Dr Marc Pons, Director of Andorra Innovation hub, Dr.

Stephan Fanderl, CEO Karstadt, Kaave Pour, Co-founder & MD of SPACE10 and Alice Haugh, futurist, architect of UNStudios shared their thoughts at World Retail Congress yesterday.

Retail laws per country appear not to be influencing the way shoppers buy, as consumers can shop around the clock without interruption. The shopping experience will continue changing in the future, which will not be controlled by offline shopping regulations.

According to Pour, retail is and always has been, an enabler. “The way we are enabling people is changing. The transaction is not really the point of it

anymore. It's about bringing stores to people in the most efficient way,” he said. “We want to measure in a way that we want to know how much engagement can we fit on a certain number of square metres.”

 

According to Fanderl, we need to make the assortment more relevant and use space more efficiently: “Retail should be redefined from selling being the main purpose, to bringing people together in one place.”

On the subject of sustainability, from overseas shipping to over-packaging of products, “If we are working towards a more sustainable future in retail, maybe next day delivery doesn’t fit into that perspective at all.” Haugh said.

Current generations will no longer accept companies not being sustainable. “And in what kind of electric mobility do we really need to deliver?” Fanderl added.