Recently, I was talking with Anusha Coutiganne, head of advisory at Vogue Business, about how the best retailers are always just a little ahead of their time. Gordon Selfridge, Jack Cohen and Ingvar Kamprad didn’t merely exploit the trends of their times more effectively than their competitors; they actually helped to direct those trends. They saw a glimmer of the future and made it a reality for their customers.
What would these innovators see if they looked today? It can be difficult to accurately predict the future in this era of constant change. But retail boards would be wise to imagine what’s on the horizon. By doing so, they may be able to direct the future, rather than chasing after it. Here are seven retail trends taken from my conversation with Coutiganne.
Department stores make a comeback
Department stores seemed destined for extinction a few years ago, with Woolworths, BHS and House of Fraser unable to fend off low-cost digital disruptors. Online platforms appeared to have conquered traditional retailers.
But the cost of online customer acquisition is pushing even digital-native brands, such as Gymshark and Glossier, into multichannel environments. Opening standalone stores can be daunting for smaller brands, given the high costs of property and wages, but department stores are perfectly placed to offer a solution.
By providing an accessible platform for disruptor brands, department stores will be returning to their roots as places of surprise and delight, where customers can discover new products and brands can progressively grow exposure from pop-ups through to larger concessions.
Browns of York, Morleys, Wolf & Badger and Harvey Nichols, for example, have benefited from their presence in department stores. Indeed, they featured among the UK’s fastest growing retailers in the 2024 Interpath Retail Index.
The challenge to reviving the department store will be enticing younger customers who lack familiarity with and nostalgia for the department-store model and may be more likely to shop online.
No more cheap food
The war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of national food security, but many farmers are more concerned with their own financial security and environmental sustainability.
Vertically integrated models, where farms grow and sell their own food, are gaining traction. So too is regenerative farming, where crop rotation and good old-fashioned manure and/or compost take the place of industrial fertilisers.
By combining these, farms that were once only small commodity suppliers can create marketable brands. An example of this is Andy Cato’s Wildfarmed, which is now stocked in Waitrose.
If this de-industrialisation of farming continues, prices will rise but food will become more nutritious and sustainable in every sense of the word.
Resale and rentals deliver peak stuff
The proliferation of vintage clothing and used vinyl on the high street testifies to changing attitudes about ownership among generations Z and Alpha. These are driven by a desire for affordability and sustainability, as well as nostalgia for a simpler time.
Several traditional retailers, including Selfridges, John Lewis and Levi’s, have engaged with resale and rental. Digital platforms such as Eshita Kabra’s By Rotation and Victoria Prew’s HURR are also growing in popularity.
Resale and rental works best for high-cost, infrequent-use items, such as designer fashion and DIY products – the locker-based Library of Things, for example, allows Londoners to rent tools such as carpet shampooers and power drills.
The key questions are whether rental and resale platforms can scale up while staying sustainable, and whether younger generations will retain their appetite for pre-loved products as they age.
Print makes a comeback as digital trust frays
It’s hard to capture consumers’ attention in today’s crowded digital space, where the next distraction is only half a scroll away. It’s also difficult to build trust in an age of misinformation.
Combined, these facts are pushing brands back to traditional media channels such as magazines, catalogues and billboards. The idea is that print establishes credibility and creates a lingering emotional connection.
One example is British Vogue, which now has a higher circulation than its pre-2007 peak. Digital isn’t going away, but we appear to have underestimated the staying power of analogue media.
Nearshoring beats reshoring – but China stays top
Years of deteriorating trade relations between the US and China have not led to large-scale reshoring, particularly in the UK, where manufacturing capacity is limited.
Nearshoring, however, is growing in popularity, with countries including Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania using their EU access and manufacturing pedigree to attract investment. The UAE is also doing surprisingly well, using its expansive trade relationships and friendly tax regime to finish goods that originate further afield.
Donald Trump will likely accelerate a gradual reconfiguration of the supply chain. But, without drastic policy changes, Chinese manufacturing will remain central – the price is too competitive and the quality is getting better.
Still, retailers must plan for any potential policy shifts, while also considering whether protectionism will outlast Trump’s second presidential term.
The awkward price of advertising revenues
Retailers are increasingly monetising customer relationships by selling data or website space to third-party advertisers. This has become a major profit-driver at companies such as Amazon, which exemplifies this model.
While this strategy may be tempting at a time when margins are under threat, it could backfire. For instance, will you still trust Amazon when its searches prioritise sponsors over relevance? Will your relationship with a niche retailer sour if they exploit your personal data or bombard you with ads for things they don’t sell?
It is possible to monetise digital media carefully, but retailers should remember that it’s much easier to lose trust than to regain it once it’s lost.
Smart dress makes a well-deserved comeback
I suspect neckties will not be making a rapid return. As I look around my train carriage, I notice that half the commuters seem to be wearing pyjamas to work. This is a natural consequence of the work-from-home era, when you can do your emails from the comfort of a onesie. But I hope the re-emergence of office working will restore higher standards of dress and, along with it, a greater sense of purpose.
There are some signs it’s not just me. The 2024 Interpath Retail Index found that three companies in the business of formalwear – Moss Bros, Me & Em and Self Portrait – are among the fastest-growing retailers in the country. This may suggest that rumours of the demise of smart attire are, thankfully, exaggerated.
