Every year, the planners at Y&R share insights about how the world around us is changing. But the reality is that it’s never black and white. At a macro level, every behavior, observation and perspective has an inherent tension. Every trend has a counter-trend. Here are some of the Trends with Tension we are finding across retail in EMEA. Retail is filled with contradictory realities, leaving marketers unclear as to where to focus their energies, resources and talent.

1. EMEA 2015-2016
RETAIL

2. “RETAIL IS DETAIL…
The details that mattered most in retail used to be
things you could see and touch. Did your store layout
create a path of temptation—so that a customer
looking for a hosepipe would end up walking down
an aisle of gleaming barbecue grills? Could you move
your stock around fast enough to follow the sun?”
— FINANCIAL TIMES, NOVEMBER 2015

3. HOW SIMPLE
IT USED TO BE...
TODAY, WE WANT
HIGH TECH TO FEEL
SIMPLE AND WE
WANT SIMPLE TO
FEEL ADVANCED
TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCIES
WITH TECHNOLOGY WHILE
STILL OFFERING THE SEAMLESS
EXPERIENCE OF BASIC RETAIL.

4. RETAIL IS FILLED WITH
CONTRADICTORY REALITIES, LEAVING
MARKETERS UNCLEAR AS TO
WHERE TO FOCUS THEIR ENERGIES,
RESOURCES AND TALENT. PINTEREST-
STYLED STORES TO INSPIRE BROWSING
OR A QUICK CLICK-TO-SHIP WEBSITE
OPTION? STIMULATE OR ENABLE?
ENTERTAIN OR DRIVE EFFICIENCY?

5. SPEEDING UP // SLOWING DOWN
HIGH TECH // HIGH TOUCH
VIRTUAL // PHYSICAL
INSTANT BUYING // INSPIRED BROWSING
DELIVER EVERYTHING // PICK UP ONLY
PEER TO PEER // PERSONAL DATA PARANOIA
HANGING ON TO THE BITTER END / FAST OBSOLESCENCE
SELF DISCIPLINE // SELF-INDULGENCE
TRENDS WITH TENSION
Every year, the planners at Y&R
share insights about how the
world around us is changing.
But the reality is that it’s never
black and white. At a macro level,
every behavior, observation and
perspective has an inherent tension.
Every trend has a countertrend.
Here are some of the Trends with
Tension we are finding across
retail in EMEA.

6. Same-day delivery; Ads no longer than 140 characters; Apps
like QGO that reduce waiting time in alpine resorts or airports
are all focused on limited attention span and therefore quicker
everything.
We are being told by digital experts to hurry up—that “the best
mobile today happen as milliseconds—tiny moments as the
consumer glances at his screen, often whilst doing something
else more mundane, filling up downtime with screen time.”
-TechCrunch, October 2015
STARBUCKS is jumping on this bandwagon. Pre-order Starbucks
so you avoid the queue. “Starbucks has got the concept of
context = time + utility absolutely nailed...it’s the hot coffee, not
the consumer, that waits.”
-TechCrunch 2015
SPEEDING UP
Mindfulness is top of mind with apps like HEADSPACE
that offers 10-minute meditation workouts.
Adventure travel agent WILD FRONTIERS jets you off to
a remote island with no mobile phone coverage to go
back to basics.
Passengers on France’s iDTGV trains are invited to select
the zone that best fits their mood, including a Zen zone
for those who want a relaxing trip.
The backlash to an over use of technology means
people are looking for some quiet time to pay more
attention to themselves.
SLOWING
DOWN

7. HIGH TOUCH
AMAZON launched “HandMade at
Amazon” for artisans to sell their
handcrafts.
ALIBABA and UBER teamed up to
promote Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace by
using 300-square-foot vehicles as mobile
dressing rooms.
-Retaildive.com, August 2015
London startup CUTECIRCUIT debuted the
world’s first haute couture dress to feature
Tweets. Their products are more about a
platform than fabric and have “the ability of
being forever updatable through the mobile
App.”
-CuteCircuit.com
OCADO, UK’s online supermarket, is
focused on predicting orders and fulfilling
food deliveries with limited interaction with
people.
CTO Paul Clarke says the technology allows
“the right groceries [to] arrive at the right
time as if by magic without having to order.”
HIGH TECH

8. AMAZON opened up a new photography
studio in Shoreditch, London. A
46,000-square-foot venue with 22
photography bays will help it create and
add more than 500,000 images of clothes
to its sites every year.
—TechCrunch, July 2015
ZALANDO, Austria and Germany’s most
popular shopping website, opened up
pop-up stores in Berlin, Vienna and other
European cities, to allow consumers to
interact with the products they only see
online.
PHYSICAL
JOHN LEWIS launched a virtual kitchen drawer
where customers’ receipts can be easily saved and
they get an instant price match refund if they find a
product cheaper somewhere else.
Tel Aviv start up CIMAGINE visualizes products in
lifelike 3-D so you can imagine a piece of furniture in
your home while standing in the store.
VIRTUAL

9. STRIPE RELAY is a buy button that retailers
can place on multiple platforms so that
all purchasing can happen in-app rather
than going to an outside mobile site to
complete. They’ve already integrated with
Twitter.
INSTANT
BUYING
HOUZZ is a home design app that gives you ideas for
decorating. In the last year, it went international with
offices in London, Berlin and Sydney.
EATALY (supermarket) is one of Fast Company’s Most
Innovative Brands in Retail 2015 and whose owner
describes retailing as “understanding that a washing
machine wasn’t a washing machine, but this white magic
box where you put dirty stuff in and it comes out clean,
which changes people’s lives!”
-Fast Company, February 2015
INSPIRED
BROWSING

10. Restaurants and even supermarkets refuse the whole
delivery service in order to avoid extra packaging and
be thus more environmentally friendly. Some shops in
Vienna and Berlin sell all their products without packaging.
Shoppers bring jars and bags from home when they pick
up groceries. Similarily, certain restaurants only offer
takeout if the customers bring their own tupperware.
ORIGINAL UNVERPACKT is a grocery store in Berlin where
“customers bring their own containers, refill them and pay
by weight.”
-Curbed, August 2015
“To buy shampoo, customers fill reusable bottles from
giant vats that line the walls. Chewable white toothpaste
pills are sold out of a large glass jar. Instead of grabbing a
box of tissues, people pick from a woven basket filled with
colorful handkerchiefs... paper, plastic and polystyrene are
strictly verboten.”
-USA Today, in describing Berlin’s Original Unverpackt, October 2014
PICK UP
ONLY
DELIVEROO, an on-demand delivery
service from premium restaurants
that don’t traditionally offer a take-out
service, is on a roll—it ensures food
doesn’t turn up cold and couriers arrive
“just in time” and aren’t clogging up
restaurant reception areas waiting for
the food to be prepared.
DELIVER
EVERYTHING

11. Counter-apps such as CLOAK and HELL IS
OTHER PEOPLE are using the same GPS
technology as FOURSQUARE and FACEBOOK
to help us avoid running into people we would
rather not see.
Heightened connectivity has also led to a peer-to-peer
economy, where everything from lifts to work to crowdfunded
ideas can be shared among the online community. Mobile
payments are predicted to lead to more shared products,
experiences and services with apps like SPLITTR helping
consumers to share costs with peers.
People have become as open with brands as they are with
friends—and expect a strong value exchange. They are
therefore sharing data with brands with the hope of a more
intimate relationship.
“Once customers share data with you, they assume you know
everything about them, and that you have the intention and the
capability to personalize their experiences.”
— Simon Uwins, Author of “Creating Loyal Brands,” Former CMO, Tesco UK
PEER TO PEER
PERSONAL DATA
PARANOIA

12. We are eager to buy the next versions of
our devices when our current ones feel
obsolete—and feel confident that over
paying is worth it.
FAST
OBSOLESCENCE
Today’s savvy consumer wants to know more about the quality
of the product and hopes for minimal waste, damage and
negative impact on the environment.
Supermarkets are now promoting “ugly” fruit and veggies to
people sharing leftover food in their neighborhood via apps.
In countries like France there are now laws that prevent
supermarkets from throwing away food that is still edible.
HELLOFRESH delivers recipes and ingredients to consumers
so that they can cook fresh meals at home. They provide only the
quantity of ingredients needed to cook the meals.
Researchers and start-ups are coming up with new technologies
to alert consumers when food products are spoiled.
Online lifestyle retailer ZADY’S packaging design for its
Essentials collection features infographics displaying the specific
production details from farm to final garment.
HANGING ON TO
THE BITTER END

13. While it is easy to blame apps for making spending too
easy, too seamless and too instant, the wave of personal
finance apps are doing their best to empower self-control
when its comes to spending. LEVELMONEY offers daily,
weekly and monthly spending goals and gives you an
allowance. MINT, a personal finance service analyzes
spending and offers ways to better structure behavior.
DIGIT goes so far as to withhold money to prevent you
from spending. With the willingness to share financial
information with these app providers comes a personalized
advisor that helps you spend and save in smarter more
structured ways.
Today we enjoy access to services we never before
had the opportunity to experience.
GOBUTLER offers a free, 24/7 SMS-based assistant
service that fulfill requests from booking a flight to a
table.
STYLEBEE allows customers to order beauty experts
on-demand from their mobile phones. Those experts will
come to you and provide a variety of different services—
everything from providing haircuts (for men or women)
to blowouts, makeup and face painting.
SELF-INDULGENCESELF-DISCIPLINE

14. ON THE GO // INDULGE IN CHOICE
SMALL SCALE // HIGH END
HIGH CLASS // STREET FOOD
PREMIUM // DIY CRAFT
LOCAL // GLOBAL
HECTIC // RELAXED
FIXED // LOOSE
FUNCTIONAL // INSPIRATIONAL
RETAIL DESTINATION // CHARITY FUND
UBER CHIC // UBER CHEAP
PREMIUM // DOWN TO EARTH
TIME-SAVING // QUALITY
RETAIL AT ITS BEST ACROSS
EMEA IS LEVERAGING TENSITY TO
CREATE WINNING EXPERIENCES
FOR CUSTOMERS:
TEL AVIV
ANTWERP
FRANKFURT
LONDON
ISTANBUL
VIENNA
SOUTH AFRICA
PARIS
EMEA/GLOBAL
PRAGUE
DUBAI

15. INDULGE
IN CHOICE
ON THE GO
TEL AVIV, SARONA MARKET
Sarona Market in Tel Aviv is a large space that includes retail
stores, restaurants and bars and combines outdoor and
indoor areas. There is lots of space for kids to run in the
grass, the restaurants all are farm to table in the form of small
storefronts with an option to sit and eat at the bar and the
food choices vary from Asian dumplings to NYC style-bagels
to Mediterranean meat dishes, spices and fresh veggies.
It’s global, on the go and high touch. And while it calls for
sampling a bit of everything (one restaurant even gives you a
ready-to-go filled picnic basket), it also begs you to be mindful
of the taste and the experience.

16. HIGH END
SMALL SCALE
ANTWERP, SCOOP STORE
SCOOP store gives the maker movement and small-scale
entrepreneurs a physical presence in the high street.
SCOOP store works with up-and-coming designers and
has the allure of a concept store but is located among
high-end fashion retailers.

17. STREET
FOOD
HIGH CLASS
FRANKFURT, MARKT IM HOF
Markt im Hof is an exceptional Zeitgeist experience, a backyard
weekly market en miniature.
It combines authentic and raw with a modern “foodie” attitude.
There you can find food trucks and small stands selling newly
interpreted snacks (like Hessendöner), as well as vegetables
from local farms and organic freshly baked bread.
On Saturdays, hipsters meet bourgeois families meet ethno-
hippies. Tasty. Colorful...“bio” trend left the hippie-unsexy
corner and is mixed with the current street food trend, with this
entrepreneurial creative spirit.

18. DIY CRAFT
PREMIUM
LONDON, JO MALONE
Jo Malone offers the “the art of fragrance combining”
where customers can build their own customized scents—
an experience that is getting a lot of attention both in-store
and via their website marketing.
They have perfected the art of the luxury POS experience,
from services in store such as the fragrance tasting bar to
exclusive packaging.
Each store offers a spa-like atmosphere with treats such
as hand massages, and the sales team provides a highly
tailored, customized service
The in-store experience strategy is driving world of mouth
in new Jo Malone markets in Asia, especially in Korea,
which is generating volumes of online social chatter.

19. GLOBAL
LOCAL
ISTANBUL, SOUQ
Souq is an indie marketplace in Karaköy that showcases a new
concept each weekend. One can see designer goods one
week and enjoy artsy food the next.
This constant change makes it a dynamic marketplace where
one can go not only to buy stuff, but also to stay in the know of
current trends.
One goes to have a full-package experience—not to just buy
what he needs and leave.
While Souq has taken its model from the traditional
marketplaces, the products sold are often far from Turkish
culture. As a result, Souq blurs the line between local and
global style.

20. RELAXED
HECTIC
VIENNA, ADDICTED TO ROCK STORE
There is a shift happening from driving traffic for high
frequency to encouraging people to stay, relax and shop.
From pure revenue goals through selling products to
revenue through food and beverages plus sale of products.
The normal shopping rhythm of busy hours, that entail
getting as much done in limited time is now shifting to a
space where one can relax, socialize and indulge.

21. LOOSE
FIXED
SOUTH AFRICA, PICK N PAY
Pick n Pay on Nicol brought the farmers’ market into the
supermarket environment.
This store is all about inspiration. The sensory experience
inspires cooking and home-entertainment, a focus on
provenance, locally sourced ingredients, organic goods and
sustainable farming. Plus it supports small farmers and local
businesses.
An extensive range of general merchandise (kitchen
accessories, cooking utensils, cookbooks) were cross
merchandised in all the fresh areas of the store.
The store is uncluttered with messaging and the staff is
friendly and consists of well-informed foodies. Cooking
demonstrations occur daily, the atmosphere is welcoming, and
the pace of the shop isn’t frenzied.
It’s a great place to mill around and explore the shelves.
The fixed prices of a supermarket meet the feel of an non-
commercialized farmer’s market.

22. INSPIRATIONAL
FUNCTIONAL
PARIS, SÉZANE
Sézane is an e-shop platform launched in 2013 by a young
French self-made woman, Morgane Sézalory, passionate
about vintage fashion.
The specificity of this retail example is that it is built on
a strong community of fans that used to follow Morgane
Sézalory’s fashion advice online before she became a
fashion designer.
Today her range of product has evolved as she now offers
home decorating pieces and has created a concept
store that looks more like an art-of-fashion gallery than a
common clothing store.

23. CHARITY FUND
RETAIL
DESTINATION
PARIS, MERCI
Merci is a trendy Parisian concept store that looks like a living
Pinterest board. It describes itself as “a shop which works like
a magazine.” Each new season brings exciting exhibits and
collaborations with famous designers/artists/artisans.
Merci calls their approach “The One and The Other” because
it allows them to mix together traditional and modern, local
and globally, simple and costly, mass-produced and individual
made all together. They sell high-end products, but not show-off
products. Everything is selected for its quality, its respect for the
environment, and, of course, its beauty and alignment with general
trends.
There is a coffee shop with books to borrow, a perfume bar to
get a personalized flask, men’s and women’s high-end designer
clothes areas, a home décor area, jewelry area, kitchen and bar
area with cooking lessons once a week, and a fine paper and
coffee table books area.
At the end of the journey everything is donated to a foundation
that helps underprivileged women and children by providing them
with learning skills they can use to improve their quality of life.

24. UBER CHEAP
UBER CHIC
EMEA/GLOBAL, PRIMARK
One person who shops at Primark shared, “I feel like a cow
being sent to be slaughtered—but it is useful.”
The experience is sweaty, pushy, and messy. But the style
is up-to-date and the price is great.
“If you go in there on any given Saturday or Sunday, there
are 70 people in line...You can’t move in the store. I went to
the brand new store that opened recently in Berlin, same
thing. The traffic in there, the lines in there, the excitement
in there is incredible. And you walk into a regular full-price
apparel retailer and it’s dead.”
— Stacey Widlitz, president of SW Retail Advisors, tells Racked

25. PREMIUM &
COMFORT
SEEKING
PRAGUE, FARMERS MARKET
Farmers markets are increasingly trendy events that emerged
a few years ago and quickly spread throughout the country as
a result of higher health consciousness, growing purchasing
power, fear from origin-less industrial food and a strong foodie
culture.
Farmer’s markets attract the attention of all kinds of shoppers
from the price sensitive to well-off-middle class people
seeking quality and experience.
Czech food buyers consider low price the more important
choice driver than they do quality, yet they pay a large price
premium (often hundreds of percent) when buying food at
farmers markets.
DISCOMFORT &
DOWN TO EARTH

26. QUALITY
TIME SAVING
DUBAI, VIRTUAL SUPERMARKET
Virtual supermarkets started in Japan and South Korea by
Tesco Homeplus, a British grocery company. Users scan
the QR codes with their smartphones and add the items to
a virtual shopping cart. Once all of the products are in the
cart, the shopper places the order and is charged through
their credit card. The groceries then arrive at the person’s
doorstep the next day.
Interesting that this has taken off as people have become
more critical than ever of freshness of food, especially
true in Dubai where fresh fruits and vegetables are not
always obvious…the tactile experience is so important for
shoppers.
The experience of picking the best themselves gives
consumers the feeling that they can walk out of the store
with pride over what they purchased.
What will overpower—the convenience or quality?

27. EMEA 2015-2016
RETAIL
For more information please contact:
Saul Betmead
Chief Strategy Officer, EMEA
Saul.Betmead@yr.com
Lianna Wolfson
Director, Global Content
Lianna.Wolfson@yr.com
CONTRIBUTORS:
ALESSANDRA COTUNGO
ANDREAS ROITNER
EMILY JAMES
FREDERIC VUILLERMIN
FRANCK SAELENS
HEATHER GRIFFITHS
KAREN SAVILLE
KENNA STOUT
LORA VANHOOF
TOMAS MRKVICKA
TOON DIEPENDAELE
YEDA BERALDO