The latest lifestyle, fashion and travel trends
The latest lifestyle, fashion and travel trends
For bricks-and-mortar retail to survive the digital age, it must find a way to entice online shoppers – and particularly the Instagram generation – through the doors.
This July, Westfield is set to pilot an all-new shopping concept which, if successful, could indicate how fashion stores are set to evolve.
Opening from 3-7 July, The Trending Store, will stock the top 100 items of men’s and women’s clothing and accessories that are trending online that day.
The concept, which will raise money for Westfield’s long-standing charity partner Save the Children, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has been created in partnership with AI trend experts Next Atlas.
Using the power of machine learning, Next Atlas tracks over 400,000 global ‘trend innovators’ (influencers to you and I) to establish which fashion items are hot that day. A list of trending items will then be given to a team of Westfield stylists, who’ll hunt out corresponding items (both clothing and accessories) from across the entire shopping centre each morning, ready to drop in the pop-up.
The Trending Store is the first fashion store to have its entire contents sourced by trending data and promises to ‘cater for budgets big and small.’
“We know that the UK is shopping online, but we’re also seeing and hearing from consumers that they crave the human factor that shopping in person provides – the ability to touch, feel, try and seek advice, to ensure the products are right for you,” says Myf Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer for Westfield. “The Trending Store provides the best of both worlds via a unique shopping experience, one that we believe represents the way we will all be shopping in the future.”
Ever filled a huge digital basket of items on ASOS or Net-a-Porter then wished you could try them all on to narrow it down? Or have you got an Instagram ‘saved’ section full of influencer outfits you wish you could try before you buy? The Trending Store might be one for you.
