ASK THE EXPERT
DOUG STEPHENS
BY KELLY HEITZ
Retail is a huge aspect of the spa industry, but we
seem to be at a tipping point. Are companies like
Amazon and Sephora’s huge online marketplaces
crushing the small spa retail space? Or do spas
offer a unique immersive experience customers
can’t get anywhere else. What does the future of
retail look like and how does the spa
retail space fit into that future?
We interviewed DOUG STEPHENS,
futurist, keynote speaker, author and
business advisor, and author of
Reengineering Retail: The Future of
Selling in a Post-Digital World, on his
predictions about the future of
Check out
Doug’s new book
Reengineering
Retail on
amazon.com.
retail in every industry. His predic-
tions seem interestingly favorable
for the spa world as he notes that
consumers will be looking for unique retail experi-
ences, something spas can already deliver.
Pulse: How is retail as we know it done and what can
we expect the future of retail to look like?
Stephens: Retail has, for most of its history been predicated
on the notion of scarcity. Consumers craved certain products
and brands and depended on physical stores to give them
access to those things. Today, access isn’t the problem at all.
Consumers have abundant access to a universe of products.
The smartphone is now the biggest shopping mall on earth
and its open 24 hours a day 365 days a year!
What’s more, we are now embarking on a host of new
technologies that are going to completely redefine shopping as
we know it. Connected appliances, homes and cars will all
have the ability to monitor and manage the consumption and
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ordering of products according to your needs. Even products
themselves, infused with sensors, will have the ability to
reorder replacements when they run out or break! Virtual reality
will give us the ability to transport ourselves to different places
and situations to shop. We’ll truly be able to combine
shopping and entertainment in the virtual world!
This puts conventional retailers in a position where, in order
to remain viable, they’re going to have to reinvent themselves
and their offerings in order to remain relevant. A few things
become glaringly apparent.
First, retailers and brands no longer have the power to
dictate where and when the consumer shops but have to be
ready and available wherever the shopper needs them to be.