What will retail look like in five years? Top industry executives share their predictions

Retail
has
seen
unprecedented
upheaval
over
the
last
several
years.

Some
of
the
industry’s
key
decision-makers
expect
even
more
evolution
ahead.

Covid-related
shocks
have
upended
retail,
after
clogged
ports
and
merchandise
shortages
gave
way
to
excess
inventory
levels
and
shifting
consumer
demands
amid
persistent
inflation. 

Those
disruptions
accelerated
transformations
in
the
industry
that
were
just
hitting
some
companies
before
the
pandemic,
such
as
the
growth
of
curbside
pickup
and
increased
use
of
mobile
apps.

As
retail
leaders
enter
2024
hoping
the
turmoil
is
now
behind
them,
they’re
building
businesses
for
the
future
and
making
changes
that
will
transform
the
industry.

Over
the
past
few
months,
CNBC
has
spoken
with
a
dozen
of
the
retail
industry’s
top
executives
and
leaders
to
get
a
sense
of
what’s
next.

So
what
will
retail
actually
look
like
five
years
from
now,
and
how
will
it
change? 

The
following
is
a
sampling
of
their
insights,
which
were
edited
for
brevity
and
clarity.

Fran
Horowitz,
Abercrombie
&
Fitch
CEO:
The
future
of
retail
is
small,
efficient,
omni
stores,
and
they’re
located
where
the
customer
tells
us.
[For
Abercrombie]
these
big,
massive
stores
were
just
not
productive
and
not
efficient
—
the
consumer
was
responding
to
a
much
more
intimate
associate
experience,
and
then
economically,
they
were
not
productive.
You
don’t
get
the
kind
of
traffic
through
the
stores
like
you
did
in
the
past
when
there
wasn’t
a
digital
option,
so
you
have
to
provide
a
location
that
is
financially
sound,
which
has
X
amount
of
traffic
and
X
amount
of
digital
orders
that
come
together.

Michelle
Gass,
Levi
Strauss
CEO:
The
role
of
the
store
needs
to
be
much
more
experiential
than
it
is
today.
I
think
consumers
are
going
to
raise
the
bar,
and
they’re
just
going
to
expect
that
because
when
you
can
just
shop
and
do
a
transaction
a
click
away,
there
has
to
be
a
higher
purpose
for
a
store.
It’s
not
just
about
the
consumer-facing
aspect,
but
the
back
end
of
the
operation
becomes
even
more
important.
The
store
becomes
a
mini
distribution
center.
Perhaps
what
it
does
is
it
lessens
the
need
over
time
to
put
up
the
next
distribution
center,
because
you’re
using
your
store
footprint
as
these
mini
fulfillment
centers.

Jens
Grede,
Skims
CEO:
Higher
concentration
[of
stores]
in
better
locations.
Trends
come
and
go,
but
Fifth
Avenue
by
the
park
will
be
Fifth
Avenue.
It
was
that
a
hundred
years
ago,
it
will
be
so
in
another
hundred
years,
right?
So
important
locations
are
only
becoming
more
important.
I
don’t
know
where
that
leaves
the
B
and
C
location,
but
I
think
the
B
and
C
location
will
struggle
because
they’re
not
offering
the
experience.
I
think
when
people
go
shopping,
they
go
to
an
A
location
or
they
go
online,
but
there
really
is
very
little
need
for
B
and
C
locations. 

Geoffroy
van
Raemdonck,
Neiman
Marcus
Group
CEO:
Five
years
from
now,
there’ll
be
even
bigger
what
we
call
“retail-tainment”
—
when
you
come
in
the
store
and
you
have
a
multisensory
experience
that
really
takes
you
in
a
space
that
has
a
theme,
where
the
brand
or
the
retailer
is
expressing
something
that
re-transports
you
in
another
world
and
that
transport
is
a
physical
experience,
not
a
digital
experience.

Trina
Spear,
Figs
CEO:
Stores
just
acting
kind
of
as
a
transactional
thing
in
the
world
is
going
to
become
less
and
less
relevant,
and
what’s
going
to
become
more
relevant
is
having
an
experiential
destination
for
our
community
to
come
together,
to
meet
and
be
connecting
with
not
only
the
brand,
but
also
each
other. 

Chris
Nicholas,
Sam’s
Club
CEO:
The
most
expensive
and
most
difficult
piece
of
e-commerce
is
that
last
mile
of
fulfillment,
and
if
you’re
closest
to
the
customer
[with
stores]
and
you’re
willing
to
use
all
of
your
assets
in
service
of
e-commerce
then
what
you
get
to
do
is
you
get
to
give
the
customers
what
they
want,
which
is
more
convenience
and
more
speed.
You
need
to
make
sure
that
stores
are
great
and
that
they’re
well
looked
after
and
they’re
inspirational
places
to
shop.
But
there
is
an
‘and,’
and
the
‘and’
is
that
they
are
also
last-mile
fulfillment
nodes
that
allow
you
to
serve
those
customers
in
the
way
they
want.

Kara
Trent,
Under
Armour’s
president
of
Americas:
Some
brands
have
moved
to
super
experiential,
other
brands
have
moved
to
super
transactional.
I
think
you’ll
end
up
with
a
blend,—
and
I
think
the
brands
that
get
the
blend
of
experience
while
driving
commerce
are
the
ones
that
will
succeed.
I
think
that
does
shape
how
brands
will
look
at
real
estate
and
what
streets
and
what
neighborhoods
are
most
important,
and
almost
thinking
a
bit
more
micro
than
macro,
right?
What
a
consumer
in
New
York
City
might
need
versus
a
city
in
middle
America,
versus
how
you
think
about
the
different
types
of
retail
locations,
even
in
a
massive
city
like
New
York.

Levi’s
Gass:
Technology,
data,
machine
learning,
and
even
AI.
I
get
really,
really
excited
about
what
this
means
in
the
operations
of
the
business,
using
predictive
analytics
to
help
us
forecast
demand.
The
power
of
machine
learning,
of
predictive
analytics,
as
a
retail
operator
is
extremely
powerful
because
it
is
going
to
help
us
execute
at
a
higher
level
to
better
serve
our
customers. 

Tom
Ward,
Walmart
U.S.
chief
e-commerce
officer:
The
most
disruptive
force
is
always
going
to
be
the
customer
demand.
Wherever
customers
want
to
go
is
where
the
retail
industry
is
going
to
follow
and
the
technologies
that
support
that
—
whether
it’s
in
the
front
end
or
the
back
end
or
the
supply
chain. 
The
customer
is
always
going
to
be
the
driving
force
of
change,
for
sure.
If
you
assume
that
to
be
true
across
everybody,
then
the
technologies
that
are
emerging
that
are
helping
retailers
follow
the
customers’
lead
most
efficiently
are
going
to
be
the
most
disruptive.
So
obviously
things
like
AI
are
going
to
be
important. 

Abercrombie’s
Horowitz:
The
biggest
change
that
we
have
seen
—
and
it’s
a
very
important
part
of
our
business
—
is
what
I
would
refer
to
as
our
affiliate
business.
We
have
longstanding
partnerships
with
affiliates
[such
as
social
media
influencers]
who
are
brand
lovers
and
spend
time
selling
your
brand
for
you
[online].
As
the
world
continues
to
evolve
on
digital,
anything
is
possible,
so
perhaps
there’s
even
a
transaction
that
takes
place
through
them,
as
opposed
to
sending
them
back
to
our
website
and
processing
the
sale,
maybe
it’s
a
dropship.

Figs’
Spear:
Turning
physical
stores
into
a
real
true
hub.
For
many
brands,
this
is
going
to
be
the
shift,
right?
Where
people
want
a
place
to
gather
and
to
learn,
they
want
to
be
part
of
something
bigger
than
themselves.
Especially
the
younger
generation,
Gen
Z,
it
can’t
just
be
about
transacting,
everyone
wants
to
believe
in
something
bigger
than
themselves
and
be
a
part
of
something
bigger
than
themselves
and
that
I
think
is
going
to
be
the
most
disruptive
force.

Marc
Lore,
former
CEO
of
Walmart
U.S.
e-commerce
and
founder
of
Jet.com:
Conversational
commerce
—
I
think
it’s
one
of
those
things
that
takes
time
to
evolve.
…
In
five
years’
time,
people
will
understand
that
that’s
the
future.
I
think
we’ll
be
far
enough
along
that
people
will
be
able
to
connect
the
dots
to
a
future
where
the
world
evolves
into
more
conversational
commerce
where
people
can
use
voice
or
text
to
have
a
conversation
with
a
digital
assistant
that
knows
you
as
well
as
your
best
friend.

Mickey
Drexler,
former
CEO
of
Gap
and
J.Crew:
Social
media
has
had
enormous,
enormous
influence
on
retail.
When
I
was
growing
up,
you
put
an
ad
in
The
New
York
Times.
You
put
it
in
Time
magazine.
You
had
maybe
TV
ads.
Look,
Gap
and
Old
Navy
were
built
with
fantastic,
creative
TV
ads.
Now,
the
ads
are
on
social
media,
they’re
on
Instagram.
They’re
on
emails.
Instagram
is
hugely
powerful
in
influencing
consumers.
And
TikTok
also.

Ulta
CEO
Dave
Kimbell:
It
really
is
this
blurring
of
digital
and
physical
and
how
we
don’t
see
those
as
distinct,
but
really
integrated.
…
The
guest
is
so
connected
and
has
tools
and
expectations
that
even
got
elevated
over
the
last
three
years.
It’s
really
important
that
we’re
understanding
how
we
can
leverage
the
assets
that
we
have
—
both
the
physical
assets,
in
our
case,
almost
1,400
stores,
but
also
the
digital
tools
and
capabilities.

Ex-Walmart
exec
Lore:
If
you’re
going
to
take
anything
away
from
this
conversation,
it
would
be
my
conviction
on
how
transformational
conversational
commerce
is
going
to
be.
And
it’s
unlocked
by
AI
and
the
ability
to
process
natural
language
like
never
before.
The
search
engine
is
going
to
be
archaic.
It’s
going
to
be
the
cassette
tape
in
20
years.
Younger
generations
are
going
to
laugh
at
the
idea
of
using
a
search
engine,
because
search
engines
aren’t
that
intelligent. 

Neiman’s
van
Raemdonck:
Right
now
if
you
look
at
a
product,
you
have
to
try
it
on
to
know
if
it’s
your
size,
if
it
fits,
and
I
think
there’s
so
many
technologies
that
are
going
to
be
able
to
show
you
the
product
in
3-D
to
see
how
it
would
fit
on
you
and
if
it’s
the
right
fit.
There’s
so
many
ways
that
companies
will
be
able
to
interact
with
you,
recognizing
you
and
anticipating
what
you
may
want.
There’s
so
much
friction
in
helping
the
customer
buy
the
product
that
is
right
for
them,
and
technology
is
going
to
remove
a
lot
of
that,
and
I
think
we’re
going
to
see
the
return
rate
go
down
and
customer
satisfaction
go
up. 

Levi’s
Gass:
If
you
think
about
the
technology
today,
broadly
speaking,
a
lot
of
what
you
might
see
in
the
personalization
is,
okay,
if
you’re
an
avid
buyer
of
[Levi’s]
501s
[jeans],
you
might
get
a
recommendation
on
the
next
exciting
wash
of
a
501,
or
something
similar.
But
I
think
where
the
technology
is
going
to
go
is
it’s
going
to
be
able
to
leap
into
something
like,
to
go
from
you’re
a
501
shopper
to
this
is
going
to
be
the
perfect
denim
skirt
for
you
and
make
bolder
leaps,
but
do
it
in
a
way
that’s
informed
based
on
your
shopping
history
and
who
you
are
…
and
by
the
way,
this
doesn’t
mean
that
this
is
just
all
being
served
up
in
a
digital
world.
I
think
the
most
powerful
and
exciting
way
this
will
be
served
up
is
when
it’s
with
the
stylists,
because
if
you’re
spending
time
with
the
stylist,
they’re
getting
to
know
you,
they
know
your
purchase
history
—
bringing
that
all
together,
it’s
kind
of
the
art
and
the
science.

Figs’
Spear:
AI
is
going
to
be
super
helpful
in
terms
of,
I
need
this
style,
I
need
this
size,
I
need
what
will
fit
best
on
me.
AI
is
going
to
be
really
transformative
as
it
relates
to
fit
and
people
getting
what
they
need
very
quickly,
and
getting
support
and
answers
very
quickly,
whether
that’s
online
or
in
stores.
How
does
it
create
a
more
personalized
experience
around
product
discovery,
around
face
recognition?
We
know
you,
you’ve
been
here
before,
we
know
what
you
like,
what’s
going
to
work
best
with
where
you
work,
what
you
do,
your
body
type,
your
style.
And
so
that’s
going
to
be
incredibly
helpful.
I
think
long
term,
it
will
be
game-changing.

Yael
Cosset,
Kroger’s
chief
information
officer:
The
biggest
transformation
related
to
AI
is
going
to
first
be
around
our
associate
—
not
to
replace
the
work
that
our
associates
do,
but
quite
the
opposite,
which
is
to
augment
and
amplify
what
they
do.
How
do
I
help
our
associates
in
our
stores
engage
with
our
customers
by
simplifying
some
of
their
activities
and
giving
them
more
time
to
interact?
If
they’re
in
the
cheese
department,
the
cheesemonger
could
have
a
better
experience
with
our
customers
to
help
answer
a
question
or
answer
a
pairing
question
with
wine
or
bread.
That’s
going
to
be
the
low-hanging
fruit
for
us. 

Ulta’s
Kimbell:
AI
more
broadly
has
been
a
big
focus
for
us
for
a
while
in
personalizing
our
guests’
connection
with
us.
The
power
of
our
data
and
the
ability
to
unleash
that
in
ways
that
makes
the
communication
we
have
with
our
guests
more
meaningful
and
more
relevant
and
more
timely,
we
think
is
really
exciting.
We’ve
made
progress
in
that,
but
we
see
a
lot
ahead
of
us
as
we
personalize
our
experience,
with
the
ultimate
goal
of
getting
to
true
one-to-one
personalization. 

Under
Armour’s
Trent:
When
you’re
thinking
about
malls,
and
this
is
a
real-life
experience,
one
of
the
things
that
brands
are
going
to
have
to
figure
out
as
they
think
about
all
these
digitally
connected
tools
is
the
internet.
It’s
actually
quite
hard
to
get
the
fast
…
speed
internet
in
some
of
these
big-box
locations
to
enable.
That’s
been
one
of
the
biggest
pain
points
we’ve
faced
over
here
in
terms
of
just
bandwidth
and
WiFi
speed
in
terms
of
being
able
to
enable
a
smart
fitting
room,
an
RFID,
a
remote
POS-type
system.
So
I
do
think
that’s
one
of
the
things
for
the
long
haul
that
real
estate
development
teams
are
going
to
have
to
figure
out. 

Ulta’s
Kimbell:
In
beauty
and
at
Ulta
Beauty,
we
see
the
majority
of
transactions
in
store
as
they
are
today
and
we
think
that’ll
be
the
case
over
the
next
five
years. 

Kroger’s
Cosset:
In
five
years,
stores
will
continue
to
account
for
the
majority
of
sales,
because
even
for
a
significant
portion
of
what
we
sell
digitally,
it
will
be
fulfilled
in
the
stores. 

Figs’
Spear:
I
don’t
think
it’s
one
or
the
other.
I
think
the
more
three
dimensional
and
the
more
you
can
have
both
digital
and
offline,
the
more
powerful
it
becomes.
I
do
think
the
younger
generation,
they’re
kind
of
coming
back
out
in
the
world,
and
you’ve
seen
offline
grow
a
lot.
I
think
there’s
more
to
come
on
that.

Abercrombie’s
Horowitz:
Stores
matter.
You
need
a
store.
I’ve
watched
a
lot
of
pure
plays
over
the
years
and
they
end
up
opening
up
stores
because
you
need
a
store,
you
need
that
hub
for
the
return,
the
exchange,
the
pickup,
whatever
it
might
be
that
they’re
using
that
hub
for.
So
there
were
years
of
the
apocalypse
of
the
mall
and
how
stores
were
ending.
I
don’t
believe
any
of
that.
Stores
matter.
I
say
it
all
the
time,
and
I
firmly
believe
they
matter.
It’s
just
a
balance.
It’s
a
balance
between
the
channels
and
what
works
for
the
consumer
depending
upon
what
their
lifestyle
is
and
age.

Skims’
Grede:
The
majority
of
shopping
is
going
to
still
happen
in
store,
but
the
vast
majority
of
intent
or
the
decision
to
shop
will
start
online.
Young
customers
today
always
know
what
they
want
to
buy
when
they
shop
in
stores,
so
the
transaction
happens
in
the
store,
but
the
customer
journey
starts
online,
and
I
think
that
will
go
for
everybody
in
the
coming
five
years.

Ex-Walmart
exec
Lore:
The
younger
generation
has
a
higher
percentage
of
online
shopping.
As
the
older
generation
ages
out
and
there’s
more
of
the
younger
generation,
by
definition,
you’re
going
to
see
a
higher
percentage
of
shopping
being
done
online.

Neiman’s
van
Raemdonck:
It’s
not
going
to
be
one
or
the
other,
and
I
really
believe
in
this
notion
of
integrated
retail
—
that
customers
will
continue
to
shop
differently
depending
on
the
day
of
the
week,
their
mood
and
what
they’re
looking
for.
I
do
believe
that,
especially
in
luxury,
the
connectivity
to
a
human
and
someone
who
knows
you
and
someone
who’s
got
your
best
interest,
that’s
going
to
be
the
main
way
customers
who
are
truly
involved
in
luxury
will
want
to
shop
and,
that
will
be
still
very
much
in
stores.
But
I
think
it’ll
be
complemented
by
remote
selling. 

Skims’
Grede:
It’s
hard
to
disregard
the
strength
of
the
business
models
of
Temu
and
Shein.
They
have
a
supply
chain
model
that
is
impossible
to
replicate
for
a
U.S.
or
European
retailer,
so
it
gives
them
a
structural
advantage.
It’s
hard
to
see
that
fall
away,
but
that’s
on
the
real
mass
end.
Generally
I
think
every
brand
in
the
mid-price
segment
is
going
to
hurt.
The
market’s
polarizing
between
luxury
or
premium
or
value,
and
I
think
general
retailers
at
the
mid-price
are
going
to
face
extinction.
If
you
would
say
Nike’s
mid-price
then
I
really
believe
in
Nike,
I
believe
in
Lulu,
I
believe
in
Alo
[Yoga],
I
believe
in
Skims,
I
believe
in
Inditex,
I
believe
in
all
retailers
that
either
offer
great
value
for
money
or
at
a
great
price,
or
just
simply
the
lowest
possible
price.
All
retailers
in
the
mid-price
segment,
I
would
be
nervous
if
I
were
them.
I
would
predict
that
we’re
gonna
have
a
really
high
turnover
of
brands
in
mass
retail
over
the
next
five
years.
I
think
it’ll
look
unrecognizable
to
today.

Ex-Gap
and
J.
Crew
boss
Drexler:
TJX
Companies.
Look
at
the
growth.
Look
at
the
volume.
Look
at
the
earnings.
Zara.
Their
goods
are
right
on,
style-wise.
They
get
it
with
trends.
They’re
worldwide,
a
zillion
stores,
and
their
operations
and
execution,
aside
from
their
merchandising,
I
think
they’re
always
on
top
of
the
game.
The
other
name
I’ll
mention
is
LVMH.
What
they
have
done
is
extraordinary.
Every
single
one
of
their
businesses
speaks
to
quality
and
integrity. 

Abercrombie’s
Horowitz:
Very
specific
category
stores
will
have
a
harder
time
existing.
The
companies
that
cater
to
a
lifestyle
and
have
a
balanced
assortment
are
the
ones
who
will
continue
to
thrive.
If
everyone
was
dressing
very
casually
and
you
were
completely
a
dress-up
brand,
you’re
in
a
bit
of
trouble.
Having
a
balanced
lifestyle
brand
is
the
way
to
be,
and
I’ve
seen
a
lot
of
athletic
brands
evolving
into
lifestyle
brands,
I
mean
that’s
a
huge
trend
that’s
happening
out
there,
and
my
take
on
that
is,
you
can’t
be
too
narrow. 

Under
Armour’s
Trent:
Luxury
is
a
very
specific
space
that
adds
a
ton
of
value
for
very
different
lenses
for
the
consumer.
You
look
at
what
Dior
or
Louis
Vuitton
or
Hermes
do
for
a
consumer
—
that
space
remains
quite
niche
and
specific.
So
I
think
they
stay,
and
I
think
they
continue
to
exist
and
thrive
in
the
space
they’re
thriving
in.

Levi’s
Gass:
I
think
the
ones
that
will
thrive
are
the
ones
that
stay
true
to
who
they
are
in
their
heritage
but
also
embrace
where
the
consumer
is
going
and
embrace
these
new
tools
that
will
help
them
personalize
and
shape
their
experience
with
the
consumer. 

Ulta’s
Kimbell:
It’s
really
pretty
clear
—
making
sure
you’re
meeting
the
ever
elevating
expectations
of
consumers,
as
they
get
more
savvy,
as
they
bring
new
expectations.
Their
willingness
to
tolerate
less
than
ideal
experiences,
whether
it’s
in
store
or
online,
is
less
and
less.
The
options
are
increasing,
the
expectations
are
elevating,
so
it
comes
back
to
delivering
great
human
connection
certainly
in
store,
but
also
online.

Under
Armour’s
Trent:
Customer
service.
I
mean,
I
think
it’s
a
lost
art,
if
I’m
to
be
honest.
I
think
if
someone’s
making
an
attempt
and
an
effort
to
walk
across
your
lease
line,
I
think
creating
relationships
with
your
customer
in
person
becomes
one
of
the
intangibles
that
I
think
we
forget
in
retail
sometimes.

Levi’s
Gass:
While
we
today
do
use
traditional
cash
registers,
fast
forward
five
years
from
now,
I
don’t
think
you’ll
see
those
in
our
stores,
right?
That’s
important
merchandising
space.
…
The
transactional
part
of
shopping
will
become
just
so
easy.
Even
today,
with
as
much
technology,
there’s
a
lot
of
friction
once
you’re
actually
going
to
buy
an
item,
right?
Waiting
in
line,
the
process,
etc.
I
think
the
winners
five
years
from
now,
that
just
goes
away,
and
so
the
time
spent
in
the
store
is
all
around
the
discovery,
the
inspiration,
and
far
less
about
the
transaction.

Skims’
Grede:
Inclusive
sizing
is
becoming
a
retail
standard.
When
my
wife
[Emma
Grede]
and
Khloe
[Kardashian]
started
Good
American,
they
were
really
one
of
the
first
brands
to
offer
the
full
size
range,
from
extra
small
to
three
or
four
X,
and
in
the
department
store,
refusing
to
split
the
product
range
between
departments.
So
since
then,
over
the
last
five,
six,
seven
years,
it
is
becoming
more
and
more
commonplace.
I
mean,
when
Kim
[Kardashian]
and
I
started
Skims
we
couldn’t
have
dreamt
of
not
doing
it.
And
I
think
it’d
be
very
hard
to
launch
a
brand
today
that
isn’t
inclusive
in
sizing.
And
I
believe
in
five
years,
it’s
going
to
become
the
absolute
standard.
I
think
that’s
a
no-brainer. 

Walmart’s
Ward:
Customers
will
expect
a
level
of
personalization.
Customers
will
expect
that
if
they
spend
a
lot
of
time
with
a
retailer
like
Walmart,
that
we
get
to
understand
you
and
we
get
to
know
you,
and
we
don’t
treat
you
like
a
stranger
every
time
you
come
back
to
us.
…
If
we
know
you’ve
got
a
pet
dog,
and
you
buy
dog
food
from
us
every
single
week,
we
should
probably
show
you
great
deals
on
pet
beds
or
leashes
or
dog
outfits,
and
start
to
show
up
in
a
way
that
helps
you
feel
like
we
understand
your
needs
and
we
can
serve
you
really
well.

Neiman’s
van
Raemdonck:
Shopping
will
not
look
like
shopping.
Shopping
will
feel
like
an
experience
that
could
happen
in
your
home
or
in
the
most
beautiful
space,
where
the
product
has
a
key
role,
but
where
everything
else
around
the
product,
from
service
and
experience,
will
be
at
the
center.
I
would
imagine
a
store
that
actually
doesn’t
have
a
lot
of
visible
products,
doesn’t
have
a
cash
register,
but
is
really
an
incredible
room
where
you
go
and
you
have
a
moment
for
yourself,
where
products
are
presented
to
you,
where
you
have
the
time
to
step
out
of
the
room,
have
a
drink
at
the
bar,
come
back.
I
think
it’s
going
to
be
a
real
experience
where
all
the
artifacts
of
retail
will
not
be
there,
so
you
won’t
see
product
racks,
you
won’t
see
sales
associates
positioned
behind
a
counter
and
a
cash
register.
I
think
you’re
going
to
see
an
interaction
with
someone
in
a
setting
that
doesn’t
look
like
retail,
but
looks
like
a
fantastic
experience.
Much
more
akin
to:
I’m
going
to
a
friend’s
house
and
it’s
intimate
and
it’s
a
dinner
with
people
I
love.

Figs’
Spear:
Customization
will
become
the
new
standard.
It
will
apply
to
everything
in
retail,
right?
It
will
apply
to
adding
a
patch
or
adding
a
specific
detail
to
your
jacket
or
your
scrubs.
In
other
spaces
having
initials
on
your
headphones,
having
your
fit
exactly
what
it
needs
to
be,
not
just
with
apparel,
but
with
kind
of
everything
across
the
landscape
of
retail.
There’ll
be
less
people,
but
the
people
will
be
more
impactful.
So
they’re
not
answering
questions
or
helping
you
with
things
that
the
technology
has
already
helped
you
with. 

Abercrombie’s
Horowitz:
Just
in
time
inventory
…
there’s
lots
of
ways
you
can
think
about
it,
whether
that’s
a
digital
front,
whether
that’s
drop
shipping
to
a
consumer,
right?
Going
directly
from
a
factory
to
a
drop
ship,
superseding
the
distribution
centers,
there’s
lots
of
different
ways
to
think
about
it.

Nicholas
of
Sam’s
Club:
Another
retail
standard
that
is
really
going
to
be
important
beyond
the
customer
is
energy.
Having
sustainable,
regenerative
sources
of
energy
—
that
is
solar,
it
is
wind,
it
is
buying
into
community
solar,
it
is
electric
vehicles
—
all
of
these
things
are
going
to
be
really
important
for
sustainable
operations
into
the
future.
And
if
you’re
not
thinking
about
it
now,
you
really
ought
to
be
on
top
of
that.

Ulta’s
Kimbell:
The
role
of
retailers’
apps.
All
of
us
have
them,
of
course,
and
they
play
a
role
today,
but
I
just
see
a
growing
opportunity
and
a
trend
of
the
app
as
a
centralized
hub.
…
In
this
growing
need
to
personalize
experiences,
to
create
human
connections,
we
see
apps
or
some
variation
of
that
as
a
place
to
deliver
great
guest
experience,
to
educate,
to
deliver
brand
communication,
to
be
a
destination
around
things
like
loyalty
or
promotions
or
help
with
in-store
navigation.