Boris Planer, Head of Consumer and Market Insight at the trend forecasters WGSN, joins Natalie to discuss the state of German retail and in particular why department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is closing nearly half of its stores.
Natalie also breaks down Inditex’s annual results, exploring topics such as:
- Self-checkouts in non-food retail. Inditex’s plans to eliminate hard tags on its clothes is expected to speed up the checkout process by up to 50%. Will it work? Who else is looking to cut friction at the checkout and how? Will we see more general merchandise retailers invest in solutions like self-checkout, scan & go, and equipping staff with mobile POS devices?
- The importance of human touch in digital stores.
- Innovative features of the Battersea Power Station Zara store, opened late 2022, including two-hour click & collect, an automated online returns point and RFID-enabled fitting rooms.