What's This Spark About? I will be looking into trends in retail, which have had to accommodate new safety measures that keep customers and staff safe during the Covid-19 pandemic. There is definitely a new market need for limited contact shopping, as customers are trying to social distance. Retailers have accommodated with new offerings of same day delivery, touchless payments, curbside pickup, augmented reality AR try ons, smart shopping carts, and more.

Same day delivery apps: By partnering with Instacart, Doordash, and other digital delivery services physical retail locations like Big Lots can now service 85% of consumers and compete with major e-commerce services like Amazon. Customers are able to make their selection on the Instacart app, then Instacart manages the delivery with a personal shopper. So retailers can offer same day delivery, without having to manage their own service.

Source: Johnson, Daniel. "Big Lots Partnered with Instacart on a New Delivery Service." Trendhunter, 11 June 2020, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/big-lots.

Smart Shopping Carts: While the technology has been in beta testing at grocery stores for a least 3 years smart shopping carts are seeing a raised demand as customers want to limit social contact during the pandemic. Using AI system these shopping carts recognize all items placed in cart, communicates the proximity of any specials, store navigation, weight sensing, recipe recommendations, and payment inserted into the cart. This allows customers to socially distance while selecting their groceries, since all store operations can be done through the cart.

Source: Hemsworth, Michael. "The Caper Smart Cart Revolutionizes Grocery Shopping." Trendhunter, 15 January 2019, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/caper-smart-cart

Augmented Reality Fitting Rooms: With new regulations fashion retailers have been able to reopen, but with social distancing measures like closed fitting rooms. This leaves customers having to do more guess work towards what they would want to wear. Retailers are accommodating this new reality with augmented reality visual fittings for customers. The AI works by calculating the person's height and measurements to show a precise image of what clothing will look like when worn, so customers do not all try on the same garments.

Source: Pijak, Jana. "The FXMirror by FXGear Helps Users Virtually Try on Garments." Trendhunter, 12 November 2018, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/fx-gear.

Typography Trends: In front of every retail establishment in 2020 there are signs reading "No Entry Without Mask." I found that most of these signs use clean San Serif typefaces, that make it easy to read. Storefronts also have other Covid-19 information, all using San Serif fonts to clearly communicate public health information to customers.

Color Trends: Public health signs displayed at retail storefronts all used a blue and red color palette. These colors are often used to invoke feelings of security, safety, and necessary information. Blue and red colors are used by the retailers to communicate with the text the safety measures in place while shopping during the pandemic.

Texture & Material Trends: The texture of retail has changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic shifting towards mandatory face masks, contactless delivery, curbside pickup, smart shopping carts, touchless pay, and AR try ons. One major change in texture is the physical plexiglass clear barriers placed in between cashier and customer to limit contact during transactions. With AR try ons customers can see what the product will look like on without all the customers putting the same sample on. Other more luxury brands like Gucci have opened a "remote clienteling" live shopping experiences with Gucci Live, that connects shoppers with a personalized advisor who communicate over live video to make a more hybrid in store and online shopping experience.

Source: McQuarrie, Laura. "Gucci Live is for Personalized Online Luxury Shopping." Trendhunter. 5 June 2020, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/gucci-live