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The RIW newsletter provides the essential weekly inspiration for every changemaker driving innovation in retail and along the customer experience journey. This week we're sharing ideas around how companies are helping their consumers shape their virtual identities, the ever-evolving power of the IRL store experience, and hitting a high-score by increasing engagement with gamification.

Getting (Literally) Closer To Consumers With Stores We are in the midst of a physical retail resurgence, as shoppers rediscover the magic and magnetism of the brick-and-mortar occasion. The role of the store has evolved, and leading retailers are rethinking their offerings to meet new shopper expectations, creating innovative services to generate new revenue streams, cultivating brand community by boosting traffic and dwell time with new experiential offerings, and strengthening consumer loyalty with personalization and expertise. 

As sales soar, Chanel opens private “top client only” stores Chanel is following the money, and upping the exclusivity, by catering even further to its top clients with the launch of dedicated private stores just for their use. The brand will open the private boutiques starting in early 2023 in key Asian cities, where they will exclusively serve Chanel’s biggest spenders. Tatler

Wilson Sporting Goods unveils second “play-borhood” store in NYC Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the sporting brand’s newest physical storefront is focused on showcasing its commitment to sport. With more than 8,000 square feet of retail-space, the two-floor store even features a multi-use court where visitors can test out the latest equipment, apparel, and accessories. Rental fees for store items range from $5-to-$10/day based on the product, and fees are deducted from the final price if a product is purchased. Press Release

Fashionphile's new store highlights resale’s focus on IRL retail Just last week, luxury reseller Fashionphile opened a showroom and retail space in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. The 60,000 square-foot multipurpose destination houses a processing center for new products, an office, authentication rooms, a photography studio, storerooms full of hundreds of handbags, and a showroom for clients. 90% of Fashionphile’s customers have only ever bought or sold through the company’s online marketplace, but the company believes physical locations can drive further growth. Press Release

H&M and IKEA's Atelier 100 concept officially opens in Hammersmith The “ideas factory” joint-venture between Swedish giants H&M and IKEA has opened in West London. All products on display at the innovative space were designed and manufactured by creatives living within 100 km of the Hammersmith store. Atelier 100

PSFK's Guide for developing Virtual Asset & Metaverse Wearable product strategies to engage and activate new audiences.

Virtual Asset & Metaverse Wearable Strategies For Retailers Fashion, self-identity and self-expression have been intertwined throughout history. It is no surprise that as the world transitions to an increasingly hybrid mode of digital and physical engagement and experience, the fashion industry is one of the first sectors to embrace and define this new, metaverse and web3-powered reality, as well as be embraced by its users. In fact, the latest trends research shows that consumer interest in customizing and dressing their virtual avatars and digital twins in the latest fashion and luxury clothes, NFT accessories, and trending beauty products is skyrocketing. 

Full-Body avatars are upgrading the metaverse experience Photo-realistic, full body digital avatars from companies like Ready Player Me are allowing users to purchase and unlock exclusive NFT wearables plus other unique accessories across different metaverse platforms. Read More

Nike is taking over the metaverse one direct-to-avatar sale at a time As sports giant Nike calibrates its focus around driving new business with virtual products, the brand is expanding its direct-to-avatar sales approach through branded NFT merchandise in the Nikeland Roblox metaverse. Nike Digital, the division that includes the brand's web3 ventures, brings in more than a quarter of Nike’s total revenue. PSFK

Mason Rothschild is digital fashion's enfant terrible  Mason Rothschild and Ericka del Rosario, creators of the controversial Metabirkin NFT collection, are bringing NFT culture to real life with their brick-and-mortar boutique, Terminal 27. The 3,000 square foot store, which most recently hosted a launch party for Amber Park's NFT, is becoming a social hangout and gathering place for the Metaverse and crypto communities to party and promote their newest digital fashion projects. Read More

Download Today: A PSFK Playbook for Fashioning Virtual Retail Discover 5 strategies for empowering individuals and consumers to shape their identities in metaverse environments, plus market statistics and insights into the changing consumer behaviors and expectations around inclusive practices into wearables and digital worlds. Details

This 90-page consumer insight presentation deck provides a pulse check on the wants and needs of mainstream shoppers, and was created specifically for retail business leaders. Get your complementary copy today with a Free Trial of PSFK iQ.

*Download with a Free PSFK iQ Trial* 

Engaging Shoppers With Gamification Gamification tools and processes, as well as actual games themselves, are helping reframe shopper engagements as fun competitions and challenges, better reinforcing positive outcomes and pairing micro-actions with real-world achievements to unlock special features or advancements within digitally branded narratives. By leveraging choice-architecture strategies and behavioral nudges, companies are able to more organically drive loyalty and power engagement. After all, fun is fun. 

Chevrolet’s mobile game is meant to show dangers of texting and driving A new mobile game for WhatsApp by Chevrolet shows the dangers of texting while driving and is meant to drive awareness around the issue by connecting with younger consumers who tend to be heavy WhatsApp users. Players can access the game by messaging Chevrolet. Chevrolet

Noodles & Co. drives loyalty with a gamified in-app shopper experience  The fast casual dining chain saw a 9x increase in app-based click-through rates by gamifying its mobile experience through limited time offers, quick polls, and special reward points. The gamified features helped capture more first-party data, in-turn powering future promotions and individualized offers. NoodlesCo.

Play to watch: Amazon gamifies the process of finding a new show The tech behemoth is debuting an app called IMDb What to Watch, exclusively for Fire TV users, that has a series of three games to help stymied consumers find a new movie or show to tune into and cut down on “choice paralysis.”  IMDb

Netflix grows mobile gaming library with new releases Exploding Kittens — The Game, a new mobile gaming experience based on the popular card game, is now available to Netflix subscribers for free. Along with Exploding Kittens, the streaming platform also introduced three additional mobile games, growing its gaming catalog to a total of 22 offerings. Netflix

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This article was contributed by the PSFK IQ team. IQ is a platform for insights and advice for creative professionals seeking to develop innovation in retail and customer experience.