Skip to Main Content
Next Challenge: How can we capture "lamellar shine" for hair in a compelling video demo?
What does the future of retail look like?
Challenge Type: business
See more like this check out our active challenges
$1,600
top 25
184
submissions
DONE
41 months ago

The retail environment for consumer goods is changing at a rapid pace. Automation, robotics, and digital services have become the norm which means consumers expect instant gratification and rapid delivery on top of highly customized purchases.

The Coronavirus pandemic has even further accelerated all the above trends as companies try to adapt to the “new normal” and stay competitive in the market. This has created the term SafeX (health & safety experience) which has become the new CX (customer experience) meaning that customers do not want to linger inside a store any longer than necessary. The pandemic has also created more opportunities for resilience and sustainability in supply chain processes. For example, artificial protein alternatives are growing in popularity to combat climate change. Packaging innovation is another positive pandemic trend occurring in order to reduce our carbon footprint. 

Today, retailers buy in their goods and store items in bulk on displays and e-retailers tend to deliver direct to consumers. These are current practices, but what does this retail environment look like in 20 years’ time and beyond? We want to hear your ideas on how consumer packaged goods (CPG) could be sold in the future – and how changing consumer demands plus continued development in technologies will impact the total retail environment.

*We are looking for extreme creativity and out of the box thinking for this project so feel free to incorporate technologies that are only in the concept phase right now. Make sure to also think as far out as 2050 when you are envisioning the future of retail and associated experiences!*

Deliverables

Please share your ground-breaking vision of what the future retail space in the consumer goods sector will look like in the future (as far out as 2050). Think about physical stores with little to no human touch points as well as digital spaces and please answer the following:

  1. What will the shopper experience be like?
    1. How will we buy our goods in the future?
    2. How do they end up in the consumer’s hands?
    3. What is the overall journey in purchasing an item? 
  2. What consumer packaged goods (CPG) are shoppers buying on a regular basis
    1. How are they packaged and displayed?
  3. What will be the optimal strategy for retail stores? 
    1. Are current stores still relevant or will a new format have emerged? 
    2. Where are they located?

CONSIDERATIONS: 

  • We STRONGLY recommend that you share any visuals or sketches of your ideas that have inspired your vision - along with any references to new technologies & companies of interest discovered during your research. The more details you can provide to support your idea, the better chance you will have at winning prize money!
  • Speculate how robotics and how technology in general will be used in the future to optimize supply chain processes.
  • When thinking about this project, don’t just base your solution on what Amazon is doing currently with their Amazon Go stores. That is a great starting point but think beyond the current store layout with some radical innovation added.
  • Consider a retail/e-tail space in 2050, with limited human interaction and considering possible future Government policies such as regular lockdowns. There is no limit on how "blue sky" and innovative your vision can be, so don't hold back!
  • This challenge is open to all solvers but please submit in English!
    Submissions will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Meets Deliverables
  • Thoroughness
  • Forward-thinking
Reward Tiers
10 Winners
will receive $100 each
15 Honorable Mentions
will receive $40 each
Leaderboard
$100.00 Christopher Adjei-Frimpong University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa
$100.00 Debra Stein
$100.00 TJ Fritts University of Tennessee
$100.00 ERIKA FERNANDES Mumbai
$100.00 Dan Biddle Zhejiang University
$100.00 Susantha Wanigaratne Mahatma Gandhi University
$100.00 Shaumik Haque University of Oxford
$100.00 Andrews Kwesi Ankomahene University of Cape Coast
$100.00 Avijit Majumder Manipal University
$100.00 Jacqueline Duong University of California, Los Angeles
$40.00 Marina Radovanovic Queen's University
$40.00 Sang Nguyen McGill University
$40.00 Abhishek Mishra Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow
$40.00 AMAL VS APJ Abdul kalam Technological University
$40.00 Jayesh Jain Mumbai University
$40.00 Audrey Nguyen University of California, Irvine
$40.00 Okpamen Obasogie Landmark University
$40.00 Purushottam Sharma Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow, India
$40.00 David Asamoah Ghana Baptist university college
$40.00 ganesh kumar Anna University
$40.00 Shivani Tomar H N B garhwal
$40.00 Blessing Shodeinde Olabisi Onabanjo University
$40.00 Jennifer Miller Walden University
$40.00 Karel Šlaj EdX
$40.00 Nishu Mahaseth New Delhi Institute Of Management
Submission questions


How often do you shop in-store?

(Required)
I only shop in-store/brick and mortar
I still prefer to shop in-store but I also shop online
I have shifted to mostly online shopping but sometimes I shop in-store
I only shop online

What is your go-to eCommerce site?

(Required)
Amazon
AliExpress
Ebay
Taobao
Walmart
Target
Tmall
Etsy
Allegro
I do not shop online
Other

If you answered "Other" to the question above, please provide your go-to eCommerce site.

709 characters Average: 1713 characters
Your solution must be at least 200 characters long
Contact Us