Take a peek into the future of retail

Canadian brand Joe Fresh has joined Levi’s and Arizona Jeans in embracing the shop-in-shop concept unveiled by JCPenney in its Dallas prototype store. Source: www.shoptoko.com

To take a peek into the future of retail, you could take a flight to Dallas, Texas.

That’s where JCPenney has opened its remodeled prototype department store, the creation of the retailers’ new chief executive Ron Johnson – the former head of Apple’s much envied retail stores.

Johnson believes that if in-store retail is to thrive, it needs to be fun and exciting for customers. The next step in his strategy is to roll out the best features of the prototype in all JCPenney’s 1100 stores.

Here are three reasons Citigroup’s retail analysts are excited about the revamped Dallas store:

1. It has a self check-out option. Every garment has a small radio frequency chip attached, so to pay, you just walk through an arch which – ka-ching – registers what you spent. (You can pay at a counter if that seems a bit frightening.)
2. It is deeply immersive. In the children’s area along with targeted food stores, clothing stockists and toy lines, there is a Lego table and iPad tables. It’s part of a “town square” philosophy the company is promoting to keep customers inside.
3. It has a vast range of international brands that have little or no other presence in the US. This exclusivity is a big part of the store’s future vision.

• Tweet