innovation

The Fresh Face of Retail

by Michelle Hespe We speak to Anne Kong, expert juror from the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia), about fresh trends in sustainable retailing. When brands like Apple make big changes in their approach to retail and branding, you know there’s change a-foot. In Apple’s new stores, the products are still the main drawcard, but the clever place-making is what makes people…

The Myths of E-Commerce Design

IHA speaks with Bryce G. Rutter Ph.D, founder and CEO Metaphase Design Group, Inc., to learn about his upcoming presentation at the 2018 International Home + Housewares Show about how to design products and experiences for omni-channel shoppers and how to advise retailers challenged by the merging of physical and digital spaces. At the Show, the Innovation Theater will feature…

The Emotional Retail Game

by Michelle Hespe There are many convoluted dimensions when it comes to creating a special retail experience, and while Wolfgang Gruschwitz believes that the emotional dimension is the key to enticing a consumer into purchasing products, today it’s also about understanding a customer’s lifestyle choices in order to create a strong story for your brand, and a #PerfectStore.…

Emotive Retailing

Retail is not just about selling things—it’s about emotionally engaging potential customers, bringing them into your story and helping to make their dreams come true, explains retail expert and gia judge, Wolfgang Gruschwitz. The point of sale is, of course, the aim of a retailer. However, just as the journey is often more important and fulfilling than the destination, the…

Put a Smile in Your Display

by Martin M. Pegler What is a smile? Is it the enigmatic look on the face of the Mona Lisa that is called the Da Vinci smile? OR, is it that sudden expression of relief or pleasure or satisfaction that turns a dark, frowning visage into a sunny, glowing face that exudes a sense of hope?? There have been hundreds of songs written about SMILES, from the sad but lovely one by…

gia – Celebration of Retail Excellence and Innovation

Every March in Chicago, the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) are hosted by the International Housewares Association. The gia awards, “the Oscars® of the housewares industry”, bring together the world’s most innovative retailers, all having been voted as the best in their country. The IHA Global Innovation Awards program was created to celebrate excellence and innovation in…

Show to Sell: Cross Merchandising

by Martin M. Pegler Visual Merchandising is really a very simple concept to understand. “Visual” refers to sight and “showing” while “Merchandising” is about “selling”. WE—people who believe in and are practitioners of VM—believe that it is very important to show your products in a way that makes the shopping process simple—easy—convenient for the shoppers. It is important…

Recycling and Display Props

By Martin M. Pegler Props, I would imagine, is short for “properties” and “properties” can be anything that adds something to a scene, a setting, a display. If we were to look around us, we would see we are standing in the center of a field of display props: from the furniture in the room, the plants, the unused rolls of wallpaper, the tableware, the collection of pots and…

Informing Innovation: Designing the Future of Food

Meet LinYee Yuan, MOLD; Kavita Shukla, Fenugreen; Kyleigh Wawak and Eleanor Sandford, gravitytank; Brad Crepeau, Food Cycle Science We think about food several times a day, but may not think about food design when we rush for our morning coffee or dig into our dinner. Design is more than a beautiful food arrangement prepared by a restaurant chef. Design and food connect in…