Virtual Retailing

With the growing trend of the “green movement” and the concern for our planet, every industry is looking to develop new innovative ways to be sustainable. As businesses search for new ideas, they must first develop a vision of what they think the future might hold for the company.

A sustainable idea for the apparel industry retailers could be, to develop stores that are more virtual. In this store, they would have one garment displayed for each item giving the customer an idea of how the fabric feels. This item would be paired in an area with other garments that would allow for the customer to form ideas of different outfits. Next to these sections there would be a small podium with a type of computer system similar to an iPad. When a customer wanted to examine what a garment might look like on their body style, they would enter their dimensions, etc. into this system, where the system would then pull up a picture a virtual character with similar dimensions to the customer wearing the garment. This would allow the customer to have some kind of idea as to how the garment would fit them. When the customer decided they were ready to checkout, they would locate an employee. The employees for the stores would be walking around with an electronic scanner, where they would then follow the customer and scan all of the items for their purchase and proceed to place their order. The customer would pay for the items through the scanner and would then have the receipt sent to them through e-mail. If the customer preferred to use a different medium of payment, there would be an area where the employee could register the scanner and place the customers order through a standard cash register. Once the order was placed, it would then be sent to the nearest distribution center where the garment would be made and sent to the customer.

In the book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by nature, the author, Janine Benyus, gives a list of ten principles that could inspire sustainable business practice ideas through nature. A couple of these principles could be used to support the concept of this retail store. One principle is the concept of “using materials sparingly.” Benyus explains that in nature organisms build to fit what they need at the time that they need it and they do not overbuild. I feel as though this principle supports this retail concept because this would allow for the retailer to not make an excess amount of clothes that will end up not selling. Using this system, the garments are made to order allowing the retailer to know an exact number of how much they need.

Another principle Benyus discusses is not to foul our nests. This principle states that in nature, organisms take care of their space and do not clutter it, as this is where they eat, sleep, and live. I feel like this principle supports this retail concept because this would allow for the sales floor and storage area of the store to not be cluttered. If the garments are “made to order” there would be no reason for the retailer to have a bunch of clutter in the backroom of their store. This would also make it easier for the consumers to shop, as there would not be so much clutter on the table causing the store to not become so messy.

All of these principles can inspire amazing ideas for sustainable practice in different industries; it is just a matter of the company wanting to make a change.