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Think about your favorite color for a minute. Now, imagine walking into your favorite shop in the mall. You’ve always wanted to find a top in a particular shade of yellow, but usually end up settling on basically any shade of the color. What if you could walk into a clothing store, show the clerk a picture on your phone of the exact color you want, and have the clothing item dyed for you right there in the store and all in the same day?
As unbelievable as it sounds, that’s exactly where Ralph Lauren is headed in the next year. And the in-store dyeing-while-you-wait is only part of the benefits. The new coloring technology developed by Dow Chemicals, ECOFAST Pure, is not only a faster way of dyeing garments, but also eco-friendly and cuts down on considerable water waste.
Currently, most manufacturers use a ton of toxic chemicals when dyeing clothing. Whatever dye isn’t used gets dumped and ends up back in our water sources. Not only is it bad for the environment, but it’s a huge waste of time and money.
“Experiential retail,” like the new Color on Demand project by Ralph Lauren, is trending right now and it’s all about the shopping experience itself. Think about the times you’ve hit up Starbucks. What is the main reason you frequent that establishment? Most of us could just make our own coffee at home. It really isn’t about that. It’s about the unique flavor of the coffee, the barista who makes your nonfat soy vanilla latte for you, and the relaxed coffeehouse vibe that you can’t get at home. You’ll gladly spend a little extra cash to achieve that experience.
These shopping experiences are exactly what retail stores like Ralph Lauren are working towards. Post-pandemic, they are looking for ways to entice consumers to come back to their brand, and hook them emotionally by making the experience something that’s personalized to the consumers.
What do you think about experiential retail? Let us know down in the comments.
This article originally published on GREY Journal.
