Collab capital: From point of sale to point of connection

The byline was originally published on Retail World by Michelle Newton, Head of Cultural Forecasting, Fiftyfive5 part of Accenture Song.

There is currently a tension at play in the retail world. While retailers are accelerating their digital transformation strategies, the customer perspective remains largely linear, with a top-down approach taken to marketing and communications. As we move towards a future of consumer empowerment, retailers are beginning to champion customer creativity and participation.

The “collab capital” trend represents a conscious rejection from retail brands acting as sole creators, owners and producers. Here, the traditional roles of consumer and brand are subverted, empowering customers to drive the retail agenda and demand greater participation across the marketing mix. In response, retailers are strengthening cooperation to boost brand relevance, embracing consumer creativity and active participation.

The evolution of social commerce is a strong driver of the collab capital trend. Globally, 53% of consumers intend to shop more through social media due to personal preference, with the global sales set to increase to nearly US$3 trillion by 2026, a huge increase from US$1.3 billion in 2023. Overall, social commerce is expected to grow three times faster than traditional e-commerce.

However, as digital commerce evolves across various platforms, consumers are experiencing a sea of sameness in the tech interface. Accenture’s research suggests that 35% of respondents cannot differentiate between app designs across various brands. This raises the question: How can retailers truly meet customers’ desires for collaboration?

The ret-tainment trend

The “ret-tainment” trend blends influencer culture with entertainment, creating immersive experiences that drive brand engagement. However, there is growing scrutiny around the concept of retail influencers. Celebrity endorsement is no longer enough. The recent Met Gala ‘digitine’ (digital guillotine) incident, which gained viral attention for urging the boycott of celebrities who did not take a vocal stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict, reinforces this shift. Customers now seek relatable and culturally attuned influencers. The new wave of influence is more inclusive and accessible, representing and appealing to the 90% of consumers who demand greater connection and authenticity when deciding which brands they support.

TikTok continues to lead the charge in reshaping how we search, buy, learn and communicate, consistently breaking the internet with its innovations. Their latest AI feature transforms every aspect of the platform into a marketplace, automatically identifying objects in videos and linking viewers to similar products in the TikTok Shop, making all video posts instantly shoppable. TikTok’s live streaming shopping events, known as “Shop’s in-feed Lives,” align seamlessly with the ret-tainment trend. As a result, TikTok users are 50% more engaged with branded live content compared to users of other social media platforms and are 1.7 times more likely to make purchases during branded live streams, showing how the ret-tainment trend delivers brand loyalty.

Similarly, Snapchat’s Star Collab Studio accelerates partnerships between brands by facilitating collaborations with top creators on the platform through managed service production, enabling the creation of customised stories and advertisements.

However, the content-is-king approach is a double edged sword:  are we experiencing fatigue?

Friendly feedback trend

Infobesity is on the rise, with 80% of Australians feeling overwhelmed by information, contributing significantly to daily stress. To alleviate this burden, consumers are turning to their ultimate retail assistants – friends and family. The “family feedback” trend is gaining momentum, with 25% of shoppers relying on advice from loved ones when making purchasing decisions.

In response to this trend, new e-commerce tools enable consumers to share their shopping experiences with trusted friends, thereby lightening the mental load associated with retail decisions. For instance, a major American retailer has introduced “squad shopping”, integrating augmented reality (AR) systems and generative AI. This allows users to virtually try on clothing and share their selections with friends and family to gather feedback, thereby streamlining the pre-purchase decision-making process.

Consumer is commerce trend

With the rise of decentralised Web3 platforms, we are witnessing new forms of customer engagement where customers participate actively in commerce, both consuming and creating through NFTs (non-fungible tokens). NFT holders are 86% more inclined to say they buy products to access the community around them.

Driven by free-market dynamics, a crowdfunding model supports a community-owned marketplace for digital and physical goods, allowing users to create and determine the value of their own and others’ goods. As Web3 ownership and the demand for digital custody continue to grow, this raises the question: What role does a retail brand play in a community-owned environment?

Consumer as designer trend

Aligned closely with the consumer is commerce trend is “consumer as designer”, which invites customers into gamified design, problem-solving processes, new product ideation and technical solutions. Retailers can capitalise on the power of gaming, given that 49% of global gamers express interest in purchasing real-world items within games. For instance, a large global sporting apparel retailer invited customers to co-design virtual products and earn digital product royalties.

Consumer as designer not only offers an avenue for achieving digital distinction in retail. but also serves as a bridge to enhance trust and transparency. Research found that 86% of global consumers view brands as more trustworthy when they enable co-creation. Additionally, 74% of consumers feel a stronger sense of trust towards brands when they are part of a community.

Proximity to expertise trend

Customer collaboration and the local community empower global brands to effectively localise their strategies. The “proximity to expertise” trend ensures access to personalised advice across entertainment and professional interests, with one in three shoppers relying heavily on subject matter experts.

Retailers can differentiate themselves by providing customers with opportunities to learn and engage with the brand in physical stores. For example, a prominent British brand renowned for its hampers has launched an experiential food and drink studio. This space features demonstrations and masterclasses led by acclaimed chefs, offering workshops, tastings, live cooking demonstrations, and interactive conversations for customers to immerse themselves in the brand experience.

In conclusion, collaboration is key

As social media and e-commerce rapidly evolve, retailers with a retail strategy benefit by allowing consumers to collaborate, participate and create with the brand. Consumers are using platforms like Web3 to regain control over the retail process where consumers become designers and retailers, embed brand and purpose into all collaboration initiatives.

By empowering consumer creativity, and upholding brand values and purpose, retailers can better navigate this dynamic and collaborative retail environment.