Retailers today are using innovative solutions to improve the retail experience. 

The retail landscape in recent years has seen tremendous growth in terms of innovative technology adoption than others. From promises of disruptive retail innovation to e-commerce brands, the retail sector is experiencing a radical change. With not only technological advances but changing customer behaviors, the industry continues evolving and introducing innovative concepts. Here are the 10 most promising retail companies making their marks towards the future retail and pioneering effective customer experiences that can change the face of retail business.

Sephora

Sephora, a premium cosmetics retailer based in France, is one of the world’s most powerful beauty chains. The company, since 1998, has been an industry-leading champion of diversity, inclusivity, and empowerment in the U.S., guided by its longstanding company values. Sephora has invested heavily in its website, which consists of educational videos that teach customers how to use different products. The beauty brand also has a popular loyalty program and a monthly subscription box that lets women explore new products at home. 

Alepa

Alepa is a grocery shop chain in Finland delivering unique solutions and benefits to its local customers using smart technology. The company has its own built chatbot powered by Facebook Messenger, which enables customers to request specific items to be stocked in their nearest Alepa store. Alepa always keeps an eye on its customers to learn their behaviors – what its customers want – which can feed into its overall business. The grocery chain shop chain smartly uses digital screens to advertise the new products that have arrived and reference the person who requested them.

Alton Lane

Alton Lane is a luxury lifestyle brand founded in 2009. In general, the company offers a high-end made-to-measure service for its well-heeled clients. Along with the leading purveyor of premium bespoke menswear, Alton Lane also offers in-store body scanners that can take detailed measurements in a matter of seconds. This is highly beneficial for those customers who don’t have time for a slow, relaxed tailoring experience that can be served quickly but with the same high-quality end product. 

Warby Parker

Warby Parker is an online retailer of prescription glasses and sunglasses headquartered in New York City. The company is known for its try-at-home packs of inexpensive hipster-approved frames, it was founded to develop a business that could solve problems instead of creating them. The e-retailer of sunglasses and prescription eyeglasses. Launched in 2010, Warby has 20 physical retail locations and opened its first standalone store in 2013.

Foxtrot

Foxtrot, a chain of convenience stores in Chicago that uses data smartly and pragmatically. The company offers one-hour delivery to local customers in certain areas. The stores use data from these orders to continually inform what it stocks within its local stores. Foxtrot delivers all kinds of products and leverages customer information to notify services. The company always seeks to stay ahead of innovation, introducing new products to its stores every month based on new trends and customers' interests. 

Casa Perfect

Casa Perfect is a roving gallery space with a uniquely curated collection, inspired by the home it resides in. Casa Perfect offers collectors the time and space to explore the studio-crafted pieces that define The Future Perfect aesthetic. Nomadic by design, Casa Perfect changes locations to experiment in different architectural settings overlaid with cultural or historical significance. By offering a curated and private space in which everything is for sale creates a unique and unrivaled retail experience.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s is the largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. It is helping its customers to get the most out of life. Located in Holborn, London, the company allows uses automated checkout concepts, allowing its customers to simply download an app, scan items as they shopped the store, and scan a QR code as they left. They can also make payments automatically without the need to queue or talk to a member of staff. Sainsbury’s trialed this concept last year, where it found that some customers were not ready for this new type of shopping experience, prompting the company to add some tills back into the store.

Marks & Spencer

As a British value for money retailer, Marks & Spencer focused on own label businesses, including Food, Clothing and Home, in the UK and globally. The company has quietly taken numerous positive sustainable and ethical steps over the last decade. Its introduction of the urban farming concept to seven London stores has been a bigger and bolder move. These stores, in partnership with Infarm, now use vertical farming and IoT technology to grow selected herbs on the premises.

Patagonia

Patagonia, a California-based clothing company, which takes dynamic posture on sustainability. As it is at the heart of its business in everything from supply chains to the materials used in its products, the company’s almost 70 percent of products already used recycled materials, with the goal to up this to 100 percent by 2025. Since 1986 Patagonia has been donating at least 1 percent of annual sales to environmental causes, which demonstrates its commitment to sustainability.

The RealReal

As the leader in authenticated luxury consignment, The RealReal is a US-based, second-hand luxury clothing provider. The company has transformed the way consumers think about pre-owned clothing. With a robust authentication process overseen by experts, The RealReal offers a safe and reliable platform for consumers to buy and sell their luxury items. The company has over 150 in-house gemologists, horologists and brand authenticators who inspect thousands of items each day.