Amsterdam, 25 April 2019
Multi Corporation has entered into an agreement with retail platform RetailDetail to set up ‘The Future of Shopping’ in Shopping Stadsfeestzaal in Antwerp city centre, Belgium. ‘The Future of Shopping’ is a unique laboratory in which retail chains and tech companies join forces to test the latest concepts. The innovative project will occupy two floors with a total surface of 5,500 sq.m and will open its doors to the public in early 2020.
‘The Future of Shopping’ will measure and analyse the shopping behaviour of its visitors within the set frameworks of privacy legislation. Among the things surveyed will be how consumers react to technological innovations, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, biometrics and facial recognition, interactive communication systems, mobile payment applications and digital loyalty systems. Retailers will also try out new products, innovative store formats and services in practice. This is how they will jointly prepare themselves for the future, when shopping will be a mix of physical and digital shopping, a fusion of experience and convenience, of emotion and technology.
Hubert Stech, Managing Director Multi Benelux: “Multi is pleased to welcome ‘The Future of Shopping’ to the iconic Stadsfeestzaal in Antwerp. We look forward to a long and fruitful cooperation with RetailDetail, and to the time when the visitors to Shopping Stadsfeestzaal can discover this technologically innovative shopping experience.”
Shopping Stadsfeestzaal was chosen after careful deliberation, says Peter Somers, CEO of RetailDetail: “This is an iconic location in the heart of the Antwerp shopping district, a shopping centre that welcomes 6.5 million consumers annually. The same visitors can also come shopping with us. An ideal space, therefore, to test the ‘experience on the shop floor’. We will also have our offices here, and will build a community of startups and established companies, who will learn from each other.”
The initiative will attract new, international visitors to the shopping centre and the city, since a retail laboratory of this scale can be found nowhere else. “This project is unique in the world,” said Somers. “Consumers will really understand and experience ‘the future of shopping’ here. Retailers and technology partners will be working together, not only to generate new revenues, but also to acquire valuable insights and data. Connecting people and commerce is central to everything that RetailDetail does.”
