Design Innovation

The Power of Concept Stores with Little or No Inventory

Concept stores are an innovative departure from conventional brick-and-mortar stores, offering carefully curated, immersive encounters with a brand. Investing in a store that features minimal or no products on-site seems bold and costly. Why should brands consider such an investment? While profitability might not be the immediate outcome, concept stores possess great marketing potential. Their […]

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What Can CPG Brands Learn From Packaging Design In Asia?

Design Innovation, Food and Beverage, Packaging Design / Matthew Wilson

In Canada, an ethnically and culturally diverse country, it’s not hard to find CPG products imported from Asia. What can CPG brands in North America learn from their designs? From the sleek simplicity of Japanese packages to the playful charm of South Korean designs and the intricate artistry of Indian creations, the variety and creativity

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The Role of AI In The Design Industry

Digital Experiences / Matthew Wilson

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence is weighing on the minds of professionals who may be affected, and this includes the design industry. Technology has helped advance the design industry considerably, by providing a wider range of design solutions and visualization tools for clients. Companies like Adobe and Apple have redefined the industry by providing

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How to Reduce Customer Attrition in Banking: Insights and Strategies

Financial Services / Matthew Wilson

How To Overcome Customer Attrition? From NPS scores to customer account depth and new customer acquisition, financial institutions track a plethora of metrics to gauge the health of their business. But what if these metrics are lagging predictors of future success, and financial institutions need to focus on what is truly important? As seen on

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How Design Contributes To Health And Mental Wellbeing

Health and Pharmaceutical / Matthew Wilson

Patients, employees, and loved ones may experience stress and anxiety in healthcare settings. While initial medical facilities were not designed with mental health in mind, a recent change towards better overall wellness has changed this. Healthcare designs, as a setting that can have negative connotations, must strive to create a sense of calm for its

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What Will 2023 Look Like For Retail Brands?

Brand Strategy, Retail, Thought Leadership / Matthew Wilson

We are emerging from the pandemic and should expect a period of chaos as customers establish new values, such as working from home, inflation, and the recession. At the same time, companies try to respond to remain relevant. Our predictions for 2022 were fairly accurate, citing increased automation, the need to go green, the emergence

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How the Circular Economy Builds Customer and Brand Loyalty

Retail, Retail Design, Specialty Retail / Matthew Wilson

Circular retail services are gaining popularity among businesses looking to limit their environmental impact and remain relevant in a changing landscape. With society in the early stages of developing effective closed-loop business models, we set out to investigate best retail practices within the circular economy. The study focuses on three key sections – refill, return,

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The Circular Economy Webinar

Matthew Wilson

The world as we know it is changing. Human reliance on plastic, combined with its long lifespan, has resulted in a global buildup of plastic waste. According to research, the average American generates nearly 221 kilograms of plastic waste per year, creating billions of tonnes of waste worldwide. With this in mind, and with increased

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6 Tips for Creating A Positive Patient Experience in Health & Wellness

Brand Strategy, Health and Pharmaceutical / Matthew Wilson

Creating a positive patient experience, while sounding easy enough, can be a major challenge for health and wellness providers. Waiting rooms in major healthcare facilities have even been shown in scientific studies to cause patients distress, among other negative effects. Waiting for their names to be called can take hours for your patients, especially if

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Cash In The USA 2022

Matthew Wilson

SLD conducted a study to help financial institutions think more broadly regarding the consequences of branch closure while providing insights that will empower their branch network and banking services to remain relevant. Ultimately, this answers the question: How to provide an integrated customer experience leveraging a new distribution/branch model and a best-in-class digital experience? The

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5 Interesting Ways to Humanize the Banking Customer Experience

Financial Services, Retail / Jean-Pierre Lacroix

The Banking Experience Summit recently convened leading bankers from three continents in Chicago to discuss the industry’s challenges and the future of banking. The two-day event drew more than 40 top institutions, ranging from large national and regional banks like JP Morgan Chase and Regions Bank to a diverse range of mid-sized institutions and credit

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The Future of Payment Systems

Financial Services, Retail / Matthew Wilson

The future of payment systems has been evolving as technology continues to make its mark on the payments landscape. Finance and retail have long been inextricably linked, and with customers obsessing over the latest technology, payment systems have had to keep up. In this dynamic environment, businesses are increasingly exploring innovative solutions to streamline transactions,

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Part 3: The Future of the Store

Design Innovation, Retail, Retail Design / Matthew Wilson

This three-part blog series on the future of the store focuses on insights from the Future Stores Conference in Seattle, Washington. In the first two parts, we discussed the changing role of retail and how retailers need to shift from focusing on the consumers to front-line associates. The third and final section will focus on how brands

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Part 2: The Future of the Store

Design Innovation, Retail / Matthew Wilson

This three-part blog series focuses on insights from the Future Stores Conference in Seattle, Washington. Part 1 of The Future of the Store discussed the renewed value of brick and mortar locations as part of retail’s growth strategy, as well as the importance of tailoring the store experience to the given trade area while creating a strong

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Jays Shop

David Magnus

https://www.sld.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/JaysHeader.mp4 PLAY BALL! Digital Immersion creates the ultimate Toronto Blue Jays experience away from the Rogers Center. CLIENT Toronto Blue Jays PROJECT Blue Jays Store RELATED SERVICE Environmental Design Digital Experiences THINK With interest in the Toronto Blue Jays declining after their back-to-back world series wins, the loss of the Montreal Expos to the USA

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Part 1: The Future of the Store

Design Innovation, Retail / Matthew Wilson

After over two years since the last live gathering of senior retail executives in operations, design, digital, and technology, this year’s Future Stores Conference took place in Seattle, Washington, on July 14 and 15. The seminar explored various topics and opportunities in retail and featured sessions on how leading retailers integrate a hybrid approach to their in-store

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The Supermarket of the Future

Uncategorized / Matthew Wilson

What does the future of the supermarket look like? In our latest design exploration, we examine what the grocery sector can do to bring excitement back to the customer for a more engaging and holistic experience. The Supermarket of the Future will look at how grocers have been disrupted by COVID-19, e-commerce, and subscription-based services. It

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Service Design for Pharmacies

Health and Pharmaceutical / Matthew Wilson

The pharmaceutical retail industry and their traditional service design have been met with a number of disruptions – from the COVID-19 pandemic plateauing retail sales to the uprise in digital pharmacy companies. Digital start-ups like Pillway and Capsule are providing prescription drug fulfillment deliveries, Direct-To-Consumer brands like Persona Nutrition and Ritual are supplying vitamins, and

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How will EV charging transform fuel retail?

Environmental Design / David Magnus

As electric vehicles slowly overtake the roads, EV charging stations will become a must-have for gas stations. If you need to install specialized electric vehicle charging points on your premises, you will ideally need some electric parking bay markings from https://evchargingbaymarkings.co.uk/ to help identify the areas. Even though the infrastructural demands, market uncertainty and regional

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Humanizing the Health and Wellness Clinic

Brand Strategy, Design Innovation, Design Psychology, Digital Experiences, Environmental Design, Health and Pharmaceutical, Place Branding / Sebastian Maynard

What does the healthcare clinic of the future look like? In our latest design exploration, we explore how healthcare providers can leverage branding and design to better engage with their clients and create a truly holistic experience. From selecting the right brand identity to designing a physical space that is impactful and welcoming, we divided

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