We have decided to think about the future of retail store experiences together with students

Hello.Beats Inc.This is Sako from Public Relations.

Have you ever seen a store on social media and thought, "I want to go there"?

It's not just because there's something you want to buy, but because...
I want to enter that space.
I want to take photos.
I want to share it with someone.
I want to actually feel the atmosphere I saw through the screen.

Sometimes we visit real-world stores and retail spaces for reasons like these.

There are more situations now where you can complete a purchase entirely online.
Even so, there are places we still want to go out of our way to visit.

The reason for that might not just be the products themselves, but the space, the experience, and the memories that make you want to talk about it to someone.

Beats, which has handled projects involving real-world retail spaces and environments—such as in-store promotions, events, pop-ups, exhibitions, and signage—has now decided to startan industry-academia collaboration project to think about "future retail store experiences" together with students✨

The theme is the future of retail store experiences.

While we announced the project overview in a press release, this time I will introduce the background of this initiative and what will start happening from here on, from the perspective of someone inside Beats.

A project to think about the future of retail stores with students from 3 universities

This project will be carried out in collaboration with a joint seminar involving students from Aoyama Gakuin University, Sugino Fashion College, and Kanagawa University.

The duration is from May 2026 to February 2027.

As a "Next-Generation Store Planning & AI Creative Practice" program, we plan to consistently carry out research, planning, production, verification, and proposals.

In the press release, we described it as
"Co-creating the 'future' of real-world stores with Gen Z × AI."
as.

▼ Please see the release below

When you hear "future retail store," it might feel like a story from the distant future, but what we are thinking about this time is not "a fantasy story about the far future."

Learning information online,
finding places you're interested in on social media,
experiencing them in a real-world store,
and sharing that experience with someone else.

This is a project that will think about future retail store experiences while observing the changes in consumer behavior that are already happening today.

Retail stores are no longer just places to line up products.

The roles required of physical stores and retail spaces are gradually expanding.

A place to showcase products.
A place to experience a brand's worldview.
A place to actually try things out and experience them.
A place that makes you want to take photos.
A place that makes you want to share with others on social media.
A place that uses AI and digital technology to make customer service and purchasing smoother.

It is not just one of these, but rather the meaning of retail space is changing as multiple roles overlap.

Beats, which has reached its 50th year since its founding in 1977, has always focused on sales promotion and marketing in physical spaces. From the era of paper posters and flyers to retail spaces utilizing digital technology and experiences linked with social media, we have continued to change with the times, shaping what is required of 'today's retail space' and creating 'new experiences'.

• How to present a retail space or environment.

• How to get visitors and customers to move around.

• What to have them feel while they are there.

• What kind of changes are occurring, and what kind of experiences are customers seeking?

These questions are perspectives that we have valued in our work at Beats.

In this project, the students' perspectives will be added to that.

We are looking forward to seeing how a generation that receives information on social media, naturally moves between online and offline, and uses AI tools in their daily lives views the stores and retail spaces of the future.

By overlapping the students' sensibilities with the perspective of physical space creation that Beats has accumulated, the way we see retail experiences is likely to change a little.

From June to July, we have started moving forward with these themes

The project has only just begun, but several themes are already underway as research topics for June and July.

For example, research on in-store displays that go viral on social media.

We will look at what commonalities exist in spaces that make you want to take photos and mechanisms that make you want to share them with others.

In addition, we will also work on themes such as case studies on AI-utilized customer attraction, service, and payment, and how to utilize AI tools in planning spatial design and customer attraction content.

At the entrance to thinking about 'future retail experiences' are the changes already happening in stores and retail spaces today.

Wanting to visit a store you saw on social media.
Having spaces that make you want to take photos.
AI-utilized customer service and purchasing experiences becoming familiar little by little.
AI entering into the way planning and expression themselves are created.

The instructors are also looking forward to seeing how the students view these current changes and how they will connect them to their planning.

Taking on the challenge of new retail store experiences

This industry-academia collaboration project has only just begun.

It will be a while before concrete ideas and results take shape.
But that is exactly what makes this stage so interesting.

Faced with a theme where the answers are not yet decided,
what will the students discover?
What can we take from that, and how can we shape it?

Beats' experience in creating real-world spaces, which we have faced until now, will be layered onto that.

From that process, a form of retail store experience that is a little different from what we have seen before might emerge.

A retail store is a place to deliver products, a place to experience a brand, and a place that remains in people's memories.

And on top of that, SNS, AI, and the diverse sensibilities of each generation are layered.

Amidst such changes, Beats will continue to think about what possibilities exist in real-world spaces, and we want to continue creating new "!" moments.

The "future retail store experience" we are thinking about together with students.
We would be happy if you could look forward to seeing what kind of ideas are born from this.

And through this initiative, I would also like to share little by little how Beats thinks about future retail stores and brand experiences.

If you thought, "The future of retail store experiences sounds interesting," it would be encouraging if you could support us with a Like♡ or a follow🌱

Thank you for reading until the end😊

🟢 This is a magazine where PR Sako delivers the behind-the-scenes of Beats' "!" moments.
I share information about work, the behind-the-scenes of projects, and the reality inside the company.

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