Many commentators predicted that the advent of online shopping would spell the demise of the bricks-and-mortar store.

However, physical shops are still very much alive, though the rise of e-commerce has forced them to re-think their approach.

Over the next few years, the role of the retail store is likely to be redefined, improving the way they work through the application of new technologies.

Between the growth of online shopping, the appearance of futuristic stores without sales assistants, such as Amazon Go, and the introduction of robots, it’s clear that the retail business is in a radical transition phase right now. And over the next few years there is little doubt that the shop as we know it is set to undergo a profound transformation. However, if you want to predict what’s coming in the future it’s often useful to take a look into the past.

The retail business has seen three major innovations in recent years. The expansion of the drive-through phenomenon, which originated with fast food outlets in the United States some 50 years ago, to grocery stores, saw the foundation in France over a decade ago of the pioneering Chronodrive, which enables customers to order online and then drive to the store to have their groceries packed in the car boot while they remain at the wheel.  Meanwhile back in the US, Amazon set up two Amazon Fresh Pickup grocery outlets this year, with retail giant Walmart following suit in Oklahoma City.  The second phenomenon has been the come-back, in opposition to the hypermarkets and ‘shopping malls’, staged by local shops where customers can make their purchases without having to take their car along and then search between endless rows of shelves. The third revolution has been the rise of online shopping, which began in the apparel and electric appliances segments but has since spread to groceries and fast-moving consumer products, as illustrated by the Amazon Fresh concept. 

Re-thinking the role of the bricks-and-mortar store

Matthieu Jolly, Service & Innovation Manager at the Echangeur, an Innovation meeting-point run by BNP Paribas Personal Finance, underlines that this triple revolution has been driven by the retailers’ desire to adapt to the changing expectations of their customers, notably for greater efficiency.  “The customer wants to save time,” he points out, adding: “However, this new reality raises a fundamental question: if nowadays the customer wants to spend as little time as possible inside shops, what are the shops going to do about it?” Does that mean they’ll simply disappear? Jolly argues instead that sales outlets will have to introduce new formats and take an approach that goes beyond the purely utilitarian, with three main areas for improvement. “The first is about turning the shop into a venue for new experiences, a place where you can be amazed, where you can have a good time,” he says. This might well mean giving customers greater freedom. For instance, the Nike store in the SoHo neighbourhood of New York City offers customers the chance to try out its gear in realistic situations, shooting a few basketball hoops or going into a full sprint. Similarly, US store Pitch, which specialises in luxury furniture and appliances, everything in the shop can be tested out – for example taking a shower or drying your hair on the premises.

Another option involves using Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies. Given that the cost of these technologies is still rather high for the general public, brands will be able to vaunt their dramatic effect, offering customers a truly immersive experience. For instance, during a promotional campaign in Autumn 2015, The North Face store in Seoul, South Korea rolled out an initiative whereby it invited customers to sit on a dog sled, put on an Oculus Rift headset and experience for a few moments the life of a ‘musher’, being pulled through a snowy landscape by huskies. In the meantime, a sales assistant attached real live huskies to the sled, and when the customer took off the headset the dogs took off on a real race through the store. Similarly, in November 2016, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba invited its customers to put on a VR headset and be teleported to Macy’s store in New York. This kind of dramatic spectacle gives stores a ‘raison d’être’, creating a meeting-point where you can have new, fun experiences. “We’re moving from a transactional mode to an approach based on experiences,” explains Nicolas Diacono, Digital Project Manager at the BNP Paribas Personal Finance Echangeur.

A place for interaction and socialising

The second area for improvement actually goes in the opposite direction, concentrating on what is unique about shopping in a bricks-and-mortar store – i.e. the material aspect, the customer’s ability to see and touch. “A store is also a place where you go to get hands-on contact with a product, to feel how it works,” Jolly underlines. He does not think that the general public has yet been entirely won over by e-commerce. Retail stores therefore still have a strong hand to play if they focus on their specific features. The recently-announced partnership between US startup Casper and nationwide discount retailer Target is a telling move. The hypermarket chain has invested $75 million in Casper, a high-end, exclusively online, direct-to-consumer mattress business. As a result of Target’s financial injection, Casper’s mattresses can now also be bought at Target hypermarkets. Despite enjoying fast growth, Casper has struggled to attract buyers beyond a rather select circle of people who are happy to buy expensive items online without first trying them out. Partnering with Target opens the door to a wider potential clientele, while Target benefits from having attractive products at its premises. Customers like to try them out in-store, and they now have a reason to go to the Target store to do so. Similarly, French home appliance and multi-media store Boulanger is setting up areas within its stores where customers can try out all its products.

The third area for development is turning the store into a place for interaction and socialising. “Many people go shopping as a way of getting out of the house. Shopping malls in the United States are now widely used as a place where young people can meet up,” points out Matthieu Jolly. Amazon showed that it has fully understood this phenomenon when it acquired natural and organic food company Whole Foods Market, a brand known for its community feel and its pleasant stores where people enjoy walking around, up and down the aisles. 

“However, making customers feel welcome isn’t enough, you also have to teach them something", argues Jolly. Carrefour’s store in Villiers en Bière, in the Greater Paris region, now offers classes in cooking, wine-making and make-up. 

Meanwhile French postal service La Poste provides premises for would-be drivers to take the written part of their driving test, and other companies are setting up co-working facilities. 

The Virgin Megastore in London has combined these three trends. Customers are hailed in the street by a hologram of Richard Branson, and then welcomed inside the stores by hostesses. They can then go downstairs where they’ll find a bar, a café, a piano, a relaxing space with armchairs, TV screens, and even a real-life Virgin Atlantic business premium cabin where they can watch the sky go by through the porthole windows. Children can play on the consoles at the video games space. You can even rent part of the premises for events, and every Friday evening a film is screened.

More efficient, better-managed stores

The store of the future will therefore play a different role from the one we know today and will moreover provide customers with a more efficient shopping experience. In the medium term, there will no doubt be many AR-based experiences on offer. Using a future version of Google Glass or the Oculus headset, tomorrow’s consumers will be able to navigate around the supermarket aisles and see the products they are interested in highlighted in front of them. These might be food items corresponding to a diet – vegetarian, gluten-free, stone-age diet, and so on – or the products they need for a cooking recipe, suggested by their personalised virtual assistant, depending on what they already have in their connected refrigerator. Also highlighted might be the wines that go well with the dish a customer intends to cook. “We’re entering the era of ambient shopping, where everything will be interactive,” predicts Nicolas Diacono, who sees the advent of this technology in ten to fifteen years’ time.

Yet another area for potential improvement is the checkout process. “The checkout queue remains today the least enjoyable part of the in-store experience. Streamlining this process, reinventing the payment procedure, will be one of the most important innovations,” stresses Nicolas Diacono. This means allowing customers to leave the shop without first having to go through the checkout. The items in their trolley would be recognised and tallied up on the customer’s smartphone app. Says Diacono: “This is for instance what Amazon is aiming for with Amazon Go, but the technology isn’t yet sufficiently mature. The costs are still too significant for this to be a profitable approach for a shop.” So the right system still needs to be developed. Explains Matthieu Jolly: “There already exists a technology that enables a retailer to automatically recognise the items in your basket when you pass the checkout – RFID, which is used by for example Nespresso. So it’s technically feasible to scan your selected articles, pay with your smartphone and leave the shop. However, for this to work, all the products on sale would need to be fitted with an RFID chip, which is still far too expensive for all the items purchased at a grocery outlet.”

Lastly, the store of the future will be optimally organised through the use of advanced technologies. It will be equipped with robots set up to answer basic questions – this is what Pepper does already – or to direct customers to the products they are looking for, while human sales assistants focus on giving more sophisticated advice and on building the customer relationship. Robots will also no doubt have a role to play at the store’s warehouses. Supplying and restocking will be made easier through the use of AI and image recognition technology. As they move along the shelves, robots will be able to scan products and identify those that are out of stock, a task that could equally be carried out by connected trolleys equipped with cameras. Overall, sophisticated data management will enable retailers to get a better grip on what lies ahead. Nicolas Diacono foresees: “The store will be optimised by drawing on a threefold data input based on the customer’s needs, the environment – i.e. the weather, events that are taking place in the town, etc. – and the store itself. They will thus be able to make more accurate stock forecasts, taking into consideration seasonal factors, and will therefore be more efficient at restocking. A Decathlon store would for example be able to predict three or four days in advance how many bicycles it will sell during the coming weekend.”. So at the end of the day, this well-established social institution that we know as a ‘retail store’ still appears to have a bright future.

Source: L’Atelier

How can we turn the constraints of the energy transition into a strategic opportunity? “With rigour and pragmatism,” says our partner Climact.

"We support and advise businesses so they can take action and achieve more climate maturity. This includes addressing climate-related obligations, such as the sustainability reporting required under the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)," explains Jerome Meessen, Associate Partner at Climact. "We ensure they get real added value from this, the most tangible result being a reduction in their energy bills or improved resilience of their supply chain and customers in the face of the climate transition. Our approach is both rigorous and pragmatic. Rigorous because we base ourselves on figures and use standardised methods, such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, for calculating a company's carbon footprint, thus avoiding the pitfalls of greenwashing. And pragmatic because we always adapt to the company's reality. "

A 5-step process

So, how does Climact support businesses and public organisations?
Jerome Meessen: "Firstly, we help them understand the effects of climate change they are or will be facing. We do this by mapping opportunities and risks, such as flooding of a production site or the risks associated with high carbon prices. We also assess their current impact, i.e., the carbon footprint of their operations. The next step is their vision for the future, in which we define sustainability goals with them, referring to the international standards of Science Based Targets initiative where relevant. We then help them develop a detailed transition plan and implement it on the ground, allowing them to define the content and details of a green energy purchase agreement, for example. Finally, we provide support for communicating their commitment, in line with the CSRD requirements."

CSRD: burden or strategic opportunity?

Many businesses are subject to the CSRD, which enters into force this year, and its reporting process. “The directive aims to provide maximum transparency on how businesses manage their sustainable transition,” says Jerome Meessen. "The reporting focuses on environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects. "This also allows stakeholders and especially investors to get an objective idea of the progress made, as well as a company's climate ambitions and its exposure to climate change risks."
“The CSRD sustainability reporting is a significant burden for companies,” adds Jérémy Robinet, who coordinates the partnership with BNP Paribas Fortis. "You must adhere to a specific methodology and standards, fill in forms, provide indicators... But it is also an opportunity to develop a solid, well-founded transition strategy that will benefit the company, including its reputation. Businesses can save time with our support, knowing that their reporting complies with regulatory constraints and that their ESG approach creates value and is meaningful."

Climact, a partner of BNP Paribas Fortis

Climact is one of several partners selected by BNP Paribas Fortis to support its corporate customers with non-financial issues. “At the initiative of the bank’s Relationship Manager, we meet companies who want to make progress in terms of their energy and sustainable transition, more specifically for their decarbonisation strategy and to draw up their carbon balance sheet,” explains Jérémy Robinet.
Gilles Roumain, Sustainability Program Officer at BNP Paribas Fortis who oversees the partnership with Climact, says: "The collaboration with Climact allows us to provide solutions to our customers, support them in decarbonising their activities, and continue to build our expertise on these decarbonisation issues. By offering this support, we also reduce our carbon footprint."

“The companies that the bank has referred to us come from all industries,” says Jérémy Robinet. "They are larger companies, e.g., with a turnover of at least 25 million euros or a complex supply chain. This partnership has already led to fifteen collaborations, including with garage door manufacturer RE Panels.

We initially assisted them with drawing up a carbon balance sheet in line with European CSRD requirements.  Management then realised the strategic interest of our work and asked us to perform more specific analyses by product and production site. This, in turn, allowed them to identify best practices. RE Panels really appreciated our approach. We calculated the cost, gains and investment amount for each carbon footprint improvement objective. They also commended us for our rigorous alignment with international standards, a key element to avoiding greenwashing pitfalls."

Since 2019, the bank has reduced its CO2 emissions per full-time equivalent by 55%. And according to Sandra Wilikens, Chief Human Resources Officer, everyone must play their part.

Between 2019 and 2022, the bank succeeded in reducing its CO2 emissions by 55%. So how did you do this?

"Mainly by focusing on the energy efficiency of our buildings, which account for approximately 80% of our immediate emissions. We also optimised our real estate and significantly reduced business travel. We settled on a structured approach involving all departments. Since 2012, our Green Bank Platform has gathered the contact persons of each department every quarter, allowing them to present an action plan with their initiatives. They then develop a series of KPIs on energy and paper consumption, business travel, the electrification of the vehicle fleet, waste management, etc. Because measuring is knowing."

The target was to achieve a 42.5% reduction in emissions compared to 2012 by the end of 2025. A goal we have since achieved. What else is in the pipeline?

"We have no intention of resting on our laurels until 2025. Because there is no time to waste if we want to be carbon neutral by 2050. Our new headquarters at Montagne du Parc in Brussels is a good example of energy efficiency, but there is still a room for improvement in the rest of our real estate. We will improve the energy efficiency of the various regional offices, install solar panels in more than 80 branches, and LED lighting will become standard in all our buildings. These efforts must allow us to reduce our CO2 emissions by another 7%."

How much progress have you made in terms of the electrification of your fleet?

"We are making a sustained effort to electrify our fleet, and I think we are on the right track. At the end of 2022, just under 30% of our fleet of leased company cars was electric – 100% electric and plug-in hybrids. In the third quarter of 2023, these cars accounted for 95% of new orders. This was largely due to the new car taxation. But for employers, it doesn't stop there. They must deal with a complex tax framework, including the reimbursement of electricity costs. Some of our staff members also face obstacles, for example, because they have difficulty accessing a charging station. I intend to organise a mobility roundtable this year. The aim is to bring governments, operators, start-ups and companies together. Because we have to move forward and are all in this together."

How do you ensure sufficient employee engagement?

"With a lot of communication. You need to explain what you are doing and why. That is the only way to get people to cooperate. We have a network of more than 200 EcoCoaches within the bank. The sustainability compartment of CBA 90 also inspires. We set six specific objectives each year. If we achieve at least three, all staff members receive a bonus at the end of the year. To date, this has been a success. We also have other incentives. With our “Green Fuel Consumer Plan”, we reward staff members who have a company car but use it sparingly. We are also launching many campaigns to promote soft mobility, such as walking, cycling and public transport. The decision to base our offices in cities is also positive. At the end of 2022, 79% of the employees working in Brussels used public transport to get to work. Outside cities, 60% of employees do this."

Finally, can you think of any issues that need to be addressed urgently?

"Digital pollution is often underestimated. To give you an idea: sending 100 mails emits just as much CO2 as driving twenty kilometres. That’s why we organise an internal campaign every year to raise awareness among our staff members and give them tips on how to reduce their digital footprint. Regularly cleaning up your mailbox, sending links instead of files, deleting outdated files: all little things. But if our 11,000 colleagues do this daily, we can make a big impact. Every effort counts!"

The bill to introduce this obligation in Belgium has been submitted to the Federal Parliament. If the draft bill is approved, B2B e-invoicing will become mandatory from 1 January 2026. Our experts explain why Belgium wants to introduce these new rules, what the implications are for your company and how we can better support you.

“The bill is consistent with international developments and initiatives at the European level,” says Nicolas De Vijlder, Head of Beyond Banking at BNP Paribas Fortis. "Europe's ambition is a harmonised digital standard. Structured e-invoicing between companies will also reduce the administrative burden of invoicing, enabling companies to work more efficiently and increase their competitiveness. The automation of VAT declarations will also help governments prevent tax fraud and adjust economic policies based on more qualitative data.”

Evolution rather than a revolution

“The new legislation is an evolution rather than a revolution,” adds Erik Breugelmans, Deputy Managing Director at BNP Paribas Factoring Northern Europe. "Digitalisation is becoming pervasive at all levels of society, as we have seen with the increase in electronic payments, as well as the additional obligations in recent years regarding electronic invoicing to the government. In this sense, the bill for mandatory electronic invoicing between companies is a logical next step. Our bank is happy to contribute to this process, although we do not intend to offer the same services as accounting software or fintechs. However, we are happy to help our customers with payments and financing."

The impact on businesses

“Customers need to be aware that the new regulations will have an impact on their internal and external processes,” continues Erik Breugelmans. "The majority of Belgian companies mainly serve an international market, which means that the introduction of electronic invoicing will be more complex for them than for companies operating in the domestic market. As the legislation will be introduced in one go, they need to start preparing now."

“The new rules will affect a company’s accounting department as well as its IT department,” emphasises Nicolas De Vijlder. "The procedural requirements are key, otherwise the automated process will not work. However, one of the main benefits of advanced automation is that everything can be done faster and more efficiently. The time between sending an invoice and paying it will be shorter and cash flows more predictable. In addition, it will also reduce the risk of error and fraud, as all transactions will pass through a secure channel."

Ready to offer you even more and better support

“Thanks to the far-reaching digitisation resulting from the new regulations, we will be able to further optimise payments,” concludes Erik Breugelmans. "As a bank, we need to finance our customers’ receivables as quickly and efficiently as possible, so that they have easier access to their working capital. In addition, because we have already gone through an entire process in terms of large-scale automation, we will be able to adapt quickly to the new rules. We can also draw on the expertise of the BNP Paribas Group, which is currently developing an e-invoicing solution for large companies."

Want to know more?

Listen to the episode on B2B e-invoicing :

• French version
• Dutch version 

A subscription to build customer loyalty, reinvent yourself in times of crisis and buy better: Emna Everard saw that as exactly the right way to launch and maintain her Brussels-based start-up.

Born into a family of dietitians, Emna Everard knows what it means to eat healthily. "At the age of 12, I was already deciphering packaging labels. My dream was to open a supermarket one day where you could shop with your eyes closed", she recalls.

And because Everard has entrepreneurship in her bones, that’s exactly what she did. In 2016, just before the end of her university studies, she launched the “healthiest online supermarket on the market”: Kazidomi. Her standards are high, both in terms of composition and taste. Kazidomi selects products carefully, enabling its customers to buy healthy, mainly organic, plant-based products with complete confidence.

The loyalty programme

Six months after its launch, Kazidomi’s growth is accelerating thanks to the launch of its loyalty programme. A 59 euro subscription offering 20–50% discounts on all food, cosmetics or care products available online. Profitability and savings guaranteed.

This was followed by a first fundraising of €50,000 in 2017. Kazidomi is growing, expanding the size of its stock and developing its marketing. Everard hired her first two employees. Sales grew rapidly and literally exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Consumers suddenly had time to think about their health and well-being and were doing most of their shopping online," she adds.

How did you reinvent yourself?

The post-crisis period was a turning point. "Kazidomi had to reinvent itself. We wanted to have financial stability and avoid any dependence on external resources," continues Everard. Together with her teams, she looked at their cost structure, operational efficiency and marketing. After these reflections, the aim was no longer growth at any price, but the company's long-term viability and financial health, thanks to an intelligent reorganisation.

Two acquisitions would subsequently enable Kazidomi to boost its growth, creating significant synergies: "Smart Fooding" in August 2022 and "Bébé au Naturel" a few months later, a business specialising in healthy products for babies and their parents. "With Bébé au Naturel, we doubled the volume of orders sent out," adds Everard. "This has allowed us to get a better rate from our carriers and reduce costs."

A responsive and attentive bank

As the Brussels start-up’s bank, BNP Paribas Fortis granted it three loans for its launch, between 2016 and 2019. This support came naturally, with Kazidomi’s commitments in terms of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) objectives perfectly aligned with the bank’s strategy. "We joined the BNP Paribas Fortis Innovation Hub programme and our relationship manager – who knew the start-up environment extremely well – was immediately enthusiastic and very attentive. He believed in our project, followed it closely, advised us to participate in a series of events to meet other players whose background and profile would be of interest for us," explains the Entrepreneur of the Year 2019.

But the support didn't stop there. "In December 2022, it was thanks to BNP Paribas Fortis, among other things, that we were able to acquire “Bébé au Naturel”. Start-ups like Kazidomi need a high level of responsiveness from their bank. When there is a company to buy, or another opportunity, things have to move fast. Analysis of the file, provision of funds: BNP Paribas Fortis has always been responsive and enthusiastic and has supported us in 99% of our requests," says the CEO enthusiastically.

Eight years since launching, Kazidomi today has 4,000 products that it delivers across Europe. The Belgian start-up makes 90% of its sales on its website and 10% via external resellers, such as Delhaize. Kazidomi has also launched its own brand “Kazidomi”, which has 200 products on offer. By working directly with producers, we can offer the best possible quality products at the best price. https://www.kazidomi.com/en

Kazidomi is ready to change the world. Discover even more inspiring entrepreneurial stories.