Authenticity and the ability to differentiate are key for retail. And that is quite a challenge in a globalized world. With creativity and technology as allies, businesses are preparing to meet the needs of today's consumer, already looking at future trends.
In this process and in this debate about the future of retail, Barcelona also wants to have its voice. So much so that, on the same day, commerce has given itself a double appointment in the Catalan capital: the Retail Forum and the X Summit of Barcelona Oberta have been parallel scenarios for the challenges and opportunities that retail faces in a moment of change and transformation.
What are the recipes for success? "You must remain very faithful to the original idea, and be tireless in repeating the company's vision," defended Albert Espinós, founder and general director of the clothing, footwear, and accessories firm for travel Tropicfeel. He explained this at the Retail Forum, organized by IKN Spain at the Barceló Sants Hotel, in a round table alongside the owner of Munich and Duoo Shoes, Xavier Berneda, and the co-founder of Lonbali, Marc Caballé. From their respective brands, the three highlighted the importance of innovation: "And innovating in an 80-year-old company is difficult, because very often that comes out of we've always done it this way," Berneda emphasized.
As a driver of innovation, the Retail Forum has also delved into sustainability. It has done so with Ana Palencia, head of this area at Unilever Spain, who advocates for sustainability as a strategic axis. Berneda has also committed to pursuing sustainability, in his case, economic: "Sustainability is also based on being able to make money and invoice. The most unsustainable thing is an ugly product." These are products that have no place in Lonbali, as customers can personalize their bags to adapt them to their style and needs.
In this path of authenticity and personalization, artificial intelligence can also be an ally, as it can play in favor of customization, as highlighted by Carles Aragonès from Groupe SEB. However, the relationship with AI must start from a process of understanding and listening so that the algorithm works in consonance with the nature of the company, defended the Director of Strategic Planning and Data of Frit Ravich, Cristina Campeny, also at the Retail Forum.
"AI affects everything. We are already seeing it in customer behavior and in new players and business models. It generates new opportunities and new risks; if you are not aware, it is a risk; if you are, it is an opportunity," added Sierra Brader, Data Director at PromoFarma, alongside her counterpart at Adevinta, Iker Martínez. "What we have to do is assess what I couldn't do before without AI, and what I can do now, and what value it brings," Martínez concluded.
The challenges and opportunities are materialized in street-level stores, including those in the center of the Catalan capital. Grouped in Barcelona Oberta, they met precisely on the same date, in their case, at Casa Seat. The tenth edition of their annual meeting focused on the model and the future of Ciutat Vella, with a special focus, of course, on commerce. From the retail sector in central Barcelona, there is also a commitment to technology, as highlighted by Núria Raja from Barna Centre, which brings together 21 merchant associations from 25 streets in the Gòtic. And this technology can offer multiple possibilities: she suggested installing informative screens about unknown spaces and unusual routes, focused not on tourists, but on "awakening the interest of the local public."
Attracting this Barcelona public is a shared goal for the commercial hubs in the city center. Also from Via Laietana, David González has advocated for promoting a model that "motivates Barcelonans and residents of the metropolitan area to return to the center," also after the avenue's works. For this, improvements in mobility and accessibility are required, according to González, who applauded the result of the reform: "It has represented an aesthetic improvement and has weakened the feeling of a fast lane and a thoroughfare."
With interventions such as that of La Rambla, mobility and the effects of the works have been a constant for the commercial hubs of the center, along with two other key points: civility and security. In this regard, they have put on the table the traditional demand for more police presence and coordination, but they have gone further, with proposals such as the one launched by Àlex Balletbó from Amics de La Rambla: "We want to promote an app that allows for quick notification of any disturbance of public order."
In fact, promoting security improvement is one of Barcelona Oberta's priorities, as recalled by the entity's president, Gabriel Jené. Among their demands, they once again place the freedom of commercial hours on Sundays and holidays, and open the possibility of converting disused historic buildings into unique hotels. Among them, he highlighted one: locating a Four Seasons in the Bank of Spain building in Plaza Catalunya.
The demands have been met on the other side by the councilor of Ciutat Vella, Albert Batlle, also deputy mayor for Security. Without going into specific proposals, he has opted to work from collaboration. "Here there is a very broad consensus regarding how we have to try to make the city work," he defended: "We must seek the central spaces in which there can be large fields of agreement."
However, the interpellations from the commercial world to the administration have not ended here. On a day marked by the city's commercial pulse, in which the National Commerce Award —which went to Forn de Cabrianes— was also presented, Pimec Comerç has also raised its voice, and has warned that 75% of small businesses do not yet have electronic invoicing systems to adapt to the Verifactu regulations. For this reason, the SME employers' association has requested a moratorium of at least two years for it to come into force. One more indicator of the moment of changes and transformation that the world of commerce is experiencing.