Key Takeaways:
Over the last decade, retail has faced brutal challenges driven by the rise of digital commerce and prolonged economic instability. Brick and mortar has “died” and come back to life so many times that the narrative has lost all its meaning. (For the record, brick and mortar is very much alive, though it may look different in this decade than the one before—but who doesn’t?)
At BeautyMatter’s FUTURE50 Summit, a fireside chat called “The Future of Experiential Retail: Gen Z Insights from Shanghai and Singapore” between BeautyMatter founder and CEO Kelly Kovack and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Professor Melanie Keys revealed how Gen Z sees the future of physical retail evolving. The conversation centered on a three-week immersive field research trip across Shanghai and Singapore, where 28 SCAD students worked as a single research unit to study how young consumers engage with retail in two of the most advanced experiential markets globally. Kovack joined SCAD on its trip and observed not just how they analyzed retail, but how they questioned it, challenged assumptions, and connected the dots in new ways.
By the end of the trip, the students translated their insights into a white paper, The Future of Experiential Retail: Gen Z Insights from Shanghai and Singapore, which is grounded in primary research, brand immersion, and real-time consumer observation.
Both markets were chosen intentionally. Shanghai is at the forefront of digital retail innovation, while Singapore functions as a multicultural testing ground for brands scaling across Asia Pacific and into Western markets, making both ideal starting points for understanding the future of experiential retail.
Students spent their days conducting “retail safaris” through some of the industry’s most talked-about environments, including Gentle Monster, a South Korean eyeglasses retailer, where experiential concepts come to life in highly immersive, artistic formats.
Beyond store visits, the group engaged directly with brands and operators across the region, gaining insight into how they navigate local markets, build relevance, and execute at a high level. Daily debriefs and structured checkpoints with faculty and Kovack ensured the work remained sharp, evidence based, and directionally sound. The final output was entirely student led, reflecting both the depth of the methodology and the strength of the insights generated.
“Honestly, I was blown away by some of the conversations that these students were having, because I felt like it was a conversation I would have with a colleague,” Kovack said.
While many of the ideas uncovered may sound familiar, Kovack emphasized that the real value lies in who is identifying them. “It was Gen Z’s perspective on Gen Z,” she noted.
The research surfaced six core signals that collectively point to a more immersive, emotionally resonant, and technologically integrated future of retail:
1. Heritage as Strategy
Brands in these markets are embedding cultural identity directly into design, storytelling, and product experience, particularly through local artistry and heritage cues that resonate with younger consumers seeking authenticity.
2. Multisensory Brand Worlds
Retail concepts like Gentle Monster and Short Sentences exemplify how stores function as “third spaces,” blending art, environment, and commerce into a cohesive, immersive experience.
3. Co-Creation as the New Standard
Personalization has evolved into participation. Consumers today are co-authoring products and experiences in real time, without diluting brand identity.
“Creating that space for the consumer and Gen Z essentially to shout about this with their social friends and community is really important,” said Keys.
4. Phygital Ecosystems and Super Apps
Platforms like WeChat, RedNote, and Alipay enable seamless integration between digital and physical retail, collapsing multiple consumer behaviors, including shopping, socializing, and transportation, into a single interface.
5. Emotional Anchors and Viral Moments
Brands are engineering emotional hooks that drive both cultural relevance and foot traffic. One of the clearest examples of this type of emotion-driven retail came up during the trip. The students became fixated on an accessory from the brand 13De Marzo that had gone viral on TikTok—a tiny stuffed bear perched on a coffee cup. The brand itself is actually a premium ready-to-wear label, but the students were more interested in the bear than the clothes, and they weren’t alone. Students waited in line for hours just to capture the moment when they got their hands on the bear, illustrating how highly shareable, community-driven touchpoints can serve as powerful entry points into a brand’s broader universe.
6. The Service Factor
The most striking contrast to Western retail stores was in customer service. Students consistently noted a higher level of personalization and attentiveness, enabled by back-end technology handling logistics, freeing associates to focus on relationship building.
One of the insights that Kovack took away from the experience was how free the students felt to let their minds run wild with possibilities.
“There's this pure intellectual curiosity that went into this work because it wasn't encumbered by a business outcome,” she noted. “As soon as they get their diploma and they get their first real job, their perception is going to totally change. The notion of asking questions to learn without being judged might change in a business context.”
Every time a new generational cohort enters the workplace, businesses face challenges in integrating them. As Kovack noted, some businesses have four generations working together.
For businesses looking to engage Gen Z more effectively, Keys recommended that managers listen actively to their Gen Z employees. This generation wants dialogue, not top-down messaging.
Understand that while they still have a lot to learn, they also have much to share. This generation is already engaging cross-generationally and thinking beyond themselves, including Gen Alpha. Create space for experimentation, because this generation values autonomy and creativity.
“Let them fail,” advised Keys. “They're extremely resilient. The wonderful thing about Gen Z is that they will lean all the way in with their authentic self,” she said, emphasizing that brands must be willing to meet that energy with flexibility and openness. They will try something, and they will let you know what works and what doesn't work for them.
The future is bright: In retail, that looks like technology that operates invisibly in the background, physical spaces deliver emotional and cultural resonance, and consumers who feel like participants, not just another sale. If Gen Z gets its way, the future of retail will be more integrated, intentional, and immersive than ever before. That’s something every generation can get behind.
The kids—and physical retail—might just be alright after all.