The sharing economy is disrupting many industries, from hotels to transportation, and retail may be next, according to David Sheldon, VP of Engagement for Retail Design Collaborative. He says that the business model of retail likely won't move to a sharing model, but he is curious to see how the thriving economy will change the retail experience in the years to come. We sat down with Sheldon for an exclusive interview to hear more about how the sharing economy could impact retail.
GlobeSt.com: You have named the sharing economy as one of the major trends that will impact retail in the coming years. Tell me more.
David Sheldon: I am curious what happens when we see a brand translate from sharing economy to retail. That is when it will be a newsworthy moment. That is when we will engage with retail in a different way. I don't think that we have figured it out yet, but I am curious how much of the sharing economy will bump into the social experience of retail.
GlobeSt.com: How do you expect the sharing economy will change retail?
Sheldon: We are seeing so much change in the retail industry that any commodities are going to ecommerce. No one is buying toilet paper or dog food in a store. If you are buying something meaningful, you are taking the time to leave your house and go buy it. The sharing economy is all about seeing, breathing, touching and living something, and I am curious about how those two will collide.
GlobeSt.com: So, you think the sharing economy will impact the experience of retail rather than the business model of retail?
Sheldon: There is no answer. I think that we will see that in a lot of industries. Commerce and trade has been around since day one, and everyone needs a certain amount of things to survive and exist in social circles and philanthropy circles. The sharing economy, as it has already proven, will be extremely impacting in other industries, like transportation or the aviation industry. I don't know if that is going to translate into the retail economy.
GlobeSt.com: When you think of the sharing economy, you immediately think of ride sharing. Is that aspect of the sharing economy already having an impact on the retail world?
Sheldon: That is definitely impacting the retail landscape in terms of how we develop our projects and how we design our places. We are now designing ride share into a lot of our landlord and developer-based projects. We are cutting out parking, and there are a lot of zoning changes and coding requirements from cities that are being reformed because of this. All of the sudden, as opposed to having surface parking or structure parking or even valet drop-off, there is a shift of emphasis towards car sharing companies like Uber and Lyft.
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Kelsi Maree Borland
