The science of shopping: digital innovations shaping the future of retail

A model demonstrates a virtual fitting room

The London Eye is probably the right place for blue sky thinking, and there is a lot of it going on as the capsule dangles over a sun-kissed, picture-postcard London. A group of retail entrepreneurs are brainstorming about how their industry will look in 30 years’ time as the ferris wheel spins, and it’s enough to make you dizzy: online shopping done without lifting a finger and changing-room mirrors with a hotline to your best friend. The future is so bright, we’re going to need (Google Glass) shades.

With the hyperbolic title 30/30 Vision, the event has the hallmarks of a Sir Richard Branson stunt and indeed it is part of a series being run by the business-to-business arm of Virgin Media – with the carrot of an audience with the leonine entrepreneur himself. But it has a serious undercurrent as technology rewrites the rulebook for traditional high street retailers, who are being forced to reinvent themselves in a digital age. Read more.