What: Showfields and Neighborhood Goods are examples of retail stores reinventing themselves through showrooming, which helps brands to develop and emerge.

Why it is important: Department stores are in need of interesting brands, often coming from the digital world, in order to attract younger customers. Such a model could prove able to bring at the same time such brands while also making sure the operation would be profitable to a certain point.

Showrooms in retail are physical spaces designed to showcase products rather than just serving as a transaction point. Showfields and Neighborhood Goods are examples of showrooms that assign spaces to brands, custom-building and designing shop-in-shops.

Showrooms provide an economical and flexible way to bring products to customers in real life, including shop-in-shops, which rent spaces to showcase products. Showrooms also benefit the brands they host, as they act as a marketing platform.

Babylist, an online marketplace and registry for baby-related products, tested the concept with two pop-up showrooms before opening its first permanent showroom in Los Angeles.

Showrooms are a cost-effective alternative to digital advertising, and more brands and marketplaces are likely to turn to showrooms for their marketing needs.

Is showrooming an option for retail?