So we’re already nearly half way through the year and it’s been a fantastic first half for the Insider Trends team so far. Exciting news for this month in particular, as we didn’t just touch base on London retail trends. We also rounded up the best of New York retail and we’re pleased to announce that you can now get in touch to book onto a New York trend tour right here.

As with every month we’ve also added posts on how to grow your business as well as some other tips on how retail is changing. The latest buzzword is omnichannel and you can’t get away from it so why not learn more? We’ve taken a look at what is new for the next generation of omnichannel and how you can build a omnichannel strategy.  We also looked at why exponential growth is the future of retail and how this can be embraced. With retail having long been linear this is a really important post on how to adopt the exponential mindset. In another post aimed at smaller retailers we’ve researched why the DO button on IFTTT can help you take on Amazon – it’s an interesting read of what could end up as the future so do take a look.

More recently we’ve just posted about how Nike is talking a leaf out of the luxury market by offering super serviceand specialised shopping experiences for their customers. We’re intrigued how this service is becoming more mainstream as consumers begin to expect a certain level of service in retail and last but by no means least we’ve covered the five key areas where crowdsourcing is helping to change traditional retail models – not one to be missed.

On the interview front this month we spoke to Leigh Davidson of Cimagine about transforming online retail with augmented reality – a platform, which is changing the way B2B and B2C sales are conducted. We also got in touch with Mitch Menaker of Local Motors, the first company to crowdsource a complete car, to talk micro-manufacturing, innovation and how to develop an open platform to adapt to whatever the future brings. In our last interview of the month, focusing on the future of retail, we spoke to Mary Wallace, Experience Strategist at IBM iX, about everything from personalisation and customer loyalty to the importance of keeping things simple.

As usual we also rounded up the best of the London retail openings for May. With some still open make sure you take a look to see what is trending and keep posted for our June round-up coming next week.  If you want to quickly and easily connect with the players kick-starting trends and inventing the future of retail, find out how we can help you with our network of contacts and insider knowledge here.