Back to How We Help Clients

Modern Retail Collective

A store of the future

Bringing multiple brands, technologies, store operations, and analytics together to unlock the future of brick-and-mortar retail

Modern Retail Collective is a fully technology-enabled store in Mall of America—the largest retail and entertainment center in North America—where consumers experience new and emerging retail innovations as they shop. The store provides a dedicated and fully supported space for retailers to test and measure how innovations resonate with consumers throughout an interconnected space.
From the moment they enter, shoppers encounter various opportunities to engage with technology –from virtually trying on products in augmented reality mirrors to scanning near field communication (NFC) tags to rapidly access product information from their phones without troublesome app downloads. Over time the store will offer a rotating roster of products and technologies to help retailers understand and create the best consumer experiences.

What We Are Learning

Accelerating retail technology innovation

We have seen tremendous progress in retail technology transforming a retailer’s profit and loss. With our first wave of the Modern Retail Collective complete, we’ve learned five important lessons to help retailers capture the full value potential of in-store technology. Download our brochure to read more about our learnings from the first four months of our technology-enabled retail store.
Download the brochure

Our Approach

Test and iterate for a fresh shopping experience

Refreshed regularly to reflect the rapidly evolving retail landscape, the store combines new technologies and brands to offer seamless, immersive, and end-to-end customer experiences. Example focus areas for the store include product discovery, customer service, and inventory operations.

Understand which technologies drive ROI

In each refresh, we analyze the impact of new experiences, technology, and store operations to help our clients better navigate the complex retail-technology landscape and focus on investing in proven innovations that will drive measurable impact.

Analyze end-to-end data to shape the future of retail

An integrated cloud infrastructure captures and stitches cutting-edge data from leading technology providers across the customer journey to inspire new insights about the future of retail and to shape the industry’s conception of what a brick-and-mortar store should be.

What We Do

By combining advanced technology, experiences, and store processes with integrated back-end data analytics capabilities, Modern Retail Collective explores the questions that are top-of-mind for today’s retailers, such as the following:

  • What is the profit-and-loss impact of a customer journey that integrates technology and experience in a store?
  • What is the estimated payback period for next-generation technology?
  • How does the store experience drive additional engagement and sales—during the visit and after?

Our people

Jennifer Spaulding Schmidt
Senior Partner, Minneapolis
Increases the competitiveness and profitability of retailers and consumer companies by leading large transformation programs and...
Tiffany Burns
Partner, Atlanta
Drives innovation in retail operations to improve productivity and customer experience
Praveen Adhi
Partner, Chicago
Transforms retail-store operations, supply chains, and procurement processes through an approach grounded in advanced analytics
Gerry Hough
Senior Expert, Store Innovation , Chicago
Serves retailers at the intersection of technology and operations, creating a path toward the operating model of the future

New at McKinsey blog

Blog Post

An inside look at the McKinsey store revitalizing brick-and-mortar business

– How our new retail space in Mall of America is helping retailers test the latest technologies and transform the customer experience.

Recent media coverage

Fortune: McKinsey to Open First Ever Store At Mall of America
WWD: Modern Retail Collective Opens in Mall of America (subscription required)
Financial Times wrote: “McKinsey outlet puts retail tech to the test” (subscription required)
Coindesk: Mall of America to Showcase Winklevoss-Backed Crypto Payments
Chain Store Age: Consulting giant McKinsey & Company opens first-ever store — a lab for retailers
Twin Cities Business: Management Firm McKinsey & Co. to Open Retail Lab at Mall of America

Related insights

Article

Ready to ‘where’: Getting sharp on apparel omnichannel excellence
– Brands and retailers are moving quickly to provide more seamless omnichannel shopping experiences—but your customers are... moving faster.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The Chinese luxury consumer
– If you’re in luxury goods and services, China is the story.
Article

A transformation in store
– Brick-and-mortar retail stores need to up their game. Technology could give them significant boost.
Report

How young Chinese consumers are reshaping global luxury
– Global brands face new opportunities as luxury represents a powerful form of social capital for young Chinese consumers.

Want to learn more?

Contact Us