E-commerce and retail

From fragmented retail to unified commerce

Made in Design

2023

Invent your own living style
Precision Run

2019

Run, rebel, run

E-Commerce and retail markets' business model is changing. Resale and private label are scaling. Retail media is becoming a significant revenue stream. And AI starts delivering conversion and margin gains, for those who are able to move beyond pilots.

AREA 17 helps you build that advantage by leveraging brand, experience, and technology as a single, coherent system.

Read our full E-commerce and retail report

Retailers can no longer compete on assortment scale or generic sustainability claims. Trust and spend go to those that demonstrate authentic credentials through owned resale programs, position private label as retailer-endorsed quality rather than a budget alternative, and use AI curation to guide rather than overwhelm. Gen Z commands significant budget and willingness to pay premiums, but extends that trust only to retailers who have earned it visibly.
Smartphones and social platforms already dominate discovery and purchase, but most retailers still optimize for desktop and treat social as a separate channel. The result is friction exactly where conversion decisions are made: cart abandonment, disjointed journeys, and churn to competitors with better-integrated experiences. Closing that gap means mobile-first interfaces, frictionless payment across every method customers expect, and AI personalization that follows the shopper seamlessly from social discovery to in-store completion.
AI only delivers shareholder return and margin improvement when the infrastructure beneath it is unified, not when it is layered onto fragmented systems as an isolated experiment. Most retailers still lack the customer data platforms that make retail media monetization, real-time personalization, and payment orchestration possible at scale. Building durable advantage means consolidating around a unified data core, deploying retail media and payment infrastructure together, and architecting API-first platforms that let each capability compound the others.

E-commerce and retail index

THG Paris

High-end bathroom fittings and accessories

Since 2017
NIKE

Capturing the power of sport for all athletes

2022–2024
Made in Design

Invent your own living style

2023
Zappos

Turning shopping from a to-do to a ta-dah

2019–2021
Maison&Objet

Bringing together all the arts of living

2013–2020
Precision Run

Run, rebel, run

2019
La Parqueterie Nouvelle

2016–2018
Withings

A more connected health to improve life

2016–2018
Ora-Ïto

From designer to brand

2010–2014
Flat Rate Moving

2013
Waterworks

2009–2012
Steuben

2010
Salomon Sports

2007–2010
Elan

2005
Sportscience

2005
Bourjois

2004

Explore full index

E-commerce and retail

From fragmented retail to unified commerce

Made in Design

Precision Run

Make resale, private label, and AI curation your brand differentiators

Make mobile and social your primary store, not an extension of it

Unify customer data to unlock your full business potential

E-commerce and retail index

THG Paris

NIKE

Made in Design

Zappos

Maison&Objet

Precision Run

La Parqueterie Nouvelle

Withings

Ora-Ïto

Flat Rate Moving

Waterworks

Steuben

Salomon Sports

Elan

Sportscience

Bourjois