Conference Agenda

This paper serves as a pilot study exploring hybrid (physical and digital) retail design within the context of the circular economy, and it examines the prerequisite of the hy-brid retail environment in facilitating customer engagement with circular economy practices. Utilizing an exploratory qualitative approach, we collect primary data through semi-structured interviews with an SME retail brand and ten of its customers. Additionally, we conducted observations of both the physical store and its social me-dia. This contributes to the limited existing literature on hybrid retail design within the context of the circular economy, particularly in the fashion industry. By bridging two theory domains – Circular Economy and Service Design – this study emphasizes the suitability of the Service Design approach in retail design to promote mainstreaming of the circular economy.

Food retailers and hoteliers aiming at eco-social transitions struggle to show tangible impact on the ground. Since sustainable food systems necessitate internal reconfigurations of service structure, exploring value creation concerning the local environment and community is essential. Design management tools are challenged to deliver mutualist conditions that respond to the needs of soils and humans. We explore what an eco-social Mutuality Service Blueprint entails based on an empirical pilot case. Here, 13 hoteliers and 17 retail customers in Hong Kong became soil care service providers over 43 weeks by diverting 4800 liters of food waste for composting and growing 1500 kg of organic crops that provided food assistance to families in need. Our redesigned blueprint helps clarify the pragmatics of care practices and prompts the redefinition of success parameters and fail points. It calls for forging cross-sectoral partnerships, practical experimentation, and organizational diversity while subordinating service performances to eco-social conditions.

This paper explores the potential for perceptions of the worn clothing resale space to evolve into a proactive and positive space of engagement through changing the associated lexicon in messaging across retail and wider culture. Employing theories of language and symbolic power, I dissect current modes of consumer value in ‘new vs old’ dichotomies in second-hand clothing consumption. I offer that dissolving hierarchies associated with the new is essential in achieving change in value perception for worn clothing. Utilising ideas of pleasure activism and emotional storytelling in worn clothing communications to engage and educate the consumer is proposed. Using a qualitative approach, research was conducted using secondary sources and primary data constituting a survey of 102 participants and 5 semi-structured expert interviews collected for this inquiry. The research aims to add momentum to the discussion around communications and marketing for meaningful engagement in the pre-loved sector in fashion retail.

In the domain of business design, innovation driver components are frequently charac-terized by their high complexity and dynamic interactions, rendering their extraction and analysis a challenging endeavor. This paper, leveraging the integrated theoretical framework of Design for System Innovations and Transitions (DfSIT framework), itera-tively proposes an analytical approach to dissecting innovation drivers. This approach results in the development of a corresponding visualization and analysis tool through four rounds of academic and industrial expert workshops, extensive literature review, and in-depth case studies. The approach facilitates the systematic extraction, valida-tion, structural localization, and in-depth analysis of innovation drivers in business de-sign. This not only provides an analytical advantage in the context of complex system innovation but also offers valuable insights for understanding the mechanisms, devising strategies, and managing the practice of innovation. Furthermore, this paper meticu-lously demonstrates and validates the approach through a detailed case study of Chi-na's ‘Pop-up retail’ business innovation.