Retail may need to revisit tradition as it looks to the future

Experience is the retail buzzword. The trend for showrooming has made the experience even more important.

Ironically though, the best retail experiences I’ve had in recent years have been the age-old ones of shopping in local markets.

I’ve just returned from Jerusalem where the sights and sounds of the local markets are some of the most fantastic I’ve ever experienced. Giant pomegranates piled up high and fresh juice hand-pressed on the spot. Colourful displays of celebratory donuts called sufganiyot that are traditional goodies during Hannukah. Mouth-watering figs and strawberries and the hugest aubergines I’ve ever seen. Massive slabs of halva in scores of different flavours being sampled throughout the day. Bakeries with their kitchens open to public viewing and hot goods being carried to the shelves constantly. Falafel wraps expertly assembled on the spot. I could go on and on. But you get my point. And no, this wasn’t a tourist market, it was locals shopping for fresh produce.

And then in the evening, the market in question in Jerusalem transformed itself into bars and open air restaurants – we’d have probably called them pop-ups – but this wasn’t about gimmicks. It was about great, simple food prepared using the best ingredients the local market had to offer and it was wonderful. What it comes down to is, ironically, about not trying too hard. It’s about being authentic and staying true to tradition with some clever reinvention thrown in. There’s a lot that British retail could learn from the markets of the Middle East.