Birmingham’s leading retail and leisure destination is running a three-day experience dedicated to all-things tech, giving visitors a chance to reimagine how we shop, play, and relax. Taking place throughout selected stores from 31 May to 2 June, Bullring Tech Makeover will showcase how shopping is being innovatively elevated with high-profile international brands including Selfridges, Nike, Holland & Barrett, and Michael Kors taking part.
Across the three days, Bullring will host immersive experiences, special events, and personalisation powered by technology, to showcase what the future of retail might look like. From AI-powered innovations and robots interacting with customers; to beauty apps that offer the ultimate in custom-made solutions: Bullring Tech Makeover is set to level-up the Brummie shopping experience.
Selfridges will become the home of BeautyTech for the weekend, with brands like Dermalogica, Lancôme, and Kiehls offering skin and hair scanning. Meanwhile, Nike will be on-hand to offer its ‘Nike By You’ service, allowing members to personalise and design their new Nike products to co-create pieces unique to them.
Holland & Barrett will be helping Brummies to feel better, with demonstrations of its AI-powered diagnostic tool. If gaming is more your style, Sandbox VR will be demonstrating its immersive gameplay tech offering a glimpse into the future of entertainment, as well as hosting a competition between its robot servers and human bartenders to see who can create the best tipples.
Bullring & Grand Central’s Marketing Manager, Danielle Bozward, comments:
“The digital age has revolutionised the way we buy and as a result, the shopping experience has changed too. Bullring Tech Makeover is a celebration of this; bringing exciting innovations to the forefront to showcase what the future of shopping will really look like.
Beauty-lovers, fashion icons, fitness fiends, and families will have a chance to test the latest tech; and best of all, it’s completely free!”
The Tech Makeover is a highlight in Bullring’s exciting event calendar this year, as its owner Hammerson continues to reposition the destination through the creation of unique placemaking activations to excite and engage customers.
Driving relevancy amongst visitors, Hammerson has focused on broadening the use and purpose of Bullring. From being transformed into a late-night entertainment venue with celebrity DJs for ‘Late Night Out’ and hosting large scale events including Borealis, an immersive Northern Lights-inspired experience; to running wellness festival ‘Find Your Happier’ and even a pop-up gig by none other than Dizzee Rascal: Bullring continues to tap into the zeitgeist, generating new reasons to visit year after year.
Toby Tait, Director Asset Management at Hammerson, adds:
“Bullring has long been an integral part of Birmingham city centre’s commerce, innovation and culture, and as we continue to evolve and future-proof Bullring through new concepts, activations and cultural partnerships, it’s only fitting that we host a ‘Tech Makeover’ to showcase the modern shopping experience. But this isn’t just the future of retail, this is also ‘the now’ and demonstrates how our brand partners are already innovating to enhance their offering to attract and engage our customers.”
Bullring Tech Makeover is being delivered in collaboration with Birmingham-based PR agency, EAST VILLAGE., which specialises in PR and events for consumer tech brands. Commenting on the collaboration, founder Tara Attfield-Tomes comments:
“There’s often friction when talking about the high street and online shopping, and the assumption that the latter is the death of the former. But I don’t think that’s the case – I truly believe that innovation can level up the high street in a way that makes it even more appealing.
A recent study showed that 70% of UK consumers now shop in physical stores more often than they did before the pandemic, for the ‘experience’. This is where the opportunity lies and where Bullring Tech Makeover will demonstrate how in-store shopping can be taken to the next level.
What’s more, this is also a chance for us to team incredible local tech entrepreneurs with leading high street brands, giving them the platform to showcase just how world-leading they are!”
Bullring Tech Makeover is taking place from Friday 31 May to Sunday 2 June, and is completely free to attend. To find out what you can experience, visit the Bullring website.