The Killer Concept Reinventing Retail | Pop2Life
Date published: 08/09/2017
Walking around my neighborhood in Manhattan's Upper West Side, vacant storefronts are popping up left and right. The vegan soap shop? Gone. The place that only sold olive oil and mustard? Gone. The children's clothing boutique I politely power-walked out of after browsing through $300 cashmere sweaters for toddlers? Gone. However, this doesn't mean that retail has died. Instead, retail has evolved.
These specialty shops, and even giant, national chains such as Barnes and Noble and Staples, aren't the experiences shoppers are looking for anymore. If we can buy literally everything we'll ever need from our phones, then retailers need to reevaluate why people still walk into their storefronts.
Creative brands are transforming the traditional shopping experience into an experiential one. Enter the concept store, a reimagined retail experience in which a store's purpose isn't to drive the most sales possible, it's to immerse and educate the buyer into the brand. Inside, shoppers can browse, play with tech, relax with a coffee, and art direct the perfect Instagram. Cluttered shelves packed to the brim with merchandise are now sleek and minimalist -- three items sit where 13 could fit. Taking design cues from magazines and museums, these shops bridge the gap between the digital and physical.
These stores embrace the omni-channel retail experience and are growing in popularity among direct-to- consumer brands. Amazon, eBay, and even Google are experimenting with physical locations as "laboratories" where shoppers can test drive products without the pressure of purchase. Even as we spend more money through digital transactions, going out and shopping remains a leisure activity that American consumers still enjoy. The most successful killer concept stores offer at least one of the following experiences:
Personalization everywhere
Consumers want to have unique, bespoke products that aren't available on the larger market. Concept stores make it easier for brands to fulfill those requests and the offer for customized purchases is another draw to get shoppers into the store. Beyond making a sale, personalization changes the retail experience
and turns the store into a place where consumers can go to learn more about the brand, assist in the design of their personalized item, and understand what goes into its creation.
Who's killing it?
STORY: This experience is constantly changing. As the website states, "STORY is a retail concept that takes the point of view of a magazine, changes like a gallery and sells things like a store." Without being aligned to one brand and one vision, the space changes every couple months, reinventing the entire design, merchandise, and focus -- treating products as content. The latest theme, Fresh, from Jet.com celebrated the company's innovative approach to fresh grocery delivery and featured partnerships with Owl's Brew, Jack's Wife Freida with custom drinks, home cleaning products, and illustrations.
Coach: Proving that personalization doesn't have to be high-tech, Coach's flagship store in NYC features an area where customers can design and purchase made-to-order purses as well as a workshop where a full-time craftsman works out in the open, repairing leather goods and creating the customized pieces.
A one-of-a-kind hangout spot
This is something that online shopping definitely can't replicate. If a store is putting experience ahead of
sales, what better way than to create a welcoming environment where consumers are encouraged to linger and relax? Comfortable couches, free wifi, and other amenities bring a brand's aesthetic to life.
Who's killing it?
Cadillac: The car company's experiential space in Soho, Cadillac House, is designed to attract New Yorkers to the brand by actively engaging with the city's cultural scene. It features a coffee bar, a curated shop selling goods from up-and-coming designers, a gallery space, and multiple sitting areas where locals are encouraged to work and relax. While their cars are featured throughout, Cadillac House serves to intersect the brand with their fans' passions, mainly art, fashion, design, and film -- showing that brands can produce culture, not just advertise it.
Nike: The Swoosh's NYC location proves that a hangout spot can be more than couches and wifi connection. The store includes a mini-basketball court, treadmills featuring monitors that simulate running in different terrains across the world, and an indoor soccer enclosure. Shoppers areinvited to play in the sports facilities, without the pressure to make a purchase. Based on Nike's success, Adidas and Under Armour have opened similar concept stores in the city, too.
Innovative technology
Concept stores are the ideal location to integrate a brand’s online and offline channels into one integrated experience. Many of these technology-focused "stores" aren't stores at all. Instead they're digital playgrounds where consumers are invited to step into the heart and soul of the brand, test-drive the technology of the future like drones and VR experiences, and post it all to social media.
Who's killing it?
Samsung: Described as a "living lab and digital playground," Samsung 837 doesn't sell a single Samsung product. Instead, it includes three-floors of technology installation, digital screens, auditorium seating for performances and special events, a gallery of curated content, and a broadcast studio. The building creatively expresses the brand and allows anyone in New York City to walk in and experience their technology firsthand. The building will also serve the community as a center for supporting great causes.
Reformation: Clothing stores have never been known for pushing the technological boundaries, but Reformation's San Francisco output includes touchscreen monitors and a "magic wardrobe." The magic happens in the store's fitting room where one of the touchscreens features a digital attendee that will fetch additional sizes, colors, or styles and deliver them directly to the shopper, eliminating the need to shuffle back and forth to the floor. In addition, the fitting room have customizable lighting and the ability to play your own music.
