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| The ultimate in retail theatre |
   
Posted Date: 21/06/2011
By Jon Bird
To survive and prosper in a digital world, physical retail must deliver an “Ex” Factor, or “experience factor” – something special that sets a store apart and captures a customer’s imagination.
As Howard Saunders from retail trends company, Echochamber, eloquently put it to the Westfield World Retail Study Tour group in London recently: “Unless you deliver something of interest on the high street, you’re screwed.”
No retailer understands this better than US fashion and lifestyle retail group Urban Outfitters, which owns and operate six brands including Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters itself.
Grand masters of visual merchandising, you don’t so much walk into one of their stores as immerse yourself in it.
CEO Glen T. Senk once told Fast Company magazine: “The store is a various sensorial experience. It has a smell. It’s very tactile. We’re very careful about what music we play. We also focus on display and concentrate on narrative.”
All the stores in the Urban Outfitters portfolio have a wonderful flow to them. Fast Company commented that “it’s hard to tell where the merchandise ends and the display begins.”
In Stockholm last month, I saw an example of Senk and crew at their most creative and compelling.
A large disused cinema has been turned into an Urban Outfitters store, creating an amazing flagship entry for the brand into the Swedish market.
Instead of hiding the origins of the space in an expensive refurbishment, Urban Outfitters celebrated and leveraged the cinema’s heritage, to create something truly exciting for its 18 to 30 year old target market.
The old movie theatre had morphed into contemporary retail theatre. From the illuminated marquee outside, to the foyer with the cash desks, from the original chandeliers to the marble and gilded pillars, much of the character of the building had been retained.
The main feature was the cavernous central space where movies had once been screened, complete with a gloriously detailed art deco ceiling. Constructed on the stage was a dramatic two storey set of a house, containing fitting rooms.
The message couldn’t be clearer – the customer was the star in this production.
So long as companies like Urban Outfitters invest in retail experiences such as this, the physical store is far from dead.
Online stores can compete transactionally, but not experientially. On sight, sound, smell and touch, real retail environments win hands down.
So next time you’re setting out to create or refurbish a store, Urban Outfitters is a useful benchmark for what can be achieved in retail theatre.
* Jon Bird is CEO of specialist retail marketing agency IdeaWorks (www.ideaworks.com.au). Email jon.bird@ideaworks.com.au. For more retail insights and inspiration, visit www.newretailblog.com. |
Saturday, June 25, 2011 by Michael Fox
That's a fascinating retail fitout. Not sure I agree with the conclusion that online retail can't compete experientially. Detailed product information, reviews and video is much easier to provide online compared with a physical retail store. And over the next 10-15 years we'll see more technologies changing and improving the experience that can be offered online: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/the-future-of-retailing-20110614-1g175.html
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