Immerse yourself
With online shopping increasing more than expected, the profitability of physical stores has diminished significantly. This means stores cannot survive on instant purchases alone and must focus on driving customer engagement.
We believe we will now see the growth in showroom stores in key strategic locations, offering the chance to test, try and touch merchandise. Despite showrooms not being a new concept in retailing, and becoming increasingly common amongst furniture and car specialists, they are underdeveloped in other retail categories.
We consider different types of showroom concepts:
Brand Ambassador
Showrooms that act as brand ambassadors share many qualities with flagship stores and still remain product driven. North Face in Seoul is a prime example which offers a full range of product alongside a unique experience: the store can suddenly become a place to do rock climbing when the floor starts to roll back and disappear. Visitors can also try out products such as shoes on the wall while they are climbing.
Chanel’s new flagship in Paris combines three buildings, including a former 17th century convent, in a massive new retail space at 19 rue Cambon. The store is an immersive luxury experience with metallic carpets, modern art, lacquered dressing room walls and beautiful crystal and gold lamps. It is also a test space for its newest digital initiatives. The luxury brand has partnered with Farfetch to trial clientelling tools that use data to create personalised shopping experiences.
In London, NikeTown remains a prime example, offering a world-class shopping experience which includes the NIKEiD studio, which allows customers to design and customise their own footwear and clothing, through to a football boot fitting machine, allowing players to mould boots to their feet.
Online meets physical showroom
Many online-based retailers launch showrooms to enable a physical connection and interaction with the brand, leading up to a purchase made later in the journey. Building on their online success, Loaf opened their first retail showroom ‘Loaf Shack’ in 2015 in Battersea, now one of eight showrooms in the UK and just before the pandemic opened a store in Guildford’s Tunsgate Quarter.
Loaf identified the importance of having a physical store to engage with customers and share core brand values, as well as providing a unique shopping experience, allowing customers to be able to see and touch products before making a purchase. As well as being able to relax in chill-out areas, shoppers can take home samples, interact with specialist designers, with the option to order the product at a later stage. Online showrooms with a strong brand following are arguably less constrained by location, as shoppers will travel to engage with a brand.
Brand Experience
The third type of showroom offers the complete immersive brand experience, and the quality of interaction helps drive engagement and a community following, leading to brand longevity. These showrooms have limited products available to purchase, allowing the focus to remain on engagement and experience.
Samsung opened a multi-purpose brand experience store in London’s Kings Cross (seen above), which combines product showrooms with lifestyle design. Within the experiential store is an auditorium for community events, product demonstrations, lifestyle design, an in-house café and support lounge. Visitors can also immerse themselves in free interactive experiences including the digital cockpit (showcasing the future of automotive technology), DJ Galaxy (allowing guests to create, perform and record beats) and Galaxy Graffiti, (users can virtually create their own street art over a background of London).
Johnnie Walker’s Princes Street concept, which is set to open in the summer of 2021, is a prime example of a complete brand experience, not focused on customers making a purchase on the day. The brand is launching a one-stop location with a rooftop bar and dining, world-class cocktails and refreshments, whiskey tasting experiences, private dining experiences and a sensory tasting room, offering the complete day-out for whisky enthusiasts.
Brands need to evolve their multi-channel offering and as a minimum ensure their stores act as brand ambassadors, facilitating engagement with consumers rather than acting as a barrier or impediment to brand values and aspirations.
With online continuing to satisfy the fulfilment aspect of retailing, stores that simply act as a channel to make an instant purchase will struggle to maintain relevance. In addition, we expect to see more online showrooms facilitating online purchases. To attract a brand experience, landlords will have to prove their asset's credentials and that they have the ambition and ability to match aspirations of the brand.
Sophie Pisano