There have been a number of interesting news stories for the retail sector this month, which help inform our understanding of retail shopper behaviour. The Barclays New Retail Reality Report got wide coverage in the retail press for its ‘good news’ message that British consumers still highly value visiting physical stores, despite them increasingly shopping online. But it also highlighted the need for retailers to respond to consumer demand, particularly by understanding millennial retail shopper behaviour, who want innovative physical stores that are enabled by new digital technologies.
Of course, in-store technology is just one part of the retail experience. As I mentioned in a previous blog post From Clicks to Bricks, according to the 2015 US TimeTrade survey, 85% of consumers said they preferred to shop in stores because they like to touch and feel products before they purchase.
There are no real surprises in the Barclays Report, only challenges. Retailers all over the world understand that they need to invest in the in-store experience, not just in new digital technologies but in great customer focused service and attractive physical spaces that shoppers enjoy visiting again and again.
Understanding what shoppers want
Accenture’s 2016 survey of 10,000 shoppers from around the globe, suggests that retailers need to adapt much more quickly to today’s shifting ‘retail reality’. This global piece of research reveals some of what today’s consumers want from their retail experience and identifies a number of ‘hurdles’ for retailers. Here are just a few highlights:
Most of us are shopping ‘on the go’ but only 48% find it easy to purchase via mobile.
Shoppers want mobile services that support shopping in store such as real-time promotions, automated discounts, shopping list capabilities and out-of-stock ordering.
Shoppers want to check product availability online before going to the physical store and want to be able to easily order out of stock items while in store.
Shoppers have high expectations of the store environment but only 67% of shoppers feel satisfied.
Sales staff interaction in store is important but only 52% of shoppers feel satisfied.
Of course understanding what retail consumers need and want is an essential part of retail design. As retail design consultants, we have always placed our clients’ customers at the heart of the design process. As a result we continue to explore new and innovative ways to improve the shopping experience. We are delighted to play our part in supporting some of the most dynamic and successful British and international retail brands with our results focused design solutions. Here are just some of the successes we have achieved for our clients:
Hugh Rice Jewellers: Retail developments for a multi-award winning jewellers
“Innovare Design quickly understood our expertise in this competitive market place and helped us to create the perfect environments in which to showcase our watch and jewellery brands. We’ve been getting brilliant feedback from our customers.”
Paul Rice, Managing Director, Hugh Rice Jewellers
Sunglass Hut: An immersive brand experience at Westfield London and Stratford
“Innovare Design always achieve great results for us. They have been a part of our retail design team since 2007 and still deliver the same enthusiasm and commitment they had on day one.”
Richard Peck, Managing Director, Luxottica Retail UK & Ireland
John Lewis Opticians: Visionary new venture at Bluewater
“It’s been a great working partnership between the John Lewis design team, Innovare Design and Luxottica. Together we’ve brought top class eye care coupled with a range of world leading brands to John Lewis shoppers.”
Paul Bate, Property Manager at Luxottica UK
JR/Duty Free: Sales up +35% at Brisbane Airport
“We are pleased to have resumed our association with Lloyd Blakey and Innovare Design. Together we have presented air travellers with some very exciting shopping environments.”
Garry Stock, Chairman, JR/Duty Free
Lola’s Cupcakes: Overnight sales uplift of +30% at Selfridges London
“The results speak for themselves. Innovare have transformed the space and the environment at Selfridges and we witnessed an amazing response from our customers with an overnight uplift in sales of well over 30%.”
Asher Budwig, Managing Director, Lola’s Cupcakes
The evidence is clear – meaningful customer engagement, that surprises and delights consumers at every contact point is essential. And delivering engaging and successful retail environments is what we deliver.
If you’re looking for an innovative retail design breakthrough for 2017, then get in touch with me for an initial discussion on how we can help.