In the quest to re-imagine the retail experience and meet rising consumer expectations, there have been new, creative store formats entering the physical retail mix. Here, we outline just a few of them to get you thinking.
Immersive experiential centers.
Like the ‘flagship store, these retail stores are venues for collaboration and experiences that cannot be provided online. The goal is often not to sell, but to allow shoppers to immerse themselves in the brand experience. an example is Samsung 837 in New York city – which is referred to as a ‘digital playground’ of art and lots of Galaxy gadgets’. The store’s employees don’t encourage guests to buy anything, and the store has limited inventory on site.
The Grocerant:
Supermarkets are starting to turn into destinations for dining. Blurring the restaurant and grocery stores gives you the ‘Grocerant’. We wrote about this new retail trend in a previous post here.
Pop up stores for Online Only brands
A number of e-commerce stores are starting to utilize the pop up store format to allow customers to try before they buy. Think of Warby Parker’s School Bus Storefront and the clothing etailer Boohoo’s pop up stores.
Retail as a service:
An example of this format is B8ta which leverages good store design and data to showcase goods in their own stores and in store within store formats – allowing brands to experiment in showcasing their products in retail quickly and without facing the high costs of getting started in physical retail.
These are just a few of the new store formats we’ve been popping up. With more brands re-imagining retail, we are excited to see what new formats we’ll be seeing the future.
