Creating an "Experience"
A "long awaited" follow up to my previous thoughts about "Experiential" being the future of retail.
A recent trend in Singapore has been the opening of cafes/ F&B options as part of the retail footprint, with reported positive revenue outcomes (Shopping, with a side of coffee? Retail brands gain from expanding into F&B within shops - CNA (channelnewsasia.com))
I believe a blending of experiences can go a long way, however I would question whether the benefits are truly significant in the long term beyond a bump in revenue for now. To achieve that, I am of the view that these experiences should be brand incremental. To explain what I mean, take this as an example - selling $2 mediocre coffee out of a pushcart will probably not add to the brand of a Gucci or a Massimo Dutti. However, if the flavour of the season is one of a summer of fun florals with bright sunshine - perhaps having an ice cream cart in store (or just outside) would be a nice jibe with the brand, creating brand association etched in memories with a flavourful mango ice cream now inexorably linked in the mind to Gucci. In addition, you are activating an additional sense - taste - for persons who are part of the experience.
One of the best examples I've personally encountered is at the Fortnum & Mason store on Picadilly in London (pictured above). The entire store, from the moment you walk in, is built around the Fortnum & Mason brand experience. From the plush red carpet that provides a tactile "foot-feel", the rotating decorations in the middle of the store/ skylight atrium, the product selection with a touch of the whimsical (think winding music boxes and cookies), the grocery in the basement, to the tea room with pianist at the top floor - all of these are fully on-brand and allow the consumer to physical experience what "Fortnum & Mason" actually means. This probably explains its enduring popularity, and growth into a tourist destination. It is the awareness of the experience and consciously weaving it into every element of the offering (products or service, or otherwise), that mold it into an institution. After all, you could argue that it its most basic form, its a supermarket, biscuit shop, furniture shop and cafe - in this case seemingly elevated.
Locally in Singapore, I can think of 2 examples - Ralph's Coffee, and Pazzion Cafe, both pictured below:
One strikes me more as a cafe appended to a shoe store, while the other is more aligned to my view of a potentially integrated experience. In the case of Polo Ralph Lauren's Ralph Coffee, the store is a part of the entrance experience to the store. The fittings of the coffeeshop are also quite on-brand, fitting the "Ralph Lauren lifestyle" that consumers can imagine with booth seating reminiscent of their home offerings, as well fitting with the clothing line in terms of image. Looking at the three images below, one can relatively easily see them fitting on the same mood board.
The integrated experience in Ralph's Coffee's case also facilitates several other areas:
- It is part of the entrance experience into the boutique, closely associating it with the offerings behind.
- The smells of the coffee bar add a sensory dimension to the entrance experience, thus increasing engagement on an additional level.
- The weary shopping has a pit stop (the caricatured tired male partner? :D )
- The parched shopper can purchase something while exiting the shop, extending the Ralph Lauren for consumer beyond the store.
- Adds to overall lifestyle experience of the brand.
A more limited menu in the case of Ralph's Coffee also arguably represents less fragmentation in terms of the offering. There is after all a limit to management's ability to focus.
All in all, my personal take is that the Ralph's Coffee example is a more closely integrated brand experience and thus potentially more brand accretive. I've not dived into the performance or financials of either option, so more data is needed to definitively state which model works better. The proof after all is in the financial pudding. Having said that, from a brand recall perspective I would have to say for myself that Ralph's left a deeper impression on me.
Tell me your thoughts!