On my way back from office today I saw a hoarding by a bank, that said “Loan Lounge” – I thought this was an extremely evocative brand assigned to what, essentially, is pretty much a non differentiated offering in the financial services sector.
This actually led me to think about the evolution of retailing – I am sorely tempted to say in India – but I think this is equally true of all countries at various times in the life cycle of turning from unorganized to organized retailing – from behind the counter mom and pop style; to self service supermarkets; to indulgent departmental stores; to a mix of the two – Sephora style; to “theatre” in retail – to now – completely experiential retailing..
Interestingly, this style is not restricted to the services sector alone – though there (be it financial services; or airlines; or hotel/ hospitality – witness how most upscale bars are now called “lounge” bars, and most upscale restaurants “boutique restaurants”) it is much easier and more natural – this is true of all kinds of products at well – the Malls were the first stab at experiential retailing; the café bookstores followed; shopping while flying is an example of it. “Experience” while retailing could be in the ambience/ the combination of product ideas/ the engagement strategy between store and shopper/ the partnerships seen/ the convergence of categories/ in the way education and interaction with the product categories is built into the store…in a variety of ways!
Bose with their Theatre stores were early pioneers of the idea – but now many electronics manufacturers have taken over – Samsung does this well (their Samsung Experience store in NYC, the m-zone in Seoul); Sony does a good job of interactive education
Gaming/ entertainment as fast growing categories drive experiential retailing as well – Nintendo world and Sony Style stores have some really cool displays and arrangements for customers to interact with the merchandize.
This is really a competitive and evolving space, and the sky is the limit
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Experiential Retailing: Now taking over all sectors
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Talking of skies, and experience in retailing; I recently flew the new "Simplify Deccan" - my first flight on them after the merger/ acquisition.
I have to say, I was VERY impressed - the time schedules have improved drastically, the airline ambience has become so much classier, the service, and more importantly, the service attitude has improved....ofcourse, all this comes at a price (so i think indications are that the prices will increase too!)
So, in validation of this theory, we see today something in the papers on a desired positioning for Deccan, which is more high end than it used to be.
The distance between manufacturer and end user is contracting which should be the ultimate goal of the former. Lesser the intermediaries better would be the margin. And I think the distance is inversely proportional to the growth of economy of the country, thats why experimental retailing is on the boom
Post a Comment