It’s about putting more product engagement in the hands of customers and staff Robin Terrell, House of Fraser


October last year, it launched its first in-store beauty spa in Milton Keynes in partnership with Champneys. The day spa offers tanning, manicures and other treatments as well as weekly evening events. Apple has also shown how offering services such as one-to-one training, expert advice and free Wi-Fi alongside readily available products to try out can create an exciting social space filled with potential customers. It’s something that traditional electricals retailers are only starting to get to grips with. Part of the problem for retailers in the current environ-


ment is cost. “There is a huge amount of opportunity but it requires quite a lot of investment,” says Géhin. She suggests that retailers don’t necessarily need to install


a spa in their stores. “I’m not sure that any of these services are going to be a game changer for retailers. Old-fashioned retailing can give that buzz – making sure a store is well merchandised with friendly, helpful staff. It’s about raising their game,” she says.


inspiring so shoppers click, collect and buy again in-store.” Terrell says House of Fraser has deliberately placed its collection points within the womenswear shopfloor to maximise potential additional sales. He says it also means a better service. “It’s convenient for our customers of which 75% are women. There is proximity to fitting rooms so that they can try things on and if they’re not happy return them there and then.” Locating collection points on the sales floor meant


moving things around in the stores, which took some invest- ment. Delivery schedules also had to be reworked to support House of Fraser’s promise of free next-day delivery to stores seven days a week. But that investment has paid off. More than half


of customers collecting goods ordered online make an incremental purchase. “The halo effect is significant,” Terrell says. Just over a year after launching its buy-and- collect service, more than a third of the department store’s online orders are delivered via this route. Terrell says House of Fraser would have lost out on many of those sales if it didn’t offer the service. For smaller stores there is a greater challenge in providing


a high level of service and finding room to store goods for collection. Increasingly shoppers are looking for more excitement on the high street to make it worth the effort to visit a store. In-store services are becoming an important part of that


mix. Health and beauty store Boots has long used its pharmacy, optical and photography services to drive footfall. The retailer is now adding more luxurious services. In


KEY CHANGES IN STORE


• More sophisticated click- and-collect services, which maximise opportunities for additional sales


• Smaller, more convenient stores supported by online services


• Store staff with access to the internet via mobile devices


• Mobile tills on gadgets such as Apple’s iPad and iPod Touch


• Emphasis on services not available online such as beauty spas, cafes and expert advisers


• Internet-enabled stores so customers can access content and social networking sites while they shop through kiosks, magic mirrors and their own mobile devices


Convenience offer Supermarkets are under pressure to improve the shopping experience as consumers’ shopping habits are changing due to the current economic environment. A growing number of consumers avoid big supermarkets for much of the month. They make more frequent trips to local stores so that they buy food as they need it rather than over- stocking their cupboards. Tesco, for example, admitted that it would be carefully considering whether it would add more hypermarkets in the UK. Chief executive Philip Clarke said they were a “less potent force” given the rise of online shopping. Supermarkets have recognised the importance of convenience stores. Tesco and Sainsbury’s already have well developed chains, Asda’s acquisition of Netto demonstrated its commitment to smaller stores, while Morrisons and Waitrose are both experimenting with smaller formats. Sainsbury’s is leveraging that estate with plans to offer click and collect at more than 300 of its smaller stores this year. As the prospect of ordering workaday bulky goods


such as washing powder, toilet roll and catfood online for delivery or collection becomes possible for a broader section of the population, it’s likely that fewer people will want to visit a supermarket every weekend. With petrol only likely to get more expensive, driving to large out-of-town stores will be less attractive and they may seem unwieldy and outdated. Saunders believes the hypermarkets need to re-think the


way they display non-food goods to make a more hospitable shopping experience – a destination based on more than groceries. He says: “I think it is less that those hypermarkets are irrelevant and more that they are not configured in a way that is attracting people and getting them to shop.” Even in today’s multichannel age, the old-fashioned


basics of attractive stores, must-have products and good service continue to be relevant. l


spring 2012 13


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