Shopfloor INVESTIGATION: THE IN-STORE EXPERIENCE
“As a specialist high-end retailer we are trying to educate customers about their music streaming choices,” adds Mr Scott-Simons. “I recently spoke with a gentleman who had a Naim NDX2 network player, and he proceeded to tell me that he was using it exclusively with Spotify! “That’s like owning a Ferrari and fitting bike tyres on it! Explaining to him that sound quality would significantly improve if he looked at Tidal or Qobuz via Roon he left the store educated, excited and empowered.” Mr Nimmons adds: “One of the best ways to sell
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a product is to show it in action, or better yet, let the customer experience the benefit of integrated systems for themselves. “A growing number of CEDIA-member companies have added showroom spaces to attract customers inside for an authentic smart home experience. This allows customers to really imagine the technology in their own home, and often results in the retailer being able to up-sell and provide additional products as part of the whole- home connected experience.”
This up-selling opportunity is another
reason for Mr Scott-Simons’ extensive use of Roon. Over the past few years an increasing number of customers have come into store to purchase a turntable. And whilst it may seem paradoxical that Roon could encourage an up-sell from an analogue purchase, there are similarities. Roon is essentially software wizardry for digital music – downloads, rips and
streaming. But it also gives a ‘vinyl makeover’ to digital, whilst re-clothing streaming in an audiophile suit of many colours, with a beautifully realised ‘playbook’ to digital collections.
Roon’s design team – also the brains behind Meridian’s Sooloos – constructed a system that treats digital music files with the same reverence as the vinyl LP. All available to experience within Stone Audio at the touch of an iPad! It really does feel like an audiophile’s take on digital, boosted by Tidal’s growing selection of MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) 24/48 recordings. This provides a potential up-sell in itself, as in order to fully appreciate full studio-resolution (24/192 or higher if the MQA file was recorded at higher resolutions), users require an MQA-ready DAC.
A high-end service for a high-end market “We try to give everyone who walks through the door an experience and listen very hard to what the customer wants,” explains Mr Scott-Simons. “Customer service is important. We’re dealing with a lot of high-end products, so we try to give high-end service as well. We have wonderful customers who keep coming back addicted to this stuff!” Mr Nimmons adds: “Increasingly, customers are looking for technology with minimal impact on the interior design of their home. By carefully integrating technology into a space and creating hidden lighting techniques, demo spaces can be incredibly attention- grabbing, without having any technology visible at all. “To do this, however, retailers will require specialist expertise and knowledge to understand and install these technologies, and this is where CEDIA can help.”
Certainly Mr Scott-Simons appreciates how customer experience is key to success; his store covers a massive 5,500sq ft, with the specially designed skirting boards hiding 12 miles of cabling and power sockets! He supplies approximately 9,000 products – more than 140 brands serviced by a permanent team of eight – but he prefers to sell customers something that will “absolutely delight” them, rather than a product that just happens to be in stock.
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