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Re-imagining the experience


DESTINATIONS OF DISCOVERY By focusing on elevated customer service and memorable experiences, physical retail can re-emerge as vibrant hubs of humanity


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rom virtual consultations to livestreamed masterclasses, brands and retailers have made great strides in elevating the customer experience online. But with the reopening of physical retail – as and when different countries allow – comes a huge opportunity to reimagine the bricks-and-mortar experience to attract shoppers back into store. Fiona Sartoretto Verna, owner of pharmacy design company Sartoretto Verna believes that consumers’ accelerated use of online combined with their desire to be back in the real world will lead to “the creation of more fascinating, experiential, full of life retail spaces. But there is no turning back – physical retail will incorporate virtual retail and vice versa in a unified commerce.”


“People have an insatiable desire for human and in-person experiences and that is one thing that will never change,” agrees Jonathan Chippindale, CEO of Holition. “However, what brands need to recognise is that today, winning customer service is all about meeting the consumers where they are.” As consumers return to stores, they will be craving engaging escapes from their homes, giving them a real reason to set foot in physical retail again. But brands must take the time to understand what people need from their physical space, and how the consumer experience in store differs from and links with shopping online, says Freddie Sheridan, Director of Sheridan&Co in the company’s report The New Role of Retail. “The role of the store has changed. This fact creates massive opportunities but also means that dusting off the shelves and reopening the doors is unlikely to be enough. Now is the time for brands to take their services, testing and play to a new level.


They should all be facilitated and reimagined to ensure that your community is safe and can enjoy a unique experience in a physical environment,” he says.


2025 has been forecast as the ‘experience tipping point’ when more than half of square meterage will be allocated to experience rather than selling products, and a survey by Westfield in its How We Shop: What’s changed report, found that 91% of retailers are changing their use of store space and introducing more for experiences. “It’s all about the experience,” says Nicole Armstrong, Executive Strategy Director at R/GA London. “Beauty retailers can become destinations, where it’s not just about buying the product, it’s about the role you play in your customer’s life.”


Elevating customer service


Beauty is a category that naturally lends itself to enabling experiences in-store, and at the centre of this is customer service. This has always been a key element to selling beauty, but reimagining the service that beauty stores can offer customers is now crucial. Wizz Selvey, founder and CEO of luxury brand and retail consultancy Wizz&Co, says: “I think the challenge even before the pandemic has been that as digital has accelerated, more budget has been put into this area, to the downfall of the stores. There has been less presence of staffing and quite often not the same standard of customer service. The retailers that do invest in customer service, and making sure they’ve got that strong presence when people do go into store, will be the ones that win.” Ensuring that sales staff have access to the customer’s purchase history is key – including what they’ve bought online and in-store. Selvey says: “There’s a huge amount of customer data that is generated from digital purchases and analysed but often that is not passed through to the sales associates. A representative that has that full, holistic view of a customer’s purchase history, can really service them based on their personal needs.”


Beautycounter


Michelle Smith, Executive Business Director at Landor & Fitch, agrees that beauty advisers are a crucial element of the beauty retail experience: “Consumers will always crave the physical and human interaction, and so the importance of re-thinking human service is critical for future retail experiences.” 1:1 service has become highly


6 cosmetics business May 2021


Browns’ new flagship offers both digital and physical experiences, such as in-residence events with experts like celebrity nail artist Jenny Longworth


of retailers are dedicating more store space to experiences Source: Westfield How We Shop: What’s Changed survey, 2020


91% cosmeticsbusiness.com


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