During the NRF Retail’s Big Show exhibition which took place from 15 to 17 January 2017 in New York City, retail professionals discovered the new digital concept stores. Brands such as Sonos, Pirch and LEGO unveiled their latest innovations to seduce customers.
Sonos’s concept store
High tech hi-fi brand Sonos unveiled its new concept store at the NRF, which is designed with the user experience in mind. The aim is to offer total immersion for an optimal listening experience.
The brand’s flagship store in New York, which opened in SoHo in last July, offers several soundscapes through miniature houses that replicate the different rooms of a home. “Sonos’s flagship store in New York invites takes visitors into an immersive experience leveraging digital technology” explains Jean-Guillaume Roger, Business Developer Retail at Econocom, who attended the NRF 2017.
“Connected home speakers are featured on a ‘wall of sound’ where products are displayed as actual decorative objects. The audio experience is offered through six soundproof rooms behind large window panes. Each miniature house recreates environments such as a living-room, bedroom or office. The visitor can get comfortable on a sofa in the environment they choose, pick a film or music via a dedicated tablet and an app especially designed for Sonos”.
Visitors can thus try out all Sonos’s products, to decide which setup will best suit their needs. “An LED lighting system interacts with the sound, which further enhances the audio and visual experience. In each room, visitors can use tablets on which all the products’ specifications, the company’s history and a selection of artists who work with the brand can be found. To complete the cosy environment, a set of screens display a digital fireplace, so that visitors feel comfortable while taking their time to choose products. And the store is a success: it offers an environment where visitors feel good, and where everything is geared towards turning a simple purchasing experience into a moment of pleasure and entertainment,” says Jean-Guillaume Roger.
Pirch’s concept store
The idea behind home decoration brand, Pirch’s concept store, is to get customers to interact with their products and try them out. As it specialises in kitchens and bathrooms, the concept store features a shower area, where customers can try some forty different shower heads. Via a tablet, they can activate each shower head and choose their favourite one. That way, there’s no need to wait to install a model at home to realise it doesn’t suit their needs.
LEGO’s concept store
Children too can benefit from digital innovations in stores. At LEGO, game boxes come to life and are displayed on interactive screens. Children put a LEGO box in front of the screen where the model is displayed through augmented reality. They can thus choose and try as many sets as they want. This concept is available at a number of LEGO stores such as Leicester Square in London and Les Halles in Paris.
Sources : RIS
