Engage retail shoppers emotionally, not just physically
9 to 5, I’m an Account Director at a marketing agency that specializes in retail. Outside of this time, though (and sometimes during), I’m just like everyone else: a shopper and a consumer. I’m pretty clear about what I like and what I don’t. What I know for sure is that I’m tired of the plain, old, boring shopping experience.
These days, with so many options to choose from, shopping isn’t as much about the product as it is about the experience the customer has with your brand. If you want customers to visit your store, you have to give them a reason to do so. E-commerce is here to stay, whether you like it or not, but that doesn’t mean that traditional retail is dead. It just means that once your customer walks through your doors, you need to give them a reason to stay (and buy) with you. You need to engage them; not just with a sales promotion, but with your brand. They need to be able to experience your brand at an emotional level, engaging multiple senses, to get the full value of their retail experience with you.
For the most part though, the retail experience in my new home town of Vancouver (and Canada, as a whole) is lacking, and not living up to consumer’s expectations. No matter how nationalistic Canadians are and how different they are to their neighbours to the south, there is no denying that many US retailers, often, do an exceptional job of promoting the retail experience. A few examples out there of brands who do an excellent job of giving their customers a reason to get off their couch and into their stores include Lego stores, Burberry and Verizon as well as one from my homeland of New Zealand, Icebreaker. These retailers seem to “get it”.
You might say that I’m biased towards Icebreaker because I’ve always been a fan of this iconic, exported, home-grown brand. But I’m a fan for a good reason. Icebreaker brand is built on Merino wool – which warms in the winter and cools in the summer – and which is developed from the Merino sheep from the Southern Alps in New Zealand. But it’s not just the product I admire; when you walk through the doors of this small-ish retail store, you’re transported to a whole new world.
When I saw the Icebreaker store on 4th in Kitsilano (Vancouver, Canada), I had to go in. I was instantly hit by the visual nature of the store and thrown into the world of Icebreaker. From larger ‘glory’ shots of New Zealand landscapes to small technical points on POE (Points of Education) explaining the features of the clothing, they had it covered. They not only offered the technical information, but they provided a fashionable, modern décor that the local shoppers (of Pt. Grey and Kitsilano) wouldn’t feel out of place shopping in.
Icebreaker is a brand that stands out from the rest because they’ve managed to create a user-experience (UX) unlike many of their neighbouring competitors. Yes, they have a great product. But it’s more than just a product they are selling; it’s the overall shopping experience. If they just put their sweaters on a shelf and expected people to buy them, we’d keep on walking. Instead, they give their customers a unique, contemporary shopping environment where they can see, and feel the difference in their store.
Icebreaker is one of the few leading the retail way, creating a more entertaining and engaging retail experience. Retailers need to ensure they match consumer expectations in their bricks and mortar presence and are not left behind by e-commerce and our friends south of the border.