Kocchaus (cook house) Berlin could be mistaken for a regular delicatessen or convenience store. Alongside its traditional wall stock shelving, lined with products such as olive oil and condiment jars, there are around 20 tables on the main shop floor carrying an assortment of fresh and packaged goods. But for WGSN senior catwalk editor Sue Evans, the store is not only far from regular but represents a broader shift taking place within the retail sector.
Targeted at consumers on the hunt for convenience, each table contains a unique recipe card and all relevant ingredients in affordable, pre-measured packs. Two new recipies are added each week spanning starters, soups, mains and deserts, with unobtrusive wine recommendations and utensils thrown in for good measure.
“This is a different kind of convenient,” Evans explains. “This is one of my favourite key trends to talk about because for me, it’s all about a reaction to the digital overload we suffer everyday. Maybe it’s time we go back to that visual merchandising; making it easy for the customer to see the actual product that makes the look. Product needs space; room to breathe.”
Denim stalwart Levi’s recently minimised the hassle of jeans shopping at its London concept store, replacing endless racks and shelving with a more curated offer. The Regent Street site was overhauled by branding and retail design specialist Checkland Kindleysides last year, seeing the introduction of several dedicated denim areas.
“They created this almost exhibition space, where half mannequins model every jeans style - the boot cut, the flare, the skinny. The merchandise is catalogued underneath so it’s really easy, really convenient and allows the product to do the talking. It almost sells itself.”
Evans sees this trend further manifesting itself through what she calls ‘white box retailing’. High Street giant Topshop recently unveiled a new department at its London flagship dubbed ‘Edited’, which highlights key seasonal pieces by placing them in a white space surrounded by a white picture frame. She describes the movement as creating clean, gallery-like environments which strip clutter and provide edited choices for consumers.
“When the Apple store in London launched the iPad, they could have piled product into that space because people were queueing for two days,” Evans continues.
“But they had a few tables scattered about, very few tables, with just four or five iPads on each. Staff were waiting around to talk to customers if they had an enquiry...but it just let the customer play with the product. It sold itself. They gave the iPad room to breathe.”
For brands operating on the digital landscape, the ‘convenience’ complex has played out on the social media front. Evans points to players such as fashion-forward Asos, which recently launched a fully transactional Facebook shop offering its entire range.
“What’s important is that you have you have your Facebook page, but allow the customer to shop on that page. It’s no good just advertising the brand or the store, you have to sell on it, because if they have to be redirected to another web page, they’re going to lose interest very quickly. It’s a bit like me going to [department store] Myer, going to pay for something and them telling me I have to pay down the road.”
A notable venture in this area was a collaborative jewellery range between American designer Rachel Roy and music star Estelle. The range was available via a ‘pop up’ shop on Facebook, lasting just three days. By the end of the campaign, the usability of the page boosted its fan base 100 per cent, with one fan acquired every 1.5 seconds and one limited-edition piece selling out within six hours.
Online is the new 24 hour convenient store and you have to make your deadlines match,” Evans says. “It’s all about prioritising customer service, both offline and online.”
Cool coupons?
Earlier this month, Melbourne deals site Crowdmass was acquired by StarDeals, the local arm of international group buying giant Groupon. Crowdmass was designed by three university students - Tim Wu, Ying Wang and David Wei - as a group buying website which provides deals for experiences around the Melbourne area. The acquisition, which follows the success of similar players such as Cudo and OurDeal, took place within weeks of Groupon entering the Melbourne market. Commentators believe the move indicates Groupon’s serious intention to expand across the Asia Pacific. So have coupons become cool again? WGSN senior catwalk editor Sue Evans thinks so.
“An emerging digital initiative which can be a great thing to consider, can be the strategy of group buying and more importantly, the deals and discounts that go with it. Let’s face it, shoppers look for value and actively seeking a discount deal is in the DNA of every internet shopper because they can actually compare online. They don’t buy the first thing they see. Facebook is starting to test a service to provide special offers to its 600 million users in a bid to compete with market leaders like Groupon, as is Google and 4square. But really Groupon is the leader in this market. Last August, Groupon had a group buying deal with GAP. They had a coupon offering $50 worth of merchandise for just $25. So you spent $25 dollars on a coupon and you could spend $50 with GAP. It was so successful that the servers actually crashed. It then went on to sell 445,000 vouchers and net $11 million dollars worth of revenue. That’s a vast amount from one promotion. Asos too recently partnered with Groupon. They sold out at 50,000 purchases. Consumers [could purchase] £25 worth of vouchers for just £9. That’s more doubling your original investment. So group buying has made coupons cool again.”