What could you invent for your clients to combine shopping with entertainment and make them to come back to the store again and again? Let's consider some interesting options of the shopping experience of international stores.
Sport ground
Parisian store Plein Sport presents sporty chic from Philippe Plain: gymnastic rings with genuine leather belts, barbells with plates made of precious marble, punch bags, boxing gloves made of snake skin and basketball baskets with grids from gilded chains. Of course, it's not possible to train here, but for all adepts of the active lifestyle there is an interactive pullup bar here. The screens that broadcast sports videos and motivational statements like "Train as a fighter" or "The home of power" energize you. And you can try on the sneakers you liked on the basketball court in the middle of the boutique. By the way, the idea of the pullup bar has already been implemented with less pathos and greater convenience at several Adidas stores – just come and chin up.
Educational center
Fast Retailing Group, which manages the Uniqlo brand, has been teaching children to count money at its stores for several years. The project is aimed at the improvement of life skills of orphans and children from poor families, who have no opportunity to go shopping. At Uniqlo they get a certificate for a certain amount (usually about $40-100) and learn how to choose clothes and manage the budget. From 20 to 80 children participate in each action. The ability to do shopping independently helps them to gain confidence and learn to interact with other people. In each country the program adapts to meet specific local needs. To encourage more stores and employees to participate in the program, Uniqlo has developed a special training manual for the sellers. Money for the certificates is partially collected from donations of ordinary customers.
Store-restaurant
Healthy lifestyle is good, but a small piece of pizza will not hurt either. In 2015, Urban Outfitters bought Vetri pizzeria, which was a part of the plan of launching the stores that turn shopping into a pleasant event. Food & fashion is among the most popular concepts of the shopping experience.
One more example is a culinary school that was opened at New York beachwear store Tommy Bahama. Here you can learn, say, tuna dressing. This is just the most personalized experience buyers and retailers strive for. Tommy Bahama network has more than 110 outlets of which only 13 work in "restaurant-shop" concept and they bring 2.5 times more revenue per square foot than all other stores. The main drawback is the strong dependence on location; it is a bit difficult to make such place popular in a shopping center where you will have to compete with the local food court. Still, the future of the concept depends on managers who are good both in fashion purchases goods and entertainment event management.
Lifestyle center
American Wingtip Lifestyle Center is focused on business class customers whose main value is time saving. Therefore, it combined personal offices, open work space for 24 tables, jazz and classical music center, cigar room, wine cellar, wine storage cases for 6, 12, 24 bottles (for rent), hunting accessories store, men's beauty salon, and even golf simulator. The buyer gets everything for the soul and body and solves work issues at the same time. This is not even a store, but a concierge service. For all members of the club, Wingtip offers 10% discount for fashion goods. Registration costs $3,000 and membership $200 monthly.
Fitness-club
The most impressive example of sport shopping experience is offered by Nike at its London store: treadmills where you can try the Fuelband tracker and Nike shoes, LED screens that are sensitive to moves and encourage customers to demonstrate their activity. With the NikeFuel system, the visitor sees on the screen his/her color silhouette: red color means sluggishness, green one means energy potential. Moreover, the new technologies display the client's movements on the walls. Visitors can share these images in social networks. Smart mirrors not only reflect the reality, but also complement it - when the client comes closer, they show videos about trainings of famous athletes, Nike's ambassadors. The store was opened at the temporary shopping center Boxpark and hasn't become a working model yet. At the same time, Nike Running Store format got mass distribution – it gives an opportunity to analyze your motor activity without interactive technology, but with a good specialist. One more innovation, NIKEiD studio where a client can create own design of sneakers, is presented at some outlets.
Reebok FitHub has chosen the similar way. It supports local fitness communities by offering free tests, master classes with dietitians and sports psychologists, classes with qualified trainers, as well as fitness challenges. A flagship Adidas store develops a similar Flagship Stadium Concept - here you can do workout, eat healthy food, and get advice on personal schedule of workouts and workload. Of course, in this case the retailer needs salesmen with knowledge in mobile commerce and healthy lifestyle. And the expensive technological "stuffing" requires additional service specialists. But if you want to bring more customers to the store, then you have to be ready to do everything to achieve this goal, and how you will do it – by a heart-to-heart talk, punching bag, carrot juice or taking care of children - is up to you.