SVT Branding + Design Group has been developing shops for start-ups and established retailers for almost 30 years. However, these last few years we see a huge growth from an entirely different field: the online retailers. More and more online retailers are opening physical shops (also called ‘clicks to bricks’ or ‘brick and mortar’).
Take for instance Cool Blue, Badkamerwinkel.nl or Ace & Tate; they all felt the need for a physical place where consumers can experience and buy the products, and they noticed a growing demand for personal contact and service. In addition, we see the growth of webrooming: online orientation, buying in the shop. The shops are new meeting places, physical communities, an extension of your brand.
Physical shop: new questions
Setting up a physical retail organisation can be tricky for businesses that started out in e-commerce. Where everything is measurable online, this is different in physical retail, and setting up a retail formula requires different disciplines and expertise. A new type of questions will be raised, and the competition arena is different. How do you handle 60,000 articles on 600 m2? It is vital to make the right choices with respect to assortment and service, they make or break a shop, or they boost your online sales. We like to help you. From ‘the big idea’, the retail concept, assortment, layout, interior design and service concept to packaging design or advice about the attitude and behaviour of personnel. The Platform Development Model is a powerful tool to achieve this. It gives insight into the different forces operating in retail, and the underlying holistic cohesion.
From e-commerce to a physical brand
The most successful brands in e-commerce are already as solid as a rock. But how can you give the brand a physical appearance? In other words, what is the spatial identity? And how can you make sure that the offline experience equals the online one? After developing the concept, the zoning plan and the layout, the retail design will include a translation from brand to space. We have an omnichannel approach and make sure that the online and physical experience complement and support each other.
Look here to see the case of Badkamerwinkel.nl, a perfect example of clicks to bricks. The store and striking visual identity not only result in a strong physical retail formula, but also in a growth in online sales.
