VMSD - December 2013 - (Page 18)

NS nex t store By Jim Crawford The Scalable Flagship How technology can bring "Times Square" to the strip mall. on the size of the store and the cost per square foot, that's a valid argument. You can't have a larger store with more luxurious materials in a smaller space and on a tighter budget. But what retailers can - and must - do is to begin using technology as a way of bringing much of the flagship experience to their at-scale retail operations. Without getting into the specifics of individual technologies, there are four key reasons why technology is the scaling vehicle for the flagship experience: designer is "in our flagship store." Flagship stores are a lot of fun. They're fun to design and they're fun to shop. But let's face it: they're also few and far between. They're expensive to build, and many times a three-story, 20,000-square-foot store in Times Square doesn't exactly translate to a 3000-square-foot space wedged between an Orange Julius and a nail salon. This disparity of experience has led many retailers to believe in a common myth: that the "flagship experience" is one of brand rather than scaled shopping experience. That what happens in New York, Los Angeles or London is somehow relevant to shoppers in Salem, Ore. This mentality that the flagship experience should be relegated to a few high-profile stores instead of bringing some (or most) of that experience to all the stores in a chain is the problem. From a traditional design perspective, focused 18 DECEMBER 2013 | vmsd.com 2) The cost is in the prototype Scaling a new fixture or wall display throughout a chain requires a large per-store investment compared to selecting or designing the first instance. Technology is the opposite: Once you've built an app or a piece of software, the per-store cost of deployment is quite modest. Yes, you have to buy screens for each store, but the cost of building what goes on the screens is generally far higher. So, in general, the more you scale a technology investment, the higher the ROI. 3) Shoppers pay their own way Got a great kiosk that helps shoppers navigate your stores and products, but not enough capital expense budget to roll them out to all your stores? Eighty ka re N boy He N, ci N ciN NaTi One OF The mOST painFul phrases to hear as a 1) The 80/20 rule In technology development, a good rule of thumb is that 80 percent of the cost happens in adding the last 20 percent of functionality. The converse of this is that for 20 percent of the price, you can get 80 percent of the benefit. This means that many of the core elements of a superior tech-enabled shopping process are available at low cost at scale. Starting with off-the-shelf technology elements instead of custom designing them may be an anathema to designers, but using "building blocks" is a rapid, economical way to improve shopper experience. http://www.vmsd.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of VMSD - December 2013

VMSD - December 2013
Contents
From the Editor
VMSD Editoral Advisory Board
The Goods
Next Store
Who’s the Boss?
Setting the Stage
Top 10 of 2013
Made in America
High Finance
Euroshop 2014
Showroom
Ad Index
Checking Out

VMSD - December 2013