Showrooms sell more than just cars.
Written by Connor Beck in collaboration with the Latitude Research team.
As consumers, we often have experience with the traditional retail “showrooms,” selling cars, high-end fashion and other large items, but we might not be familiar with the concept when applied to selling furniture, household items, or other less-expensive goods.
Yet, as online retail frees traditional brick-and-mortar from the burden of point of sale (POS) and inventory management, retail spaces of the future are evolving to feel more like walking into a home rather than a crowded aisle of a department store.
Experimenting with this concept, Hunker, the home-decor media publication, created a physical retail space called the Hunker Home that places its partner brand’s products — everything from kitchen utensils to furniture — together throughout the space of an entire home. This immersive showroom setup allows customers to experience products as they fit together in real life.
Hunker’s showroom symbolizes the opportunity brick-and-mortar retailers have to elevate the user experience by doing what they have always done best — providing a physical experience that covers all five senses.
Sticking to what physical retail does best, Good Housekeeping magazine recently created GH Lab — a store that displays products in real-life settings and that stocks only one of each item on the showroom floor.
When it comes time to purchase, customers complete their transactions through Amazon, which fulfills the purchase and ships the product. By leaving the inventory management and POS headache to Amazon, GH Lab saves money and adds value to the customer’s experience by delivering a highly-immersible product experience.
With maintaining expensive inventory and point of sale systems no longer a barrier, even small brands can afford to create immersive pop-up showrooms. Using only a few pieces of furniture and a converted trailer, Walmart’s online home-decor brand, Allswell, created an interactive product experience that brings potential customers into close contact with the product.
The venture requires no inventory or POS systems and, by its very nature, encourages easy sharing to friends and family on social media.
What does this all mean? Rather than worry about competing against e-commerce, physical retailers can focus on delivering what they have always done best — providing customers with the opportunity to experience products in real life.
These circumstances allow physical retailers to move into the future as relevant and value-adding players, alongside the ever-growing ecommerce giants, in the eyes of the customer. Rather than ending brick-and-mortar, e-commerce offers an invitation to step out of the backward slide of traditional retail and into the space of the future.
Next Steps For Brands and Retailers —
- Imagine what would be possible without the barriers of inventory or heavy, outdated POS systems. Where could you meet your customer to provide a unique experience like the brands mentioned above?
- Beyond the transaction, what type of experience could both differentiate and add-value to the traditional shopping experience? What can a physical footprint provide that an online datasheet or 2D photos cannot?
- Who are the competitors that may step into this space now that the traditional logistics barriers are no longer there? As brands can now simply rely on Amazon and other like-technologies, who may enter the market that you may have never expected?
Supporting Resources —
- GH Lab a Convincing Take on Retail’s Future
- Why retailers are trying on showrooms
- Are non-shoppable showrooms a viable concept for brands?
- Walmart’s Allswell brand launches Tiny Home tour
Resources and original reporting of the above points covered by the following publications — Food On Demand, Retail Dive
The above piece was written by Connor Beck in collaboration with the Latitude research team.
More about Latitude
At Latitude, we love taking incredible brands of all sizes and elevating them through tech-fueled experiences that add true value. From pop-up retail to permanent build-outs, our team brings brand stories and modern-day commerce together to truly stand out. Want to learn more? See our case studies. Give us a shout.
Resources and original reporting of the above points covered by the following publications — PSFK
Additional Resources
Want to learn more? Our 2019 retail report is now available and includes a long list of case studies and insights from Shopify, Dollar Shave Club, and much more.
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