It’s Time to Reinvent Retail
20 Ideas in 20 Days — Day 1
There’s a fair amount of handwringing about retail these days with more people shopping online and forsaking the malls. This NY Times story covers some of the thinking about how retail might change it’s boring image.
So here in San Francisco, I’m thinking start with the idea behind the ferry building, but the stores/restaurants would change frequently and I’d add some additional extras to make it a destination for tourists and locals alike.
The Concept: One Stop to Shop, Taste and Enjoy San Francisco. But It’s Never the Same Place Twice
A store/entertainment/dining space that’s always in the same location, but always changing. And everything in it is made or has a relationship to San Francisco. It might house 20 pop-up stores with a healthy mix of apparel, accessories, gifts and home goods. The pop-ups might stay in residence anywhere from 1–3 months. And we could rethink what it means to be a pop-up. Companies like StitchFix and TrunkClub could show new inventory and potentially sign up new users. And instead of changing all at once, the stores would cycle in and out so the mix would always be changing.
Now Add Food and Wine
Invite local restaurants to set up cafes with limited menus or food trucks. Let’s give the local wine and beer makers some space too. We all know that the outfit looks better and the jewelry seem like a more reasonable splurge ofter a glass or two. These rotate in and out just like the stores.
Keep It Classy
And set up a lovely dining space for people to enjoy their food that no way resembles a food court or an airport. Design a comfy lounge area for wayward husbands with a TV. Maybe even offer drop in childcare.
Add Some Entertainment
Sometimes it’s classical, sometimes it’s jazz, sometimes local favorites drop in to play an unannounced set. Sometimes Google stops by and offers demos of the self driving car. Or the company that makes the robot salad making arm is doing a cooking demo. There could be rotating art exhibitions there too.
The whole point is that the entire experience — and yes, it’s a destination experience, is always new, always surprising, always delightful.
Marketing
Here’s where things get fun. We’ll definitely need a mobile app.
First we’ll limit the number of people that can be inside at any one time. They can make appointments in 2–3 hour blocks like on Open Table. They can wear a bracelet while inside that will change color during their reservation and then change back when it’s time to go.
The app can also have a geo-fence so we know who’s inside. From time to time a few shoppers (or maybe all) get offers for deals. Send six shoppers a free glass of wine at 2:15pm. At 2:30 offer a 25% discount at one of the stores to 20 people. At 3pm give one lucky winner a free designer bag. You never know what’s going to happen when you’re inside. Also let people use the app to trade promotions too.
Virtual fitting rooms that use 3-D? You bet. Augmented reality displays. Yep, that too.
Now we gather the data. All the vendors use the same check out software so they data can be sent to the host (us) and the retailers. We know the (opt-in/out) emails of everyone who’s shopped. When they came. How often they visit. What they bought. We send a survey after each visit. We can use this to fine tune the store mix, the price points, the entertainment selection and the promotions. Then we up the engagement factor by sending invites when we think the mix is a great fit for the individual customer. It’s like having a personalized mall with only the stores, restaurants and entertainment you love.
So business model. Make money on both sides of the marketplace. Charge stores/restaurants etc. to be in the space. Then sell annual subscriptions like Amazon Prime for free shipping for tourists and free delivery within the Bay Area. A subscription could also get you before hours or after hours shopping time — like at Disney World. You wouldn’t have to have a subscription to shop, but price it so if you come more than twice a year it would be worth it.
Challenges? Finding a permanent, accessible piece of real estate in San Francisco at the moment. Curating the right mix of vendors. Making the value prop interesting enough for the vendors. Making sure the food truck generators aren’t too loud and that ventilation isn’t an issue. I’m sure there are more.
I think if this place existed, I’d go (and I hate to shop). And when I had friends in town, it would go on the list right next to riding cable cars and seeing the bridge.
