More Than A Store

Britain may be a small country, but we certainly pull our weight when it comes to online shopping. According to statistics released by eMarketer in 2018, the UK has the third largest e-commerce market in the world – only China and the US are ahead of us, with nations like Russia, Japan and Germany lagging significantly behind. What’s more, according to accounting and consultancy firm Deloitte, Britain’s online sales grew at ten times the rate of store sales in the first half of 2018. These figures not only put headlines about the decline of the high street into sharp perspective, they also help to explain why we’re starting to see a new type of bricks-andmortar shopping experience emerge. The savviest retailers know that they need to adapt to this new consumer climate – and fast – or perish.

‘Be more than a store’ is the advice that Deloitte offered to brands in its recent retail forecast. Stacking piles of product in a white space is no longer enough to lure shoppers from their sofas onto the streets, even in the most luxurious shopping districts. Consequently, stores are starting to behave more like cultural attractions, offering dramatic spectacles, tailored customer events and experiences – or even, in the most forward-thinking cases, digital innovations. This last element is still in its infancy, but is starting to move beyond click-and-collect to features such as ‘smart’ fitting rooms, which have interactive screens or mirrors that can suggest co-ordinating items, adjust lighting and summon assistants, all from the comfort of your cubicle.

Online retail may have convenience on its side, but for the most part it conspicuously lacks individuality. This is the physical shop’s secret weapon. ‘The era of digital change has coincided with the new era of experience,’ points out Denise Neri, retail architectural manager at Aesop. This beauty brand was a trailblazer for forward-thinking, responsive store behaviour. Although it has numerous boutiques all over the world, it has cleverly decided to make each one different, adapting sensitively to its locale and presenting a wealth of different design identities. ‘We focus on hosting customers,’ adds Neri. ‘When you come into an Aesop store, you’re welcomed as a guest in our home, and offered tea, conversation and unobtrusive personal service. We seek to provide calm, comfortable, human environments that nurture the senses, and feel and smell as good as they look.’

The experience of visiting somewhere special and enjoying some human interaction is one of the principal aims at Insidestore in Tufnell Park, north London. Based in a beautiful converted factory building with its own courtyard, it’s run by Andrea Bates, a former buyer for Heal’s and Jamie Oliver, who had ambitions to create a more personalised shopping environment. ‘Our products have an interiors focus, so we love to welcome people into our home to chat and get advice,’ says Bates. ‘It’s not only more personal, it also really helps people to envisage pieces in their own homes. We’ve had so many customers who have been let down by faceless online companies and are turning back to real shops, where they can speak to a familiar face.’ The store’s first-floor gallery, dubbed ‘our place’, hosts workshops and interior design sessions that keep loyal clients coming back. As Bates lives in the area, she knows what locals want. ‘It’s all about developing a place in the community,’ she reflects.

Curator Rowena Morgan-Cox, co-founder of new Kensington gallery, Eight Holland Street, (with designer Tobias Vernon) is another retailer who recognises the growing importance of place. Inspired by the intimacy of ‘house museums’ like Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, her townhouse brings together high-end craft and art pieces with smaller, more accessible finds – a vision that might look incoherent online, but makes perfect sense in a physical space. ‘We want people to spend time here, take a seat, chat and discover things,’ she says. ‘Architecturally, our space helps us do this – there are two old coal stores that make fun, cave-like spaces for displaying accessories, for example. We’ve yet to come up with a good way to replicate our shop online, but as one of our clients recently said, whatever we do, it would be impossible to recreate the experience of meeting us and feeling our enthusiasm for what we sell. Meeting clients is so important for us, too, because it helps us respond to what people want.’

In order to make their stores truly memorable, brands increasingly enlist the help of architects and interior designers. New Marylebone fashion store Casely-Hayford, which specialises in madeto-measure clothes, is a collaboration between Charlie Casely-Hayford and his wife, Sophie Ashby. Its apartment-style feel reflects not only Ashby’s status as a sought-after decorator, but also the intimate experience of having a bespoke outfit made. ‘We wanted it to be immersive, with a feeling of escapism, so we’ve thought about everything, right down to the scents, flowers and music,’ Ashby explains. In the future, she thinks stores will become ‘entirely shoppable’, rather than just selling one type of product. ‘In order to survive, shops can no longer be just about selling,’ she argues. ‘They need to be comfortable, visually rich and have the human touch.’

Fran Hickman is another designer who’s carved a niche creating destination stores, including Emilia Wickstead’s Sloane Street outpost and the debut UK pop-up for Goop in Notting Hill. Her Goop design takes inspiration from the wellness brand’s California heritage and features indoor planting based on traditional physic gardens, as well as a palette of natural materials and oceanblue shades borrowed from Yves Klein paintings. Storytelling is vital to good retail design, believes Hickman. ‘Online shopping has many advantages, but it can’t appeal to all five senses,’ she reflects. ‘This is why the experience of a well-designed physical space will beat a virtual one every time.’

Among the most architecturally-led retail developments to open recently is Coal Drops Yard, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, which piques shoppers’ curiosity in a variety of ways. Located in a historical venue (a 19 th -century former coal yard in King’s Cross, once an important industrial landmark), it brings together like-minded independent retailers in a community setting (the new-generation shopping mall), and weaves in dining and cultural hotspots so your visit is about more than just shopping.

Such diversity is also a focus for the big luxury brands, including Burberry, whose Regent Street store has hosted art installations and also boasts a chi-chi café, Thomas’s. At fragrance label Byredo’s new UK flagship in nearby Soho, an art gallery occupies the top floor, with a programme of rotating exhibitions and events starting this year. And in Covent Garden, cult French tea house Mariage Frères has just opened its first UK branch, complete with an antique-filled tea museum, restaurant and private rooms for tastings.

Other stores are completely reinventing the traditional retail model. The Maiyet Collective is a kind of travelling retail theatre, hosting more than 50 ethical brands in fashion, beauty, homeware and jewellery via pop-up shops, talks and workshops. It made its debut last autumn at Mayfair members’ club The Conduit, opening for just three days a month, with a store design by The New Craftsmen. It moved to Harvey Nichols for a two-week stint in February, and the idea is it will continue to evolve in various temporary settings. ‘By opening for a short time we can focus on providing an intensive retail experience that people won’t want to miss,’ says founder Paul van Zyl. ‘We work with brands on a rotational basis, so that customers will always find something new.’

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the smartest innovations in physical shopping come from a retailer that started online. Last year Matchesfashion.com unveiled a five-storey Georgian townhouse in Mayfair’s Carlos Place that’s flagged as a personal shopping and events space – but in reality offers so much more. ‘It’s a totally new retail experience: a cultural and lifestyle venue and creative broadcasting hub,’ explains chief brand officer Jess Christie. ‘Customers can attend events in person or virtually, via live-streaming and podcasts, at any time, and from anywhere in the world.’ The townhouse has been designed so it’s completely flexible and can be reimagined for new events, whether that’s a supper club, a floristry class or a designer talk. As they watch online, shoppers can click to buy products or book a private retail session at the townhouse itself. This notion of store-as-broadcaster is all part of making shopping fun and inspirational again – something that seems to have been forgotten in the doom-and-gloom retail climate of recent times. ‘We think it’s key to bring back a sense of enjoyment to shopping,’ says Christie. ‘For us the future will be even more personalised. It’s about using technology to really understand your customer and make their lives easier.’ •

By Amy Bradford