PragerNuform: helping retailers and brands deliver exceptional shopping experiences

Retail display and store fixture leader brings the Bauer FitLab to life with a that’s inspiring and delighting today’s skate shopping customer // By Sean Tarry

The in-store retail shopping experience is one that’s constantly evolving, becoming increasingly tactile, interactive and personalized. It’s an experience that customers across the country have started to expect more from each and every time they venture out to visit physical brick-and-mortar locations to satisfy their needs and wants. And it’s also an experience that drives retailers and brands to continuously create and innovate in order to meet the desires of their customers and deliver exceptional, one-of-a-kind retail experiences. It’s exactly what hockey equipment giant Bauer had in mind when it recently introduced the Bauer FitLab.

Dynamic experience

The Bauer FitLab takes skate fitting to the next level. This dynamic experience, which is the first of its kind anywhere in the world, incorporates a skater’s movement into the fitting process and promotes an environment for the consumer to learn, collaborate, design, and become immersed in the Bauer “Build Your Performance” system. With this new philosophy, combined with the execution of an approach that customizes a tailored skate fitting experience, the Bauer FitLab enhances every player’s on-ice performance, despite their level of play, and creates a best-in class consumer experience for participating retail partners. Creating that unique engagement between the consumer and the brand is what prompted Bauer to partner with PragerNuform.

The industry leader within the retail display and store fixture space, PragerNuform provides its retail and brand clients with an incredible range of services that includes design and engineering, project management, fabrication, installation, and just about everything in between. The company also boasts an astounding 86 years of experience working with clients within the retail industry and has accumulated a plethora of knowhow which it brings to every job it embarks on.

In addition, it also possesses an acute understanding of the relationship between retailer or brand and the consumer, and the need to consistently enhance the value inherent in it. And, according to Marcel Rocheleau, the company’s Vice-President of Sales & Design, the partnership with Bauer provided PragerNuform with an opportunity to leverage all of its experience and acumen to the fullest.

“Bauer came to us with an interesting proposition and request,” he says. “They’re a company that does significant business when it comes to hockey skate sales in Canada. And, its Bauer FitLab presented some really cool technology with a ton of capabilities and ways to enhance the customer experience. But they needed help to bring it to life, offering the user an experiential interaction that’s second-to-none. For us, that meant curating a journey that the customer is guided through seamlessly, immersing them within the process, creating a powerful experience.”

Strong partnerships

To do this, the teams from Bauer and PragerNuform worked with their retail partners to gain store-level insights concerning the development and implementation of the Bauer FitLab. They also leveraged consumer insights to understand exactly how the technology could be used most effectively to create an incredible skate fitting experience. And, working with Aetrex Technology – the developer of the technology used within the Bauer FitLab, and a company that shares Bauer’s vision to help create an enhanced consumer experience through technology and its philosophy of building footwear solutions from the ground up – the leading companies in their respective fields set out to bring the concept to life.

Prior to PragerNuform’s introduction to the process, the technology, although presenting seemingly boundless potential when it comes to what it can offer within the skate shopping experience, was, according to Rocheleau, simply a scanner that attached to a screen. He explains that Bauer needed a display partner with the capabilities and expertise required to design, execute and manufacture an innovative display that draws customers in to the technology in order to make them aware of its benefits. To achieve this, Rocheleau says that the PragerNuform team started where it always does – with the customer in mind.

“One of the first questions that we asked ourselves was: ‘how do we make this come to life for the consumer in a way that engages them, while informing and inspiring them as well,” he asserts. “And, for us, designing this experience was all about guiding the consumer through the journey, providing them with moments of connection with the brand that are interactive and meaningful. We wanted to make it fun for the customer, too, while respecting the traditional Canadian skate shopping experience, elevating and enhancing it to new heights. And, we also knew that we needed to help build a space that allowed for the range of movement required to deliver on such an immersive experience.”

Form and function

The Bauer FitLab features a dedicated experiential consumer skate fit space within a number of authorized retail locations housing everything that any hockey enthusiast needs to get their game on. The centrepiece of the Bauer FitLab is, of course, the scanning unit which is equipped with a digital touchscreen that allows consumers to learn about the unique qualities of their feet, and receive recommendations concerning different pieces of performance as well as related information about the products. It was an element of the project that informed PragerNuform concerning the things it needed to consider when developing the design of the Bauer FitLab and framework for the experience that it would offer. It required what Rocheleau describes as a perfect balance between form and function in order to be as effective as everyone had hoped.

“The traditional hockey skate shopping experience is such an important part of any aspiring hockey players’ life,” he recognizes. “And, just like most everything else, it’s also an experience that continues to change and become more nuanced and detailed. Our job was to incorporate all of the elements of the Bauer FitLab in a way that’s both intuitive and engaging for the customer as well as striking from a brand perspective and consumer appeal point-of-view. So, we needed to figure out how to develop a functional space where Bauer could showcase their products and technology, and invite consumers in to learn more about these products and try out the entire Bauer FitLab experience, while ensuring that its aesthetic attributes were striking enough to encourage that level of enhanced engagement. To do this, we had to be cognizant of the fact that the entire Bauer FitLab is just as much a pointof-purchase display as it is a retail fixture. With that in mind, we wanted to create something that drew the consumer in with a highly considered use of materiality and graphics while keeping them engaged with the experience by effectively highlighting the technology and Bauer’s excellent range of hockey products.”

Ensuring long-term use

In addition to all of the considerations that were required with respect to the products and hockey skate fitting process, the PragerNuform team also had to incorporate flexibility into the design in order to ensure its maximized long-term use by Bauer and their selected authorized retail locations. This added yet another layer into the development of the design, challenging the retail display and fixture leader to innovate and lean on the creativity that it’s become known for over the years in order to help its client achieve its desired results and become the hockey skate leader in retail.

“We needed to make sure that the Bauer FitLab, and all of the elements that it houses, looked as elevated and clean as possible,” he explains. “We needed all of the fixture elements to be easily interacted with by the consumer. And it needed to be rugged as well. However, because of the ever-evolving nature of the hockey skate shopping experience, we also needed to ensure that just about every element of the design was interchangeable and able to constantly reflect current trends, brands, makes and models. We were also asked to create a couple different versions of the Bauer FitLab – one for stores that had enough space to include a FitLab table where items are displayed and showcased, and one for stores that lack the required space to do so. For the latter, we designed a table with a high back that is significantly shallower that can slide up snugly on a wall, allowing those retail locations to house the Bauer FitLab and all of its functionality in less space. The idea behind every decision we made with respect to this project was to make sure that every element that we included is interchangeable, flexible, and reusable over time, providing the greatest positive impact possible.”

Continued growth trajectory

The PragerNuform team developed the design for Bauer creating it in-house and working with a vendor in China to manufacture the units, while meeting all desired specifications and criteria for the Bauer FitLab displays and fixtures. Since its launch, Rocheleau explains that the Bauer FitLab’s design has been so well received that it’s garnered additional work for the company which also recently developed fixtures for Bauer’s line of apparel. And, he says based on PragerNuform’s plans, the positive growth trajectory the 86 yearold company is enjoying is only set to continue.

“A project like this is a huge opportunity for us. It not only allowed us to work with a world-class partner in Bauer, enabling us to leverage all of our in-house knowledge and expertise, but it also challenged us to raise our own standards and to expand our perspectives of what’s possible. And, we’re going to continue to do more of the same, seeking out partners that are looking to take their businesses to the next level. By providing guidance and our specialized understanding of the industry and the processes involved in developing and executing a bold and ambitious design, our goal is to help bring brands and products to life.”

For more information about PragerNuform and the services that it offers its clients, visit www. pragernuform.com.