4 minute read
An Interface To Avoid Vacancies
Freiraum represents tangible brand affinity: it allows customers to experience digital native brands with all their senses.
FREIRAUM AN INTERFACE TO AVOID VACANCIES
Retail-as-a-Service platform Freiraum, launched by Emanuel Elverfeldt and Franz De Waal, aims to connect brands that were previously only available online with vacant retail spaces in prime locations. A pilot project started in January 2020 with the opening of an inaugural Freiraum concept store in the basement of the iconic Quartier 205 shopping centre in Berlin’s “Friedrichstrasse”.
“We are the omnichannel partner for digital Direct-to-Consumer brands seeking offline sales channels. Many modern D2C brands are promoted online and are primarily visible on social media platforms such as Instagram. Accordingly, customers lack the opportunity to experience the merchandise physically before making an informed purchase decision. We strive to make it as easy as possible for brands on our platform to leverage a physical customer experience. We
Freiraum founders Emanuel Elverfeldt and Franz De Waal offer brands direct access to consumers in prime retail spaces that guarantee high customer frequency.
enable them to go offline with a few clicks while still selling products via the Freiraum online marketplace,” explains Emanuel Elverfeldt, who has years of experience in real estate investment. He has worked for, among others, BNP Paribas, Hudson Advisors Lone Star Funds, Cresco Capital Group, and – most recently – as Director Investments at Rocket Internet. “We are reducing the current vacancy rate to counteract the demise of city centres. According to HDE, around 20 percent of retail space will be vacant as of late 2021. Freiraum offers an experience-oriented, digitally connected marketing channel that interlinks online and offline, and enables constantly changing, exciting brands to appear in stationary retail at short notice and flexibly in prime locations. Omnichannel is the future. No matter whether the customer buys on site via a QR code or decides to buy later at home, in both cases the goods are conveniently delivered to the customer’s home,” says Franz De Waal, who, after studying in London and Cambridge and winning several awards, including the Alastair Ross Goobey Award, worked for Tishman Speyer Properties for several years, where he was primarily involved in the development and management of properties in London and Berlin. More than 120 brands are represented on the platform so far, both stationary and digitally connected to the Freiraum app and website.
LIGANOVA POS MEASURABILITY OF THE CLIMATE FOOTPRINT
What is the focal point in terms of sustainable brand presentation at the point-of-sale?
Torsten Dietz, Managing Director Global POS Campaigns at Liganova: CO2 savings at the POS have become a green currency for global brands by virtue of their climate footprint. Sustainability is not a question of instinct. Rather, it is about creating transparency and facts for companies. Objective and validated data must become a decision-making aid in all value creation processes.
What exactly is the Liganova Green Campaign Cycle initiative?
Sustainability efforts in retail must encompass all touchpoints within the customer journey: from ideation to conception, from implementation to rollout. Our climate footprint measurability solution makes KPIs more transparent and serves as a decision-making basis. This involves measuring the CO2 emissions of campaigns along the value chain in order to monitor and control their environmental impact. To this end, we collaborate with DEKRA, the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences and the FSC Association for Responsible Forest Management.
How does this work in practice?
Our data-driven approach allows for accurate measurement of the environmental impact of projects. We analyse the totality of greenhouse gas emissions, from materials to electricity consumption to shipping emissions, and then offer customers a greener alternative. www.greencampaigncycle.com
Torsten Dietz, Managing Director Global POS Campaigns at Liganova. Paper, cardboard, and wood: Adidas offsets CO2 emissions in this POS campaign.
THE 15-MINUTE CITY LIVELY, USEFUL – SMART?
Everything you need within a 15-minute radius of home: pop-up offices, food markets, pleasant meeting places, and services ranging from shipping to legal advice. Add schools, care facilities, and plenty of greenery. This is how Sorbonne professor Carlos Moreno envisages the 15-Minute City. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hildago, campaigned with this concept even before the pandemic struck. Now the 15-Minute City is emerging on the international stage as an important building block of economic recovery. More pedestrian and bicycle traffic improves more than just the air. For the fashion industry, this means shifting the focus from retail temples in high-frequency streets to smaller boutiques in individual neighbourhoods. Farewell, monotony!
Photo: Sylvain Leurent
Christoph Stelzer, Managing Director of dfrost Retail Identity
