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The online and in-store worlds have, historically, been trying to offer the same thing: simple access to products.
But the dual effects of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, as well as the ever-improving technology on offer, have changed the way we’re looking to shop.
Shops have begun to offer in-store experiences: events, product curation and personalisation. Brands that were previously solely online, too, have started to view the in-store experience as a crucial part of their offering.
“Online is amazing and it’s extremely convenient… [but] the push has come now towards curation experience and actually making it somewhere people want to go to,” managing director of Freshmind, James Callander, added.
Conversion ratios – the percentage of people who make a purchase – remain fundamentally higher in-store, making it crucial for brands can get people back on the high store and into brick-and-mortar.
The trend has picked up along with consumer confidence, which reached a three-year high in June.
Post-pandemic footfall, while still rocky, has begun to show signs of recovery.
The high street is a crucial part of this: In July, footfall on high streets was the only area to show a rise, with footfall at shopping centres and retail centres both falling, according to the British Retail Consortium.
“High streets have been reenergized… If you’re working four days a week. the other day you’re in your local suburb or local High Street. There’s more people around, which therefore means more footfall,” Callander said.
Loop Generation
Pre-loved fashion store Loop Generation is one of the stores changing the way we shop.
“In May, we moved into [a] beautiful store, which allows us to be more than just a shopping destination,” co-founder of Loop Generation, Piotr Krzymowski, said.
“We were sort of petrified and scared at the beginning to step into brick and mortar because we believed in online growth,” he added.
But moving into a store has allowed Loop to build a brand and connect with customers in a way that online retail can’t provide, Krzymowski said. It grew up as an online business selling pre-loved luxury items from the last few seasons, with occasional pop-ups in London and Paris.
“We are here Monday to Friday. We are meeting the sellers, we are meeting the clients. We work very closely with the team… it’s important to be present,” he said.
“It’s very important to bring people to the store with a friendly service with a sense that people associate with you. We have a special scent, we have great lighting, we have great music. We have more playlists that you can listen to on Spotify,” he said.
Stores like Loop have increasingly begun to offer events, too, to expand their offering and give customers a chance to connect with the store and with industry figures. They become attractive when they offer something different – either for direct sharing on social channels or through the opportunity to stage themselves for content.
Ideally, the location acts as a multiplier and makes the brand even more popular.
Wolf watch winders
Wolf, which offers high-end watch winders, has traditionally operated online but recently opened its first-ever pop-up store in Covent Garden.
“At first I was horrified it would be too expensive,” the chief executive of Wolf, Simon Philip, said. “But we started looking into [opening a store] and thought: how could we use that space, how can we help people engage with us?”
“I never thought I’d be a retailer in the traditional sense,” he added. But it “makes sense” to be able to show customers products in person, if only through a pop-up.
“Just one person is enough to make it worthwhile,” Philip said. “It’s about building contact with our consumers… It’s just amazing to be able to have customers walk through the door.
That human relationship is crucial, Henrietta Bamford, consultant at Freshminds, said. The personal aspect is “so important” when building brand loyalty.
There is a trend, as with Loop Generation and Wolf watch winders, to focus sales online first and then experiment with store openings down the line.
Redundancies and closures at countless retail stores make for concerning reading, but for online stores which already have a brand name and following, the temptation is to open one or two stores or pop-ups as a brand hub and to offer more than just a product.
“There are a number of retail outlets now which have a modest retail outlet… but then have a much larger online offering as well. So they’re able to kind of create a local brand in a local area or county, but then also fulfil nationally through mail order,” Callander said.
“Obviously a brick and mortar store is expensive… it’s an expensive business, especially in London, which is why the temptation is to build a brand that’s online first,” Bamford said.
The future is data
Further integration of online and in-store customer experience is likely to be increasingly marked by personalised data usage.
“Utilisation of data in tech is number one [going forward]”, Bamford said. In-store products will become increasingly personalized in the future, she added.
“There’s a [mattress] manufacturer [which is] looking at integrating a mobile app to measure your sleep and the way that you position yourself on a mattress… and then in the store, they’re going to design the mattress to be long-lasting and conducive to your posture,” she said.
As customers, we like to be “informed more and more because of the internet”, she added. “It will [get to a stage] where we’re going to be able to utilise [both online and offline] and it’s going to benefit both buyers and sellers… they really will integrate eventually”.
