PRINTABLE VERSION HERE

Self-proclaimed "the most interesting store in the world", Showfields opened a 1300sqm, four-storey space in New York City’s NoHo neighborhood in December 2018. In this new concept, a mix of curated DNVB and brick and mortar brands are housed in a most theatrical environment. It is a place for online brands, such as Nuria (beauty), Wet (swimsuit) and Paneros (clothing) to get a glimpse at physical retail and get a new customer baseline.

The store allows for offline and online worlds to collide as customers can both touch the products and use touchscreens to explore additional items or make purchases.

What makes Showfields different from other retailers, which function somehow similarly: curated brands and rotating assortments, like Joyce (HK), Galeries Lafayette Champs-Elysées (Paris) or Neighborhood Goods, Dover Street Market (US) and SKP-S (Beijing)? Or like b8ta (US), which also houses Direct-To-Consumer brands for their first dive in physical retail? The answer: theatre.

It is immersive

At Showfields brands get to showcase their products in a totally immersive décor. Where multi-brand stores install a brand next to the other, Showfields goes deeper as each brand corner features an environment relevant to its items. Think bathtub and mirrors for beauty products, and sofas and beds for quilts and pillows. Brands configure their space online via a six-step process; it will then be fitted out and staffed by Showfields. All the tech comes as part of the deal, including mobile POS and data sensors which provide real-time data to each brand inside the store, using heat mapping to show what products customers are touching, picking up and lingering in front of. Brands can rent a space on a monthly basis, with a four-month commitment minimum. Note that Showfields does not make money out of product sales, only on renting spaces.

But Showfields is not alone on that segment since other retailers worldwide also offer immersive experience to the customers. Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster is very well known for its physical locations which vary a lot from one place to another. Each time it offers an immersive experience in a meticulous décor inspired by the environment and the city the store it is located in.

American designer Blaine Holvorson does the same with his Madeworn brand. His Los Angeles showroom, accessible upon appointment, is divided into three spaces staging three decors, three stories.

More recently, winter clothes brand Canada Goose opened The Journey: a Canada Goose experience in Toronto. The inventory-free concept store pushes the boundaries of e-commerce and retail. The top feature is the Cold Room, where products can be tested in temperature set at -12 degrees Celsius, while being surrounded by floor-to-ceiling Arctic landscapes and real snow. However, you cannot purchase merchandise in the store, you will have to order them online (via instore screens).

Some brands, with a specific immersive décor, manage to recreate the experience offered in their standalone store in a department store corner -for instance French cosmetics brand L’Officine Buly with its apothecary counters or American label Urban Outfitters with brass pipes and furniture- but not all brands’ corners in department stores are immersive, contrary to House of Showfields as the full store offers complete immersion.

Last summer the retailer launched House of Showfields, a 30-minute sensory theater production featuring six brands and designed for customers to touch, smell and taste the products. The experience, and the whole store for that matter, is not staffed with salespeople, but with actual actors who are trained to tell the story of the brands. Customers get caught in a brand’s story, without feeling pushed to buy. What’s more theatrical than that? Yet, it is reported that L’Officine Buly also staff its stores with actors instead of salesperson, to give even more storytelling to the brand.

The opening of the House of Showfields show draw a 33% gross in traffic, and a 50% sales increase (as of last fall).

It is “instagrammable”

Another asset that comes with having an immersive space is that, in a time where social media account for a big part of people’s exchange, it makes the place highly instagrammable. Influencers are the new fashion models and brands ambassadors, and the new generation of customers Gen Z are fond of short video media Tik Tok, pictures platform Instagram and other social networks.

Once again Showfields is not the only retailer to offer unforgettable pictures for your social accounts. Beauty brand Glossier, who’s brand identity already shows well in its product recognisable packaging (imitating paint tubes or coloured in a pink blush), showcases its items in clean, immersive decors. For example the Los Angeles store imagines a drive through the desert and even replicates Arizona’s Antelope Canyon in a separate room.

Museum of Ice Cream (MOIC) started as a colourful, pop-up museum playground highly instagrammable. It even had an actual pool of ice cream sprinkle, where Beyonce and Jay-Z took a dive. The experience eventually turned into a brand and opened an ice cream store in NYC, The Pint Shop,  just as much as intagrammable as their itinerant museum.

It is exclusive

The House of Showfields could relate to the notion of ‘incubators’ has it bets on lesser-known DNVBs that need physical exposure to gain customers. In the light of the recent demonstrations across the U.S.A., the store has dedicated an entire section to Black-owned business brands. Adding to all that the fact that items are showcased within a time-limited frame, it makes them all new each time you come back, exclusive, and desirable.

In that, Neighborhood Goods is similar has its offer regularly rotates, and varies from one store to another, reinforcing the sentiment of exclusivity.

Many retailers have understood the importance of exclusivity and already take advantage of that, especially department stores which host pop-ups and collaborations, with items made exclusively for the store event; through exhibitions at Le Bon Marché (ex: Los Angeles Rive Gauche, Let’s Go Logo) or collab at Selfridges (ex: The Co.Lab in partnership with Highsnobiety)

The difference with Showfields is that it is an exclusive show all year-round. Department stores with all-year dedicated pop-up spaces can offer a similar level of exclusivity.

It is a gallery

Imagined kind of like a museum, customers wander from one brand to another and discover a new universe each time. At the end of the journey, they step into The Lab, which is like the gift shop at the exit of an exhibition or a tourist attraction. All items previously experienced in the store can be purchased in The Lab. We can make a parallel with furniture giant Ikea, which also offers an immersive experience where you wonder inside the store, passing from rooms to rooms to finally pick up items at the end of the visit. A formula that seems to be working as the turnover of the group has only been increasing since 2004 (from EUR 12,9bn in 2004 to EUR 38,8bn in 2018 according to Statista).

In the end, Showfields does not force any purchase on customers, but offers actual experience to have people coming back and eventually buying items. Bringing people inside through events in hope to turn their visit into a shopping trip. Isn’t it what Selfridges is doing with its instore movie theatre? Or what IADS member Galeries Lafayette did with a glass walkway in its Haussmann flagship to attract instagrammers? Or any other department stores with dining experiences or beauty services for that matter? Not to mention the Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates that offers access to a ski slope inside a mall.

So what’s more to Showfields?

As demonstrated above, Showfields is not completely revolutionising retail as we know it. Other brands and other retailers offer similar experiences and features in their locations. The retailer features a large assortment to reach out to a variety of customer range: from dog food to beauty products and digital items, it is a store for anybody.

But the real strength of House of Showfields can be that it is all at the same time: it is a store, it is a gallery, it is an experience, it is instagrammable, it is digitally enabled. Plus, there is a slide to go down from the third to second floor.

We can compare the attraction of Showfields to the one of Story when it first opened in NYC. But now that the concept has been bought by Macy’s and that founder Rachel Shechtman has left, it has somehow lost its appeal. Will Showfields experience the same decline and what will be left of it once/if the novelty has passed?

Showfields is funded by several ventures, and, as of this date, turnover information has not been released.

How about experiential retail in the Covid-19 era

How a store, that is all about the immersive physical experience, deals with the Covid-19 pandemic when people are reluctant to spend much time outside of their safe environment? As a response to the health measures, House of Showfields launched an App called ‘Magic Wand’. While inside the store, customers use their phone to tap or scan a display object, and the app will provide additional information on it. The app also allows customers to get prices, add items to a digital cart, and check out without interacting with a store associate. They can pick up a bag full of sanitized products on their way out.

Originally not a response to any sanitary crisis, but a desire to offer customers the experience they choose, Nike has a similar option in its latest House of Innovation in Paris. While instore, you can order an item through the Nike app and have it delivered directly to you in the store. Try it and buy it at one of the self-checkout stations, without interacting with any sales associates if that is your wish.

Inside Showfields, additionally to the basic safety measures such as mandatory masks, social distancing and hand-sanitising stations, the retailer has decided to focus on brands that guarantee a safe experience, and brands such as Play Doh (kids modelling clay) were removed.

Showfields also offer curated virtual tours of their store, so customers can discover the products and enjoy the experience from the safety of their home.

However, be sure that the instore guided tours bring more than just an introduction on brands and description of products. They are led by actors portraying diverse characters such as scientists, artists, creators, and explorers, to give an even more narrative arc to the store visit and the brands featured.

Moreover, the store gives the possibility to book a guided tour with CEO Tal Zvi Nathanel himself. Has this ever been seen before?

Conclusion

Can department store become immersive experiential space? What can they learn from Showfields? And is experiential physical retail still relevant after a pandemic?

As to the question if department stores can offer immersive experience the answer is yes. Best example is IADS member SKP latest store in Beijing: SKP-S. Designed in partnership with Gentle Monster, the store offers an immersive experience on each of its floors through a purposefully ever-changing landscape. The entire experience is based on the theme Digital-Analog Future and the assumption that, in the distant future, technical leaps will allow the boundaries between human and digital to blur -think massive artificial intelligence. The concept of this new store differs completely from SKP flagship store, which resembles more the ‘traditional’ department store/mall model. The SKP-S store is even is considered a benchmark in forward-thinking retail by Retail Leisure News.

SKP-S follows the same theme and narrative through the entire store, while at Showfields one brand equals one story.

As to the relevancy, one can wonder if physical experience is still a viable option after the pandemic that left people afraid to go out, interact with one another and afraid to touch anything. According to Essential Retail, experience will be digital after Covid-19, even instore. But will it be enough? Is this the end of what was in pass to become the new way of making retail? Showfields manages to keep its experience intact through the crisis, but will it last?

Finally, what can department stores learn from Showfields that they do not already know? Bring experience not necessarily link with the idea of purchasing? Done at Selfridges. Offer an immersive décor? Done at SKP-S. At the end of the day department stores already have the answers and know what they need to do to gain customers. It is up to them to find the right formula that will suit their business best.

Credits: IADS (Louise Ancora)