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October 2006 - Strategy Magazine
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Retailtainment gets customers cozy
From community-building to lounging in the lap of luxury, ramped up retailtainment efforts cater to consumers' in-store experience

by Lisa D'Innocenzo
page 26

At a Bell Aliant store in St. John's, Nfld., young consumers can square off against their buddies in a unique gaming space, visit their MySpace page in the Internet lounge, or sit back and watch their favourite program on TV.

Dean Roebothan, director of distribution and channel management, says the goal with the refurbished shop, located in the Avalon Mall, was to "get interactive with our customers." He adds: "In a traditional store, you walked in, saw something on display, and if you wanted to buy it you asked somebody. We wanted to be interactive so people could actually be hands-on within the store."

St. John's-based Bell Aliant isn't the only retailer that's using in-store interactivity as a means to get shoppers to hang out. Eric Brouillet, director of brand experience at Vibrant Ideation & Marketing, a below-the-line shop in Montreal, says it's a trend that first emerged about five years ago, but one that keeps getting stronger. "Consumers select stores not only by price point, but also by the experience they provide," says Brouillet, who worked at promo agency Mosaic before starting his own shop. "When they [have an] experience [with] a brand, 35% are more likely to consider that brand. And 57% are more likely to proceed to buy when they have a relevant experience at the retail touch point."

That's what Bell Aliant hoped for with its futuristic, interactive shop, but Roebothan also recognized that a revamp was simply necessary due to product innovation. "Technology in the wireless and high speed Internet world is constantly changing. Traditionally, it would be primarily a cellphone. Now you have interactive gaming, PDAs. Consumers will have a clearer understanding of what the products and services are if they try them, as opposed to reading about them."

Since it opened in October 2005, both traffic and sales at the Avalon store (which won the "New Retail Store Design Concept Award" from the Retail Council of Canada in June), has increased significantly, and the chain is retrofitting other locations based on the success of this model. The shop in the Halifax Shopping Centre has already been renovated, and Roebothan says he hopes to revamp all 20 Bell Aliant branded stores in Atlantic Canada. "It's friendly, it's open and it's interactive, which is the key word."

Like Bell Aliant, Markham, Ont.-based Golf Town aims to provide a friendly, enticing and interactive environment, geared at keeping its target, in this case both men and women, in the stores longer. But Stephen Bebis, president/CEO, of the chain, explains that getting the lighting right was also imperative. "Golf is played outside, and outside it's sunny, it's beautiful, that's the ideal environment to play golf and we wanted the store to feel the same way. We didn't want it dark and dingy or clubby, we wanted it bright."

In the stores, golfers can try before they buy - they can test out a new driver on a putting surface and can even take golf lessons at an in-store teaching academy. Says Bebis: "When people come to our store, they want to improve their game. In order to be able to sell products that improve their game, they need to try them out. The feeling we want them to get is: 'Hey this is a great store to buy from.' It's a series of textures, surfaces, lighting, fixtures, and sales people. It's not one thing, it's a recipe."

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