GRUP IDEA attended the conference: PLAYRETAIL TALKS “THE CRAZY RETAIL EXPERIENCE”.
Organized by Retail Design Institute Spain on 6th July in Estrella Damm Former Factory in Barcelona.
This event was held under the Congress of Architecture 2016, which take place from June to November 2016 in Barcelona.
Speakers: María Callís, Alpenstock. Retail strategy – Lisardo Mendo,ODOS. Visual Merchandising- Cristina Carvajal, Milimetric. Arquitectura del espacio – Màrius Sala, KNOCK. Branding, – Miquel Àngel Julià, Nuklee. Core design for brands, La caja escénica, – Núria Torrents, Microlights. Lighting retail, – Albert López, Somfy, Light change management, – Ignasi Morató, Commercial Interior Designer, Réplica – Juan Luís de Madariaga, BIM Manager, Cross-information Management- Mercé Clavel, Gic Retail .- Conclution, Artur Bossy, Case Study.
As visitors we have to say it was well organized and the content was very interesting for those who work intensively in the retail world. Down below some of our taken notes:
The most important thing for any kind of business is the reason why. Normally companies have very clear what they do, however they don’t know the reason, why they are working in. We must focus on what we do best, and do not try to do everything. There is a need to create trends, but not copy them.
The shop is not a point of sale, it is a communication channel. It has to explain the mission, the values. The entrepreneur must determine what he wishes to explain.
The dynamic of the point of sale cannot be improvised. It is necessary long term planning. For example Nike reports activities and customers come to them. The product and the sale is the result of all these and it is not an end in itself. It is about creating the circumstances to make things happen for customers to purchase.
Small retailers either do it very well or they disappear. A value proposition is a story and it is what brands have to tell.
In Primark the cashdesk has become a retail store. “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up elsewhere.”
It’s necessary to be dramatic and drastic to run up. We must find something easy to remind. If it is about visual merchandising, the business dies. It intends to communicate and dialogue with the client. Normally it is the brand who speaks. It is established a communication code powerful enough enable to change. However it is not always good, normally those who enter are the last ones, but in the ideal case they should being there at the beginning.
“Received Information – Transmitted information – Immediate action – Agility. Ephemeral nature but solid”. “Design – Implementation – Change” and again begins the wheel of design. The surprise factor is important.
The experience must be WOW. We all talk about the shopping experience; however there are few designs which surprise. Choreography and corners, layout creation process… The retail in Spain lags behind that is done in the rest of Europe. The protagonist is the PRODUCT!!!! There are always flexible interior spaces as part of the changing design.
The design must include EMPATHY. We must get into the body of buyer. The stores are not for us, but for the target customers. We have to think what the customer wants. The store staff is an key variable. If sales clerks are happy, they will increase sales. Constant change inside the store, light is very important.
Story telling. Design as sum of specialists. Multi-taskers man doesn’t work because the result will not be good. Everything seems casual but it is not. For example UPS requires dispatchers to wear cleaned shoes and the delivery van. It is not casual, it is a differentiating factor.
ALL TO GET A PURPOSE… HAVE CONCEPT+DISCIPLINE. Then everything else follows and flows naturally.
The interior design should take into account from the start of the business concept. “Design thinking” is the methodology that allows knowing who has to be in the center (client and user).
“Open innovation” is the best method to create. Power is not withholding information but what to do with that data. You have to erase the boundaries of the concepts and disciplines that the sum of the different factors that intervene in a business concept and multiply the design.
The “Brandscaping” transform the brand into a physical location.
The architectural graphic is not to place the logo. It’s something more.
The design of spaces in retail is like putting ships into bottles.
The materials are chosen during the creative process, in this way they transmit together.
The details are design. Without the light, we would not exist. The opposite of light it is not the shadow, but the dark.
The design of the lighting in the retail sector is essential. The aim is to evoke contrast and glare inside the store.
Lighting is to bring light into a space and much more. It’s necessary to highlight the product. We have to choose a suitable color temperature to the product and always calculate the correct distance to light it.
How does a party resemble a store? What we do to sell more? The store has to make some pro activity. It’s necessary to combine the 5 senses. THE RETAIL TENDS TO GO TO LEISURE. We just remember the good that happened to us. Nobody remember bad things.
The implementation of spaces is a battlefield, without hostages. Either you win or you lose.
The scenario shows an opportunity to see how it works and how it can be improved.