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Why brands will spend 2020 breaking into local markets
What’s “in store” for 2020? According to the State of Fashion 2020, it’s a new wave of localized retail. As consumer demand rises for convenience and sustainability, retailers are tapping into omnichannel strategies to open smaller, locally relevant stores that complement their flagships. This approach drives customer acquisition and sales while keeping operating costs low. The report projects that “more than half of fashion executives believe a ‘localized brick-and-mortar experience’ will be a top theme in the coming year.”
Universal Standard has successfully launched four “experiential spaces.” Each hybrid showroom/clubhouse echoes the energy of the brand and the neighborhood, creating a space consumers can utilize on their own terms. In another effort, Nordstrom Local has developed small locations that focus on tailoring, styling, and pick up/return services. Each store is carefully designed to suit the needs of the individual location; Manhattan’s Upper East Side has a stroller cleaning service, while the Melrose shop in LA offers nail care. Customer service amenities have long proven influential in retail - the reach of Rimowa’s Client Care Centers for luggage repairs famously led to its $716m acquisition by LVMH in 2016.
As brands spend 2020 breaking into smaller, local marketplaces in very curated ways, the idea of a store as a community space is reinforced through omnichannel retail strategy. This in turn is likely to promote the launch of different profit centers, as services drive more people in-store.