Providing a Differentiated Experience Beyond Sales Purposes
In the fashion industry, the ‘space business’ is emerging as a new trend. Offline stores, which used to focus solely on sales, are transforming into complex cultural spaces where participatory classes and exhibitions can be held, serving as channels to maximize brand experience.
According to the industry on the 7th, designer brand Amomento opened a flagship store of about 100 pyeong in Hyoja-dong, Jongno-gu on the 2nd, decorating one floor as a brand archive zone, installation exhibition space, and lounge. Various experiential spaces were prepared so that visitors could experience differentiated brand value beyond just shopping.
Lifestyle select shop Biscuit also designed its offline store as a complex cultural space where shopping, cafe, classes, and exhibitions can be enjoyed all at once. The offline store in Gyeongridan-gil, Yongsan-gu offers various services simultaneously, allowing customers to enjoy shopping on one side and coffee on the other. The exhibition space displays collaborative works with various artists, delighting customers’ eyes. The exhibits change on a monthly basis. Biscuit’s policy is to make the offline store a hideout space where customers can relax.
This is interpreted as a result of offline stores seeking new roles after a decline in consumer visits following COVID-19. In fact, the U.S. department store industry also attempted to transform offline stores into small cultural spaces equipped with various services after COVID-19. A representative example is Nordstrom, a U.S. apparel retailer, which opened small roadshop stores called Nordstrom Local, providing customers with fashion services such as clothing fitting and styling.
Recently, Samjong KPMG published ‘The Big Blur Era and the Next Business in the Distribution Industry,’ citing space business as a new trend sweeping the distribution industry. According to the paper, offline stores are evolving from uniform store formats into spaces with various formats as their unique sales functions are taken over by online channels.
An industry insider analyzed, "The distribution industry is contemplating not ‘how to sell more products’ through offline stores, but ‘how to provide more differentiated experiences,’" adding, "Space business has emerged as a strategy that the offline industry must consider inevitably."
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