Outerwear brand Canada Goose opened The Journey, an experiential store where it ‘snows every day’, in Toronto this month. The zero-inventory store lets customers try products in an immersive Arctic setting, to prove they’re worth the ~USD 1,000 price tag.
Shoppers first don a Canada Goose parka and enter the experience via ‘the crevasse’, which imitates the sound of cracking ice. Brand ambassadors lead them to a -12 degrees C (10 degrees F) room with snow, where video walls show original films about nature. Afterwards, customers can purchase their parka via digital kiosks and receive their order the same or next day.
Whether your brand fits squarely into the retail sector are not, here are two takeaways to inspire you in 2020:
It’s the experience, stupid. Here at TrendWatching, we’re not retail doomsday sayers. But we also can’t ignore that over 9,300 stores are expected to have closed by the end of 2019. The physical retail that will survive – that can convince customers to visit in-person instead of just online – is often retail that offers a truly novel, memorable, sharable experience like the one Canada Goose has created here. Better yet: rather than just creating an experience for experience’s sake, figure out how your space can keep customers – and the community! – coming back. See The North Face’s outdoor education events and the esports hubs at Five Below to jumpstart your brainstorming. What kind of must-visit physical space can you create in 2020?
Tryvertising. Speaking of making experiences more than just…’experiential’, ‘immersive’, [insert marketing buzzword here]...The Journey is a prime example of an experience that’s also a practical service. Canada Goose parkas are expensive, and being able to test the coat in freezing temperatures without having to leave the store is super-useful. Another benefit here? This unique try-on scheme can potentially reduce returns, which in the US alone will cost USD 550 billion in 2020, not to mention their impact on the planet. So when you’re thinking of what more you can add to your CX, maybe skip the selfie station. Can you make your IRL experiences that are equal parts engaging and useful?
New: 2020 trend events
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