WHEN YOU THINK of visual merchandising, it’s doubtful thoughtful displays of residential windows and doors come to mind. In the case of AIS Experience Center, one of the goals of its new merchandising strategy was to elevate the window/door buying experience and make it a little more exciting for the average customer.
“Windows and doors are a low-involvement category in the interiors of a home,” says Surender Gnanaolivu, Sr. Consultant Retail Experience and Lead Strategy, Four Dimensions Retail Design. “More often than not, the consumer doesn’t pay nearly as much attention to these as [they do] to paints, bathroom fittings, tiles and other interior elements. The experience center’s core objective was to change their perception of buying windows for the home.”
Housed in a tight 2010 square feet and aiming to highlight the brand’s product features including acoustics, aesthetics, security, privacy and energy efficiency, several vignettes like Window to the Balcony, Window to the Garden and Window to the Street allow customers to visualize the elements in their homes and experience the product’s showcased properties.
Product vignettes throughout helped customers visualize windows in their homes and learn more about the product’s features.
A Brand Chat Zone at the store’s entrance features a mural wall, a ceiling comprising transparent cubes and a glass-sculpture-inspired history table; projections on the glass mural wall present brand messaging. A Design Studio has an interactive “lift and learn” table with RFID-embedded samples and a materials library. A VR station provides customers a chance to view recommendations, and a café is there for brief respites between meetings.
“The combination of tactile and virtual experiences helped customers understand the core technical features of the offerings and make very precise, informed decisions in the environment,” says Gnanaolivu, in terms of “speaking” to the customer through its visual merchandising. “Experiential storytelling helped deliver the brand’s leadership in this domain and its strength in product innovation.”
PHOTO GALLERY (16 IMAGES)
Photography: Santhosh R, Bangalore
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