Gymshark Shows How Being Physical is Very Different from Online Trading

A GOOD ONLINE BRAND should translate to a good physical brand. This seems like a matter of common sense. Unfortunately, all too often common sense does not apply in this scenario, as products may be the same, but the manner in which a transaction takes place is very different and a different line of thinking is required.

The second physical store from the eponymous U.K. gym apparel brand Gymshark is a case in point for what’s needed and how different the two channels can be. Gymshark is a brand that has been up and running as an “e-tailer” since its 2012 founding by Ben Francis when he was a student. Since then, the brand has moved beyond its online followership, and in late 2022, a two-floor flagship (the only store) opened on London’s Regent Street, differentiating itself from most other sports stores.

This meant exercise rooms, in-store fitness classes and mannequins based on real people rather than athletic ideals. There was even a graphic in the store that made the point about the transition from virtual to bricks and mortar: “From URL to IRL.”

A second store has recently opened in East London’s Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre. This one is less than half the size of the Regent Street emporium, but it is very much like the first as there are no physical checkouts, the emphasis is on the activity (sections for “lifting” and “conditioning”), rather than dividing things up by garment type. Practically, this is something akin to a series of webpages that just happen to be in a store, but unlike a website, there is the total effect to consider and there is considerable interaction with the sporty sales associates.

All of which means that while this looks and behaves in many ways like an e-tailer, putting it together is a very different process. What works on one channel might not if a straight translation is done without considering the business of shoppers and physical shopping. Oh yes, and Gymshark is doing very well both on and offline.