Next Store: Rules of Engagement

Last fall, I participated in a roundtable discussion about the impact of social media on store design. While the participants were all brilliant and top of their fields, the conversation was actually rather dry, as each of us struggled with the realization that virtually every example we could think of was really about “mobile retail,” not “social media.”

It was this epiphany, rather than the social media content, that struck home: Today’s mobile phone enables shoppers to do anything in the store that they used to do at home, with or without the participation or permission of the retailer.

Social media is a concept that certainly has a lot of hype around it, even sparking an Academy Award nominated movie about the founding of Facebook. The Facebook URL and icon have become ubiquitous in ads and signage, and the English language has seen the introduction of words like “tweet,” “de-friend” and “status update” in the past couple years.

For the most part, retailers have been quick to jump on the tools offered by social media companies like Facebook and Twitter. In 2010, about 50 percent of retailers had pages on Facebook. But for most retailers, social media remains more of an elusive goal than a practical tool to generate profits. Real ROI is hard to quantify, complicating the already fuzzy impression of the impact of the Web on the store experience and sales. Missteps abound, amplified instantly through millions of Web users: Kenneth Cole’s tweet comparing the troubles in Egypt to his spring collection instantly spawned a firestorm of criticism on Twitter, including a parody account that attracted as many followers in one day as the real designer had in total.

Given the vagueness of the investment return and the potential pitfalls from doing it wrong, who could blame store designers from shying away from social media?

Lori Schafer and Bernie Brennan, authors of the book “Branded! How Retailers Engage Consumers with Social Media & Mobility,” certainly would. “The store simply hasn’t caught up with the rapid evolution of the digital and online worlds,” says Brennan. “There’s an enormous opportunity and now is the time to address that schism.”

The book offers a number of case studies of how retailers like Starbucks, JCPenney, Zappos and Best Buy are using social media and mobility to engage with their shoppers, both online and, increasingly, in-store.
Brennan and Shafer offered up some specific insights into how store designers can begin to explore social media and bring it into their discipline.

Execution, both in technology and process, must  be flawless

“Most of the experiences store designers have had with technology have been that it doesn’t work,” says Brennan. While there are numerous examples backing up this point of view, it can’t be used as an excuse on either side: Store designers need to learn how to use the technology, and IT departments need to learn how to support it in-store. Both Schafer and Brennan are quick to point out that social media excellence isn’t a substitute for being best-in-class in the other essentials of retailing, either. “Having great social media doesn’t help if your pricing model is off, for example,” says Schafer. “You can have a great multichannel experience but shoppers still won’t buy if they think your prices are too high.”

Store designers need a more powerful seat at the table

With social media requiring the active support and participation from virtually every department within the retail enterprise, coordinating the shopper experience has become even more important. The store designer needs the support to play an active role in creating this experience, both in and out of the store. “High-level executive buy-in to the role of the store designer is a must,” says Brennan. The rapid introduction of shopper-facing technology disrupts the traditional balance between “business” and “IT,” so active leadership from store design is essential to making social media work with the in-store environment.

Social media is rapidly moving out of showcases and into the mainstream retail environment

While Times Square flagship stores in New York have long used digital “tricks” to showcase the brand, most of the experiences playing out on 50-foot-high digital screens in front of these stores don’t translate into the hundreds or thousands of locations those chains operate across the country. “Social media is, by definition, about sharing and communicating,” says Schafer. “So it’s becoming more ubiquitous and more powerful as it spreads through chains.” One example is Metropark, a Los Angeles-based specialty apparel chain that has installed screens in hundreds of its stores that share tweets from customers in other locations. “This is bringing the social experience into the store experience,” adds Schafer.

It has to work simply for the shopper in the store

Though social media has a low learning curve compared to some technologies (the fastest growing user segment on Facebook isn’t young tech adopters, it’s 45- to 54-year-old women), bringing it into the store creates an expectation in the shopper’s mind that it will be a working part of the retail environment. And if they need it, help will be at hand. “We promote to the shopper that they can use their phone to read a QR code and get all sorts of great information when they’re in the store. But what happens when they can’t quite read it using their phone?” asks Brennan. “The sales associates don’t know how to support it, so the shopper is left even more frustrated.” Retailers deploying social media applications into the store must consider how to support shoppers when challenges do arise.

It’s still always about the design

In March, the store design industry converged in Düsseldorf at EuroShop to see the latest trends in everything from mannequins to wallcoverings. Though technology was a focus at the expo, most of the solutions showcased were in areas other than social media. But one vendor, vinyl flooring vendor Centiva, stood out with a QR code on the floor of its booth. The display was remarkable in how it brought the worlds of mobile technology, social media and design together:

• It shows off their product. The QR code was actually assembled of cut vinyl pieces, so it literally shows the company’s capabilities.

• It’s intuitive. Many QR codes take the user “somewhere,” but the integration of the well recognizable “F” makes it obvious that this will lead to the company’s Facebook page.

• It’s beautiful. In the end, store design is about art and experience and inspiration, and this shouldn’t stop with social media being a part of the mix. Colors, textures, feelings and themes must continue to be the driving forces behind a design, with new technologies like mobile and social media stepping in to support the vision, instead of the other way around.

Jim Crawford is executive director of the Global Retail Executive Council (grec), an international association, and a principal at Taberna Retail, a global retail shopping experience consulting company. You can reach him at http://about.me/jimcrawford.