EXCLUSIVE: The North Face deploys immersive tech in London flagship
The North Face is offering a multi-sensory in-store experience at its London flagship location.
Chain Store Age recently spoke with Martina Cerletti, retail marketing director, The North Face EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa), about how the outdoor apparel and gear retailer revamped the London store space to go beyond traditional shopping in partnership with in-store experiential media provider Mood Media to provide an integrated space that combines realistic virtual simulations of nature with the physical shopping environment.
The North Face is a banner of VF Corp., whose other brands include Timberland and Vans.
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Why did The North Face decide to create an immersive store environment?
For us, the store serves not only as a location for product sales and services, but also as a basecamp that should equip and inspire consumers for exploration. We want to immerse the consumer in an experience that makes them feel how far our product can take them; a hub preparing them for their next adventure.
Why did you select Mood Media as an immersive in-store technology partner?
Mood Media offers integrated audio and video solutions that include a wide range of assistance services and remote control that allow us to quickly change and adapt the experience in store depending on the moment of the year and the story we want to tell.
How would you describe the in-store environment?
Our store is a real basecamp from which different adventures can start. For the hub of the store, we have recreated a campfire setting with base camp duffel bag seating as a community area, under an immersive 3D experience tent where projections of mountain summits change between night and day featuring different weather conditions, as life is outdoors.
To help consumer navigation we have split the consumer journey, zoning areas with wide lightboxes from our athletes' expeditions and featuring active 3D-printed mannequins which are 100% recycled and recyclable, created to inspire adventure.
The space is highly phygital with wide screens at the entrance for brand and product storytelling to help the consumer to understand product benefits and compare products.
All details connect with mountains and outdoors, mimicked in the footwear wall and the welcoming wall built with aluminum grid and rocks. A space is also dedicated to sustainability, offering a range of services to extend the life of our products, from customization, to repair, to returns.
How have shoppers and associates responded?
We ran a customer survey two months after opening the space which gave us a huge amount of confidence in the elevated store concept. We value consumer feedback and always ensure we’re listening to the customer for the best possible outcome.
Are there any future plans for immersive in-store experience you can discuss?
Given the success of this elevated concept, we have already opened a few more locations including Berlin, Chamonix, France and Barcelona. The North Face is planning to open more stores next year, continuing to elevate the consumer experience with this immersive approach.
