Fan Base: Retailers create higher level of engagement with in-store activity hubs
Image credit: Ted Eytan, CC by 2.0
While many retailers are focused on making stores a destination to experience, some aim for an even higher level of customer engagement by casting themselves in the role of community center.
Others have even become a global destination for enthusiasts. These retailers understand that one way to energize a fervent fan base is to offer a singular fan base. Here are a few examples:
Mecca for Coffee Converts
To call Seattle’s Starbucks Roastery anything less than a living museum for coffee lovers would be a disservice to this coffee culture mecca in the heart of the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Only nine blocks from the first ever Starbucks is where CEO Howard Schultz chose to place what he calls the “Willy Wonka of coffee.”
Visitors watch coffee being made in this working roastery as they sip on espresso brewed from those very beans. Tubes run from the roaster to the bar, delivering fresh small batches of single-origin coffee. This immersive experience includes a restaurant, multiple coffee bars and meeting spaces. For now, this is a one-of-a-kind destination. That is, until the second 20,000-square-foot roastery opens in New York’s Meatpacking District in late 2017. It’s an easy bet that a large chunk of the 12.2 million international tourists that visit the city will find their way to that new coffee mecca.
Yoga Rally
Every week, Lululemon stores and showrooms push their products aside, unroll yoga mats and turn their spaces into instant yoga studios. While their yoga pants may run $90 a pair, classes are complimentary and led by instructors from local community studios. The classes run about an hour and once over, the store opens up for business as usual with an entire room of captive customers.
Outdoor Sport’s Indoor Home Base
REI, the retail chain carrying gear, apparel and footwear for a wide range of outdoor and fitness activities, made a splash over Black Friday when it shuttered its doors for its #OptOutside campaign. What might seem like a shocking shunning of shopping’s biggest day was in fact just a nuanced understanding of what appeals to REI’s core customer. It’s that understanding that makes the store, a premier provider of outdoor goods, the destination spot that it is. REI offers classes and activities for outdoorsy folks; practical hiking and camping skill classes, guided tours, Gourmet Camp Cooking and Wilderness Survival.
Bottom line: It’s not just about attracting customers, it’s about providing them with a memorable experience – one that will keep them there and coming back for more. If you haven’t already, it may be time you considered offering a hands-on experience like yoga, fitness or cooking classes within your store. A little investment can go a long way toward attracting and retaining a loyal base.