A retail display closer to reality....for some people!

The retail world is open to all..then why only make mannequins look non-realistic and perfectly designed?
A beautiful video on how handicapped people were measured to create mannequins that resembled them.
Watch the video at http://www.upworthy.com/i-bet-these-people-never-expected-to-be-models-but-the-results-are-so-gorgeous-2?g=7&c=ufb1

Another idea that sprung up while i was watching this video was that the way people have special stores for over sized people why not come up with special dedicated stores for handicapped people or people with some kind of disability. Coming to special spaces for them where they could experience the brand and its products, socialize with other people with similar thoughts and ideas. Also a place to become a little more in touch with life for all of us and enjoy all as one in a wonderful retail experience.

How will the principles for retail change in the future?

These are some of the principles that i came up with, after researching on Apple, Ikea and some other brands and their respective retail strategies which have made them superior to the others in the market. These principles according to me will cater to the need of the changing phenomena of shopping with the increase of online shopping.

Principles (Subject to change):

1. A Place to socialize: The store should be a place where customers can just hang out, have a fantastic experience, browse machines, talk to people and sales associates. A place where people wander around with a coffee in their hands, spending leisure time with their kids, getting fantastic service and having a little chat with the staff who they know very well. We could look more in terms of the collaboration of shopping centres, high streets with theatres, museums, galleries etc.

2. Value creation for customers: There has to be a shift from ‘How do we sell more stuff,’ to value creation. The store has to help people enrich their lives; it has to add value beyond simply providing merchandise. 

3. Integration between virtual and physical: There should be integration between the virtual and the physical experience. The retail strategy should aim to have an interaction between mobile, Internet and in-store experience in a way that creates value.

4. Intuition Oriented: While planning the retail strategy it is very important to trust your intuition much more than data. If everyone flowed the data, they would all land up in the same place. These days department stores are redundant because they import the same products, price them the same way. They carry the same percent of private label to National Brands. The people whose primary strength is data analysis drive these.

5. Leadership and Deepening Human Connections: The stores are supposed to lead their customers. They should be able to anticipate the customer’s needs even before he knows what he wants.

6. Innovation: The stores need to be more innovative and creative while forming their retail strategies. They could have a completely different relationship with the city, turning city centres into gardens or playgrounds.

7. Exclusivity of brands and products: This will help to avoid the mind from numbering sameness of a product. When you go to a mall it's the same clothes, the same gadgets, the same books etc. The store should aim to provide an experience which is not available anywhere else- it is exclusive!

8. 'A- Job-to-be-done'- a job that has high priority in peoples lives: There should be a clear formula for positioning the retail operations. 

9. Destination Shopping: The stores should be such that the customers visit the stores just to see the local ‘vibe,‘ even if there is no particular ‘need ‘for something. The questions should be –How can we reinvent the stores to enrich our customer’s lives? In doing this we might just create the space in which we can re-cast and revitalize our shopping centre communities.

10. 'Here today Gone tomorrow'- curiosity oriented: There should be a sense of excitement and urgency in the minds of the customers. Customers should be eager to know what is coming next. The retail strategies should be oriented towards something that nobody can find again. This could be something like a site for a number of pop-up stores that changes every week.

11. Experience the Products or the Brand: The brand or products should be readily available for the customers to experience and use. They should get a chance to experience the brand.

Hi, sorry haven't posted for so many days!

I am writing a book for retail display. The title of my book is going to be "Step- by- Step Guide for Retail Display Design" As the name suggests it is going to be book dedicated to those people who are interested in learning how to design retail displays. 

This book is targeting people who have an idea about branding and now want to further specialize in retail design display. My book will teach the entire process of designing a display right from the initial creative thinking strategies to the final production and presentation for the client.

I will be giving my special "tips and techniques" in the middle of the process to make it easier for my audience to follow and come up with amazing displays! This book is also a showcase for my knowledge, ideas and work. It will act as a portfolio and also an instructional piece for others to learn from.

There are some images of my initial developmental work and the major contents, will be posting updates as I write more.

RUN...RUN....RUN

Hi, please view my latest work for NIKE RUNNING and give your comments and suggestions.

This is a pop up store, which has an interactive wall 50m long that is gesture track technology sensitive. It has a menu at one end, which is a record of all the people who have run in front of the wall. The person has to select anyone from the list of names and speeds on the menu according to his capability and race with that person in front of the wall. The wall will track the running of the person and store the speed and result of the race. If the person is able to beat the selected opponent then the winner replaces his name on the menu. This is a good and interactive way to make people run as well as keep a record of all the people who have actually visited the store. Also it will motivate people to try harder next time. There is also an option for them to share their results on Facebook and tweet them as well.

The exterior is made from wood and glass. The shoe display shelf is visible from inside as well as outside because of glass. The modular set up of this pop up is quite simple, since it has been divided into 4 parts, which can be assembled easily. This can be set up near parks, beaches, lakes etc. whichever place people use to exercise and run.

I came to this final concept by using the process of creative thinking, iteration analysis and evaluation.  Finally the concept that fulfilled the criteria developed from the brief was my final concept that I further iterated and developed.

CRITERIA BASED ON THE BRIEF:
One Sport: The design concept displays one area of sport that the brand represents i.e. running.

            Revisit Encouragement: The display provides in incentive to the customer to revisit since, they can try and do better in the race with practice.

            Marketing Strategy: The concept tells the audience exactly what Nike Running wants to promote and encourages them to share their results with others through social media sites. This acts as a good marketing strategy and promotes the brand.

            Brand Engagement: The visitor is able to engage with the concept and hence is able to have a good brand experience.

           After Taste: Its human nature to want to achieve more and more, I feel through this display every person will want to beat someone better than him. Hence this interaction will leave an aftertaste of the brand experience.

 I have also uploaded some of my other design concepts out of which i selected the final one.

OPTION 1: DUSTBIN POP-UP STORE FOR NIKE RUNNING:

This is a pop-up store in the form of a dustbin. It can be set up close to a park or any area where people go for running or walking like a beach or lake in some places. It has a wired mesh wall on the exterior displaying all the unhealthy foods dumped into the bin. There are Nike Running shoes showcased on the wired mesh wall contrasting with the rubbish at the back. The shoes have a QR code on the display windows, which can be scanned for more information. The main concept behind this pop-up is to dump all unhealthy habits and start running to just do it!

On the inside the entire structure is wooden and is in the form of a running stadium with planks of wood used as benches for the stadium and the tracks being created with red sand, with a green circular patch in the centre of the store. The shoe trial benches represent the sitting stands at the stadium with a ramp next to them used for displaying shoes as shown in the image.

The store has a showcase zone even before entering the store so people know what exactly Nike running is all about. On entering it has a trial zone and finally a buying zone where people can

 OPTION 3: NIKE RUNNING TREADMILL POP-UP:

This is a treadmill pop-up store for Nike Running. It is something that uses a lot of new media and technology. It consists of 6 treadmill belts, which have biometric analyzers attached to them with touch sensitive mirrors in front. The person has to get onto a belt and start running, based on the analysis the system will provide suggestions of the perfect shoe for that person based on his body metrics and style of running. These options will be shown on the mirror in front along with his reflection. He can choose the shoe he wants to try on by gesturing in front of the mirror. On doing that he can virtually try on shoes and see how they look on him while running. These is also an option to share with friends on Facebook and get comments and suggestions. Also the shoes can be bought there itself by the pay option.

OPTION 4: NIKE RUNNING POP-UP:

This is a pop-up in a bus. The bus has a not in service and a no entry sign on it stating that start running and walking. It has maps of walking routes in the front motivating people to walk. The shoe prints on the bus indicate walking and the bus showcases Nike Running shoes.

OPTION 5: NIKE CYLINDER POP-UP:

This is a cylindrical structured pop-up, where the outer wall of the store is interactive. I have designed 2 interactive experiences. The first one is a shoelace animation where on running around the wall, which is gesture track sensitive, the shoelace animates into a running stick figure. The second one is based on the Nike Fuel station band concept, which turns red to green if the goal set has been achieved. In this the wall has light bulbs arranged as pixels. On running around the wall with the speed set with the speed setting panel at the bottom the lights turn from red to green. Initially they turn red and on coming close to the goal set the lights start turning green. So colour patterns are created and stored in the data memory. Also these can be shared with friends on Facebook and can be tweeted as well. Also this will help the brand collect data on how many people visited that store and on the number of people who used the interactive wall. Marketing will also happened when people share it with more friends on the social media sites.

Counter Display - Bodyshop

Hi, I am posting a picture of a counter display that i designed for Bodyshop. It is a display used for storing lip balms. Before making the final design for counter display I researched about the brand identity of Bodyshop and tried to incorporate it into my design. Bodyshop is majorly about being natural and all their products are made from fruits and vegetables. Hence i used this in my design and made stickers of the various fruits used to make lip balms.
This display is made using acrylic and has external sockets for tester lip balms. The top lid is removable, inside there are six sections for storing lip balms. Some of the criteria for a good counter display is that it should be compact, easy to access since customers can easily pick up stuff they want to buy, it should be attractive enough for people to buy on impulse at the counter! I have tried to match the above criteria. This display rotates slowly and has a light at the base.

I hope you like it and feel free to post any comments!