In this monthly update we would like to inspire you by sharing some innovative concepts which are adapting to the retailtrends: Omni Integration, Extreme Convenience, Extreme Experience and Sustainable Practices. This month, the trend Extreme Experience will have our attention with trends from CVS Health Club, Dengo and Fætter BR. Which breaking brands will inspire you?
About the trend
Before the corona outbreak, consumers were craving physical experience and entertainment. This trend has been slowed down by Covid-19. Nonetheless, consumers have the need to interact with retailers and brands through digital engagement. Retailers and brands are pushed to offer innovative concepts that replace previous face-to-face experience with interactive online solutions. Consumers do not choose products based solely on functional value, but, rather, based on emotions that engagement and experience ensure. Intensive storytelling and strong content are paramount to creating identification and emotional ties, boosting brand loyalty.
#1 CVS Health Hub | USA
CVS is the largest pharmacy health care provider in the United States and with the acquisition of Aetna in 2018, they became a pharmacy and health insurer under one umbrella. CVS HealthHUBs are a step up from the traditional CVS Pharmacies and place an emphasis on prevention and chronic disease management with services such as sleep apnea assessments and blood draws. HealthHUB location selection is strategic. The company leverages Aetna’s data on its members’ health conditions to inform the expansion strategy. CVS plans to have a chain of 1,500 HealthHUBs, wellness-focused stores devoting 20% of floor space to health products and services, by the end of 2021 as part of its enterprise growth strategy. CEO Larry Merlo stated that approximately 100 HealthHUBs were active as of May 2020. Health Hub concept transforms CVS location from a traditional transactional experience to an engaging community destination for both acute and preventative healthcare. The concept leverages an upskilled team, digital tools and an expanded assortment to provide resources on site to educate consumers and provide solutions to their health issues in one convenient location.
#2 Dengo | Brazil
Dengo created a virtual store with physical experience. Dengo is a Brazilian specially chocolates/coffee brand and store with a value proposition focused on purpose, high quality products and sustainability: their brand tagline is “Pleasure with Purpose”. They offer high quality chocolates from Brazilian cacao sourced by small independent and local Brazilian producers. The brand’s goal is to develop a sustainable development protecting the environment and transforming the producers’ lives and their communities. The chocolate creations use traditional Brazilian fruits, nuts and flavors according to their harvest season creating new and unique products. Their store is all about experience, connecting with customers, targeting their senses and storytelling about the brand, the producers and the products. Due to Covid-19, Dengo was forced to close their physical stores and focus on the digital channels and had to reinvent their online experience to deliver the same value proposition from the physical stores. The solution was to create an online store where customers can access a live stream of a real store in a shopping mall where they can interact in real time with a sales associate that could deliver the brand value proposition in the digital world.
#3 Fætter BR | Denmark
Danish grocery giant Salling Group took over Danish toy chain Fætter BR in early 2019 and is now working to transform the stores into giant playgrounds with hands-on experiences, rather than just stores with shelves full of products. The chain has already opened five stores within the new concept, and all of them are designed to put play into focus. The new store concept engages visiting children to play and participate in the stores’ different playgrounds and themed universes, and children can e.g. experience a four meter tall Barbie-house, a pirate ship, a pool filled with Legos to build, an action zone, a race track and much, much more. Additionally, the store offers different events and activities, that makes it even more interesting for the small customers to visit the stores; e.g. a Disney’s Frozen or Harry Potter event, where the children can be face-painted to fit the theme. The Fætter BR experience store shows how a toy store can stay competitive in a world where online is taking a bigger share of the market. By actually transforming the store into a play universe and engaging their customers through different play universes, Fætter BR is able to attract more customers to the stores by adding the social dimension to the concept and thus giving them another reason to visit other than simply buy products, which could have been done online.