The Studio Gascoigne team are proud that founder Mark Gascoigne will be speaker at The Purposeful Consumer Sessions, happening on Tuesday ,19 July 2016 4:00pm – 6:30pm at ASB North Wharf, 12 Jellicoe St, Wynyard Quarter, CBD, Auckland.
Smart phones, international online shopping, and a mind-shift in core values – the impact to Retail has been immense. Never before has there been such significant and on-going change in consumer behaviour and expectations. Enter, the Purposeful Consumer.
Purposeful consumers are better connected, better informed and immune to your historic promotional tactics – it’s time for Retail to change the game.
Because the Purposeful consumers’ buying journey starts on a smartphone – retailers must adjust the entire shopping experience… not just the digital one.
The Purposeful Consumer Sessions bring together a talented lineup of retail experts for an informative, inspiring and confronting free seminar. You’ll learn how Retail leaders are not just adjusting to purposeful consumers – but are finding a competitive advantage.
There are limited spaces so book your tickets today here .
How will we purchase our travel in the future? Will travel retailers exist, or will we buy purely online?
Recently the Studio Gascoigne team was thinking about travel (we’re always thinking about travel!) and got to thinking about how exciting the journey is, but how boring most travel shops are. We decided to put our minds to the challenge of re-imagining travel retailing and seeing if we could change the world.
We even gave the project a name: “The Journey Book.” Read on…
First, imagine you are finally ready to take the trip you’ve always craved. You’ve got visions in your head about what you are going to see and how great you’ll feel. But your first step on the journey is either stuck in front of your computer (just like being at the office) or at your local travel store, which probably looks more like an office than a shop.
You know those places – a few desks in front of posters of tropical locations, packed with screeds of boringly presented information (most of if completely irrelevant to you). The whole experience may just burst your bubble!
Here you can not only get inspired browsing a variety of media, but also book to go to the places you’ve heard about and get the feel of what it’s going to be like when you get there. And here you can also start building your own journey in your own digital ‘Journey Book’, on your phone or tablet, so you can share it and have a tangible ‘map’ of your journey.Continue Reading..
Cultural attitudes towards material goods seem to have undergone a shift. The 20th century saw mass consumerism explode as people sought to define their status or happiness via their belongings, but today’s shoppers are chasing different signifiers. Elly Strang finds out what retailers can do about it.
Proper lighting can make or break your retail space. Just like stage lighting transforms a bare theater into a captivating performance space, retail lighting design brings in buyers and guides them through your store experience.
Your lighting choices shape how customers see and interact with your products.
Lighting technology changes fast. Update your system every 5-7 years to maintain efficiency and style.
Consider layering these lighting types:
Type
Purpose
Ideal Location
Ambient
General illumination
Throughout store
Accent
Product highlights
Display areas
Task
Functional lighting
Checkouts, fitting rooms
Remember to match light intensity to your brand – luxury stores often use 20% less light than discount retailers. Your lighting shapes how customers feel about your space and products.
Common Questions About Retail Lighting
What Makes Store Lighting So Appealing?
Good lighting design draws customers in and guides them through your space. You’ll need three key types of lighting:
Base lighting (30-40% of total light)
Accent spots (50-60% of total light)
Task lighting (10-20% of total light)
Mix these types to create layers that work together. Think about using LED track lights for flexibility and warm color temperatures between 2700K-3000K to make products look their best.
How Do You Light a Small Shop Effectively?
Small spaces need smart lighting choices. Start with these tips:
In the October 2012 Apparel NZ issue Mark talked about choosing a designer, this month explores how to select a shopfitter.
I have read a number of articles warning that building a house is one of life’s most stressful activities. I haven’t yet seen any about fitting out a shop but, given the tight time frames, compressed site and complexity, I suspect that fit-outs are even worse! One of the very best ways of smoothing the process is to have a good shopfitter.
Having discussed choosing a designer last issue, in this article I want to discuss the selection of that shopfitter and, then next month, how you might manage him through the building process. (At the risk of being politically incorrect, I will refer to the shopfitter as “him” as I have yet to meet a woman shopfitter, but would be keen to!)
First lets explore just what a “shopfitter” is. By my definition a “builder” is not the same as a “shopfitter”. Builders working on residential or industrial buildings, for example, operate in a fairly sequential process, on relatively roomy sites with comparatively long construction programmes. Shopfitters, on the other hand, usually have many trades working at once in very tight spaces with fixed dates bounded by the tenancy handover at the beginning and the opening date at the end. Whereas a house builder may run days or weeks late in completion, with only some frayed nerves as a result, in most retail fit-outs there are fixed dates when stock, staff and customers will turn up, along with launch dates for advertising etc. These generally can’t be moved at short notice. So, in my opinion, the main thing you need to look for in a shopfitter is a supernatural ability to organize his staff and sub-trades and to work to a tight programme without any loss of quality. Obviously price is important but having the mall-opening pass with your stock, staff and customers sitting outside on the street shop would be more disastrous than a slightly higher quote! Continue Reading..
Often the changing room is the place where buying decisions are made. That’s why it’s an important space within the store that needs attention to detail together with careful lighting design to help customers look their best while making their decisions. Did you know that women buy only 25% of what they try on while men tend to buy a phenomenal 75% of the items they try on? Over the years we have designed quite a few changing rooms. Here is a selection of some of our favourites.
