French fashion retailer Galeries Lafayette is making heavy use of digital technology in its new Paris flagship store, opened today (28 March).
The location on the Champs-Elysées features architectural design by Bjarke Ingels with a digitally enabled experience.
One key feature is the Personal Stylist 2.0 app, which provides the store’s 300 personal stylists with tools to advise customers on trends.
Each customer has a profile on a central database, meaning that they can have an ongoing relationship with stylists.
It also features a virtual assistant to provide the teams with ongoing training and an instant messaging service for customers, supplemented by a mobile payment system and RFID.
Galeries Lafayette has also developed a new bespoke “smart hanger” which is able to tell customers which sizes are available. It is activated by movement and recharges autonomously.
Customers can use it to order particular sizes and have them waiting in the fitting room.
The store is supported by the company’s website, which helps website visitors discover in-store services and book appointments with stylists.
bonprix is another fashion retailer looking to reinvent the physical store with a pilot location in Hamburg. With its fashion connect concept, the company is hoping to “take [its] expertise in the online world and use it to create a new highly integrated touchpoint”, according to ecommerce head Markus Fuchshofen.
Galeries Lafayette and Bonprix are both members of the IREU index, which tracks the top-performing European retailers. If you would like to receive the fortnightly IREU newsletter, click here to edit your mailing list preferences.
