A presentation on the concept of "Experience Retail" - destinations which are places which are a mix of retail, leisure,food and beverage, entertainment, culture, and sports facilities and services.

1. The Power of Experience Retail
as a Tourist Attractor
How well-planned and innovative retail development can help places
become more successful tourist destinations
For more information visit www.placematters.co

2. The power of experience retail
as a tourist attractor?
Structure of Presentation
1. What is “experience retail”?
2. The relevance of experience retail
3. Case Studies:
• London’s West End
• Milan
• Dubai
4. Lessons for application to tourism development

3. Experience Retail
A concept relevant to existing and
new tourist destinations

4. What is “experience retail”?
Experience retail is shopping-led entertainment
• Reflecting shopping now being more of a leisure activity…
• More about fun and entertaining experiences…
• To be combined with other leisure/recreation activities…
• Conveniently found in one place, attractive and accessible
• Responding to increasing consumer time pressures and
demands
• Responding to tourist needs and wants
• Helping to make more places destinations of choice

5. ER places are destinations with a mix of attractors
and experiences driving footfall & spend
 A mix of activity attractors + retail attractors = increased and
sustained footfall
 It’s recognising shopping as a form of entertainment
 With a complementary mix of attractors and lifestyle experiences
 With a day and evening offer
 Where people want to stay over to experience the full offer
 With a constantly evolving offer to keep them coming back

6. ER destinations have an…..
Innovative mix of attractors and uses
 The mix of shops
 Food and beverage mix
 Leisure and entertainment mix
 Culture and heritage mix
 Hotels and accommodation
 Offices and Residential
 Parking and transport

7. ER destinations have….
An innovative mix of attractors to increase footfall, dwell time and spend
 International brands plus independent/authentic/local retailers
 Specialist cinemas
 Leisure and sports facilities
 Museums and Exhibitions
 Art Galleries
 Concert Halls
 Performance spaces in the public realm

8. The offer in ER destinations includes events to attract
footfall:
 Art demonstrations and creation
 Dance events – in store and in public realm
 Fashion shows
 Activities like cooking school demonstrations related to
restaurants
 Music theatre and dance
 Cultural events

9. The service in ER destinations has to be great
 Connecting online to welcoming the person before arrival
 Collecting deep knowledge about customers
 Employing staff who truly know their products & services
 Creating merchandising schools and training courses
 Providing value added services; e.g.
-Child care
-Valet parking, fashion advisers, interior designers
- Purchase collection

10. Marketing ER destinations is all about the experience
Sense Marketing – create sensory experiences - sight, sound, taste,
smell & aesthetic pleasure Identification of development mix
Feel Marketing – to positively affect, stimulate and bond
Think Marketing – to surprise, intrigue and provoke
Act Marketing – to alter lifestyle, new interactions
Relate Marketing – to take beyond current reality and experiences
and create new associations

11. The relevance of experience retail
destinations to tourism development
 Complements and expands the menu of attractions
 Helps to attract, increase and maintain footfall
 Increases overall spend
 Improves viability of places as destinations
 Increases attractiveness of places as destinations
 Helps to distinguish places as destinations
 Expands the market for destinations

12. Experience retail destinations
Case Studies
Milan – An unplanned – naturally
evolving - retail and cultural
destination that is a
tourist magnet
London’s West End – An
unplanned retail and
entertainment destination being
planned anew as a tourist magnet
Dubai – A more planned retail
destination

13. Case Study – The “Quadrilatero” Milan Fashion District
 Adjacent to the historic centre with its Duomo and La Scala Milan
 Centre’d on Via Montenapoleone close to historic centre
 A concentration of world class fashion brands, many based there
 Complemented by specialist and authentic local shops
 Balanced by a sophisticated and local F&B offer
 With art galleries and classical gardens
 In an environment of neo classical residences and fine architecture
 A place to live and create as well as shop and visit

14. Milan’s ER offer – international brands


15. Milan’s ER offer – authentic local shops


16. Milan’s ER offer – food and beverage


17. Milan’s ER offer – tourist magnets


18. Case Study – Milan – Key Characteristics
 Well designed shop fronts that respect building heritage
 A place to live and work as well as enjoy, shop and visit
 A place that’s vibrant and alive with residents and workers
 A good mix of retail, F&B, cultural, artistic and heritage attractors
 A place that feels local, authentic and international
 A complement to the historic core that expands its market

19. Case Study – London’s “New” West End
 Focused on Regent St, Oxford St and Bond St in central London
 Premier retail offer adjacent to major tourist attractions
 In 2008 25% of 200 million visitors were tourists
 2008 - “New West End Company” (PPP) created to improve the offer
 Short term objective to capture Olympic spend in 2012
 Medium term objective to capture more domestic and tourist spend
 Longer term objective to help maintain London as a major destination
 2009 – Locum Consulting appointed to create strategy for improvement

20. London’s West End ER offer

21. London’s West End ER offer


22. London’s West End ER offer


23. London’s West End ER offer – major brands – old
& new

24. London’s West End ER offer – food and beverage

25. London’s West End ER offer – authentic shops

26. London’s West End ER offer – key
challenges
 Bringing retailers together to agree and fund a
development strategy
 Create a more distinctive sense of place
 Moving major retailers and attractors around the
area to create distinctive offer areas
 Achieving a mix of international and national
brands
 Balancing big brands with authentic local shops
 Capitalising on Bond Street
 Upgrading the tourist F&B offer
 Improving and extending the public realm
 Introducing more cultural and entertainment
attractors
 Creating integrated shopping, culture, heritage and
entertainment offers
 Retaining local independent food and beverage

27. London’s West End ER Flagship Positioning strategy


28. London’s “New” West End – Strategic Proposals
 Create international retail “flagship” areas with distinctive mixes
 Sub divide flagship areas into distinctive offer destinations
 Renew and improve the quality of street furniture
 Remove the “red wall” of buses on Oxford Street
 Increase pavement restaurant space and the quality of the F&B offer
 Create piazza style civic spaces with attractor events
 Improve architecture and create recognisable gateways to the area
 Better communicate the area’s offer and events

29. Case Study – Dubai – City of shops plus entertainment
 The new shopping city of the Middle East reducing dependence on oil
as a major source of national wealth
 Where retail is the attractor for F&B and entertainment provision
 Where shops and entertainment are often all under one roof
 Where shopping complements the beach and hotel
 Where malls have become a place of congregation (to escape the heat)
 Where retail is celebrated in festivals that attract shoppers from the
region and farther afield – food, fashion, jewelry, ice sports

30. Dubai Retail Offer – Eight major malls
 Dubai Festival city – 2.8 msqft/600 big brand shops
 Deira City Centre – specialist and authentic goods
 Burjuman – international designer brands
 Madinat Jumeirah – recreated middle east marketplace
 Ibn Matuta Mall – six historically themed pavillions
 Wafi City – F&B, jewelry, culture, meeting places
 Mall of the Emirates – 400 shops and 6 major department stores
 Mercato – 90 restaurants, cafes and shops

31. Dubai’s ER offer – Big Box Retail


32. Dubai’s ER offer – Authentic & Replica Retail – the
Souks


33. Dubai’s ER offer - entertainment


34. Dubai’s ER offer - Reflections
 The architecture is adventurous but the retail offer
has a predictable sameness
 Experience attractions (like ski-runs and imitation
souks) are the key differentiators between the malls
 Retail acts as an attractor where few others exist
 Retail offers a complement to the beach and hotel
 Retail brings the offer of London and Milan to the
expat and local citizen alike
 An aspirational international outlook market exists
that supports global brands
 Dubai is not a model for established cities and tourist
destinations but elements may be relevant for new
tourist resorts; e.g. the recreation of the Souk
and traditional restaurants

35. ER – Key lessons from case studies
 Be clear on the brand offer - the experience!
 The mix of attractors and experiences is key
 Balance international retail brands with local ones
 Balance shops with cultural and entertainment
attractors
 Integrate and connect attractors within the
destination and to it
 Events attract and differentiate the destination
 Market the experience not just the provision
 Architecture and high quality public realm and
landscaping are important – think about “the finish”
 Preserve existing high quality environments
 Public/private partnership working is vital

36. Creating ER Destinations – Conclusions
for Tourism Development
 Traditional retail by itself is a limited attractor
 ER requires a strong mix of attractors
 ER requires careful and detailed planning of the mix
 ER requires close working with retailers and operators
of attractions – realising the mix of the offer
 Integrated operations are essential e.g. opening hours
 Integrated marketing is essential - shop/see/play/stay
 Good public transport access is important
 Good signage and telecommunications are important
 ER changes the nature of a destination
 ER expands the market of a destination
 ER can make a destination more viable

37. More Information
Our Team
For consultancy advice contact:
Malcolm Allan Malcolm.allan@placematters.co
Phone: +44 1342 829 012
Mobile: +44 7803 356 310
Twitter: @MalkyAllan
Blog: Malcolmallan-placebrander.blogspot.co.uk