For many many years Google (as a brand) was that minimalist and simple search bar which got me whatever I wanted. Like me whoever chose to go further with the brand found themselves in this virtual candy land of possibilities (i.e. products they launched and experimented with). I did go further with the brand just like others.

But ‘hey Google’ 🙂 launched its first retail store at 76 Ninth Avenue in New York City last week . I was curious and I was tempted to feel a lot more humanly connected to this omnipresent brand we know as Google. Not even the launch of Google phones and Nest devices created such a human connection before.

So I got myself to read about the news story and as I looked further into it, I felt WOW ! When a technology company which is more futuristic and future ready than any other company in the world consciously decides to create an engaging physical retail space with warmth and character, it is exciting for anyone in the Retail industry. Especially at a time when 25%-50% of all enclosed malls in US are expected to cease operating in 3-5 years and at a time when Nike reached its target of online sales (30% of total sales volume) 3 years earlier than planned. [Reference: Coresight research in Washington post for mall closures].

So, let’s talk about it from Retail perspective.

It’s not about selling

It’s definitely experiential

It’s about having that play but not heavily futuristic

It shows how Google products neatly integrate into everyday lives

AND

• It has a very warm ambiance
• Its a rich and vast expansive space (5000 square foot)
• It’s modern era/Scandinavian design aesthetics still reminds me of art deco style architecture and spaces (courtesy pale wood as a color element)
• It’s got interaction zones
• It’s got fused channel experience (I don’t know about this but…’hey google??’ )

The retail of the future is here somewhere. A world where retailers provide spaces which allow you to decide if you want to build any kind of affinity for the brand. If not – you just walk out and have fun. Get back to fun (i.e. your virtual metaverse if that’s what you mean) Important to say that this choice will be exercised more than ever. This is possible because customers can buy products any day anywhere and any how but engage them as a community and they might love you more. Who knows you might(and that’s a big MIGHT) win their loyalty for a short while.

You might say – brand management was always about stories. Advertising just did that, isn’t that true? Yea but stores were transaction points, weren’t they? When stores engage the customers with the products customer care about, it has a stickiness to it like no other. It makes you want to own the products. Months of lockdowns and separation from true human connections has made us think about the connections we really care for. Human Connections! Connections which inspires us, connections which makes us take that leap of faith and bring a product home. This will indeed make a material impact to entities like a retailer. The retail spaces of the future have to allow community spirit to thrive. It is instinctively human. Retail spaces should be fun and should create opportunities for us to come back to it, again and again.

We’ve been moving away from world of channels and eCommerce to a world of ecosystems and habitats. It’s about providing convenience and customisation supported by data. The data the retailer needs as well as the data you need to have in the path to purchase, during purchase and also after you settle with the product. This creates an ecosystem connected by several Habitats (e.g. Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Luxury Pavilion and Ant Group are the Habitats of Alibaba’s ecosystem and they are 100% connected to their data science system). Customers can seamlessly enter from any habitat to any habitat and purchase from anywhere they choose. Everything about the customer is known and customer is fully supported in all the interaction points (thank you @Doug Stephens in Resurrecting Retail about Alibaba ecosystems)

So I  am excited to think about the possibilities when Google ventures into Retail. Will it beat what Alibaba did? Ever? Will it have the algorithms to feed into the data science environment before or after you visit a store? Will it correlate your visit to the mountains of data which Google is sitting on ? Will it feed those valuable insights back into their product designs? To what extent? Even better will they reinvent the whole buying experience and beat Alibaba at the ‘New Retail’ as Jack Ma coined it in 2016? Can they? Fun to think of the possibilities.

Also, let’s talk about it from Design perspective.

• It’s not plush but minimalistic
• It’s not organized into aisles at all but product interaction zones and fewer shelves
• It’s not a small space
• It’s got ‘here to help’ approach to product discovery

AND

• It’s beautiful
• It’s super fun
• It’s packed in with a lot of character
• It has a warm feeling..The warm colours and fun cushions and everything add so much character to the store which angelic design of apple stores do not do. It goes well with product colours of Google phones and devices. Sadly such ingenuity is not felt in even Android 12. I’ve always disliked the bright coloured iconography of Android. Very personal preference indeed.

I really believe that spaces we work and live affect our behaviours and moods beyond measure. There is enough research which proves that but ask any self aware person and he/she would endorse that our lives are impacted by spaces we live/work in.

To truly differentiate themselves from the competition retail space designs of the future have to have character, warmth and ability to inspire. The inspiration can come from the way products add value to the buyer’s life or anything which the human mind values the most. Now that’s a no-brainer.

Anuj Vaidya

I must admit that the whole concept of experiential retail was emphatically led by Apple. However the white walled spaces, interaction zones and pale wood tables of Apple stores became a bit predictable and dare I say without character. Apple sales have zoomed ahead beyond measure but when it comes to design – Apple is too predictable and lacking in personality. Apple product designs are also not game changing anymore in design (talk about Apple watch, talk about iPads, talk about iOS 15). May be the store designs of Apple are still congruent with Apple products as well as Apple – the company which makes amazing (predictable products). Google on the other hand continues to look like the one who is shamelessly experimenting and continues to surprise us (think of new design overhaul in Android 12)

Product design is as fascinating a topic as the topic of spaces and design of spaces they should belong to (imagine art galleries). Together these two subjects depend on anthropology to allow humans to create something awe inspiring and truly innovative. When all of this comes together what we get is the potential to create ‘Exceptional Retail’. Exceptional retail which leaves lasting life impressions in a world which is increasingly becoming virtual and less physical. I continue to remain an optimist who believes in this power of physical retail. I am not ashamed to say that it is therapeutic. I am more than ok with that? Aren’t you?