Retail & hotels: another step to experiential retail

Does the merger of retail and hotels sound an unfamiliar endeavor or brings out the expression of excitement within you? How this unification is going to impact traditional flagship stores? As various questions are brewing up, let’s have a look at what future of retail holds for us.

With the steps toward the future of experiential retail, brands are trying to provide a new "experience" that is on the rise. This experience not only promises to provide a way to connect with shoppers and grow loyalty, but could also create an entirely new type of retail flagship by moving on with the traditional stores.

The buzzword of the day, “Experiential retail” is there to connect with the millennials and to provide an authentic experience. So it's perhaps not surprising that some brands are taking personalization to heart and creating entirely new experiences in the form of hospitality.

With $2.3 trillion revenue of hospitality, brands are ready to take a pie from this by expanding their boundaries to hospitality industry. "In many cases, you have retailers looking for ways to expand the influence of their brand. And, It's very easy to connect the dots between hospitality and retail " by Greg Portell, lead partner in the retail practice of A.T. Kearney. Therefore, brand extension is one of them.

Brand extension

Retail evolution is leading to new ways of expanding brand’s outreach and loyalty. To do so, brands are providing various contact points to the clients and one of them is by putting the brand culture and experience upfront. Since customers trust a brand due to its values and lifestyle, retailers are extending that trust by creating large scale hospitality programs and boutique hotel experiences to promote their lifestyle.

Ritz Paris has reopened its gilded doors after 4 years of reformation with some major upgrades. Its most famous suite, the Coco Chanel Suite, presents the style and sophistication of the French fashion designer, who lived there.