Exclusive findings from research carried out in the US, China, Germany and the UK into what consumers believe makes a store feel premium and luxury

1. What Makes a Retail
Experience feel Premium?

2. PurchaseConsideration Post Purchase
Price
Product
Store
Staff
Packaging
Reaction of Others
Quality of construction
Aftersales service
Brand
Price
Design
Communication
‘Loyalty Loop’
Over a number of recent projects, we’ve noticed how crucial the point of purchase
experience is for premium brands in driving the famous McKinsey ‘Loyalty Loop’
Volante do a lot of work with major luxury brands

3. We wanted to understand what makes a retail
experience feel premium and luxury
…so we ran our own self-funded research into the topic:
Over 1,200 online interviews across
four major markets
• US - 310
• UK - 310
• China - 305
• Germany - 308
Eight x 2hr Groups
• Two groups per market
Two x 2hr Group discussions in each
market
• 1 male, 1 female
• All mid/high incomes
• Shopped in a premium store at least
once in last 12 months
Mix of genders
Mix of income levels
• Medium/high
• Shopped in a premium store at least
once in last 12 months
• Broad geographic spread

4. Key Findings

5. Some good news for brands seeking to build global equity -
there was striking consistency across markets and genders
Two factors predominate as key drivers of premiumness:
Spaciousness
• Empty floor space
• Items not cramped on top of
each other
• Shoppers not edging around
each other
Staff
• Easy to find when you want
them
• Welcoming, friendly,
knowledgeable
• But unobtrusive when you
wish to be let alone
When stores get these two basic elements wrong,
regardless of what else they get right,
their sense of ‘Premiumness’ drops

6. Generally only ranked around 4th/5th; roughly on a par with
being able to get hold of staff when you want them
Interestingly, high design elements can actually mitigate
against a brand if its customer service levels aren’t also high
Premium Design features aren’t enough on their own…
Ultra-stylish interior
+
disinterested/ill-informed/ absent staff
=
Implies the brand is more interested in itself
than it is in its customers
“ Some shops try so hard to be stylish that
they just don’t feel welcoming. Its like,
when you walk in you’re disturbing the
loveliness!”
Female shopper, London

7. A key sign of a store being premium is that there is a sizeable
proportion of floor space devoted to not selling things
• Bare floor
• Sofas to sit on
Space means a number of things
• It is easy to walk around and to see display items clearly, even when
the store is busy
• Items on sale have plenty of space around them and display cabinets
aren’t over-filled
• in a sense elevating the status of the items on display
More space than is needed = sign of Luxury
“It looks quite comfy, because they
have a sofa in the centre of the shop.
There was a lot going on, but one (still)
has the feeling that one can cruise the
shop very relaxed.”
Female shopper talking about
Thomas Sabo store in Hamburg
However, it is also important that a store isn’t so minimalist
that it looks bare and empty
• Smaller boutiques are sometimes thought to be like this
• The store should feel like it has a wide range of items on
sale
• There needs to be enough store furniture to ensure that the
shopper doesn’t feel like they stand out

8. Interesting cultural differences emerge
Staff are the other key driver of perceived Premiumness
Question: Thinking about stores that you have been into that sell
premium or luxury items, please rank the following in order of
their importance for making the store feel premium or luxury
“ If I can’t get their
attention [the staff], I
just walk. When I’m
about to drop a large
amount of money I
don’t want to have to
work at it!”
Male shopper,
New York
Americans rate quick
access to staff highest
Germans value
friendliness
Chinese look for
enthusiasm and
knowledgeable staff
British see staff as
less important (lower
expectations?)
“ I like the Swarovski
store, It is very fancy
and bright. The pieces
are always well lit. The
staff are all good
looking and fashionable
and from Shanghai.”
Female shopper,
Shanghai
“ It always gives me a
good feeling when the
staff say hello and are
friendly.”
Female shopper,
Hamburg
Male shopper,
London
“ Frankly, it’s a bit ‘hit
and miss’ with staff
isn’t it - regardless of
how posh the store is.”

9. Luxury brands have classically focused their
efforts on appealing to a small group of frequent
and high spending customers
The ‘Long-tail’
BUT
…there is another target group for Premium brands
• They don’t go into Luxury stores very often
• But when they do, it will be an important purchase for
them
• Individually they aren’t that valuable (one sale a year
or less?)
• But collectively they represent millions
Valueofcustomer
Frequency of purchase
These customers are confident
• they know they can buy almost anything they want in
the store
• They go into premium stores regularly, so know how
they ‘work’
• They aren’t over-awed by the brand (or the staff)
This group are the ones who are most readily put-off by sales staff
(because they know that they are ‘impostors’ in the store!)
• Truly engaged, open and welcoming staff are as crucial for them as they are for core, high net worth customers

10. Lighting works, not always consciously, to reinforce (or undermine) a brand’s proposition
Lighting Strategies can communicate a lot about a brand’s
proposition
Ralph Lauren
Chow Tai Fook
Abercrombie
& Fitch
Swarovski
Bright white, cold,
‘saturated’ light = a sense
of ‘purity’ and calm
Soft warm light,
compliments the ‘club’ feel
Visual metaphor for the
purity of crystals
Aspirationally relaxed
Self-consciously dark –
premium but also
‘naughty’
Low lighting compounds
sense that store is too
cramped /crowded
Designed to be
off-putting for the
‘wrong’ audience
Forces you to work
harder to find what you
want

11. Music and Scent work at a similar semi-conscious level
Generally only noticed when a store gets it wrong
Premium stores, esp. in Western markets are
strongly associated with nostalgic ‘50s/60s
American singers
• Frank Sinatra/ Billie Holliday / Ella Fitzgerald /
Nina Simone
More contemporary tracks can also work well,
provided that they are relatively relaxed
• Some criticism of Michael Kors stores for playing
music that feels too high energy to be properly
premium
Music seems to be important for relaxing
customers
• Putting them in the mood to buy
As can scent
• Shanghai Tang and Abercrombie & Fitch
both identified for their ‘premium store
fragrance’

12. Conclusions

13. Much of the success of a Premium Retail experience is
dependent on getting the basics right
Creating a sense of space
and allowing the products
to speak for themselves
Staff that help, don’t judge
and above all can read the
mood of the shopper

14. Ranked significantly lower than either good staff
or spaciousness
Too much emphasis is placed on creating a uniquely
luxurious environment
For many, a ‘stylish and premium’ feel to the store can
even be counter-productive
• Can feel unwelcoming and cold – designed to intimidate
Semiotically a sign that the brand is narcissistic, too
wrapped up in itself to notice its customers
Brand
Customer
‘this store is impressive, but I
don’t feel welcomed or valued.’
‘Aren’t I gorgeous?’

15. Different Need states drive differing retail expectations
Premium Retailers are focusing on the wrong Need States
Leave me in peace
Make me in feel important
Excite me
Relax me
Make me feel good about
myself
Staff that don’t pester,
plenty of space
Acknowledged by
friendly attentive staff
Plenty of space, relaxing music,
good lighting, friendly staff
Imaginative displays, premium
design features, glamorous staff
An aggregate of all the above:
space, lighting, design,
staff, music
Arguably too many
stores put too much
emphasis on ‘Excite me’
– trying to create a
‘shock and awe’ retail
experience
Whereas customers
place a higher value on
‘leave me in peace’;
‘relax me’ and ‘make
me feel important’

16. A Few Words About
Volante Research…

17. We are
Brand & Comms
Specialists
Brand positioning
Brand equity
Brand architecture
Brand growth
Concept generation
Proposition development & testing
Pack evolution
Conjoint modelling & simulators
Creative development
Ad effectiveness
Mixed media evaluation
Brand Strategy
Innovation
Advertising and
Marcoms
U&A incl. segmentation
Consumer journeys
Retail & new channels
Consumer
Behavior

18. WE UNDERSTAND THE
LUXURY/HNWI SECTOR

19. Recruiting HNWIs
Key recruitment learnings are:
• They can be wary and publicity shy; trust needs to be
established and confidentiality maintained
• They won’t come for money but will expect some form of
monetary offer (as a mark of respect for their time), a
charitable donation is sometimes preferred
• They are hard to get hold of; they regularly cancel at short
notice, so determination, charm and persistence are key to
eventually speaking to them (this is one of the reasons why
depths not groups are necessary – they may agree to come,
but on the day may not be free)
• To make it easier, we always let the respondent choose the
venue that is most convenient for them (their home/their
office/their members club/a favoured bar)
• They are often curious to know how their lives compare to
others who are similarly wealthy (can they learn anything
from others; are they doing better/worse than their peers)
• An offer to share research findings with them can often
work well
Volante have considerable experience of accessing
informal networks of affluent potential respondents

20. Interviewing HNWIs
Many HNWIs are wary of how their wealth may be
perceived by others, leading to guarded conversations
When interviewing them it is important to establish trust and
to gradually get them to open up and be frank
This requires taking the time to build and establish trust
• Meeting at a venue of their choosing
• Reassuring about confidentiality and anonymity
Similarly, many can be classically ‘Alpha’ and this can
require a confident moderating style in order to ensure that
the discussion covers the issues that are needed and in the
depth required
• Being willing to challenge and probe respondents on
their attitudes and motivations
• Ensuring that the conversation covers the topics we
need and not just the topics they want to talk about

21. Going Beyond the Rational
A huge challenge
is to get beyond the rational
Respondents feel a huge need to demonstrate that their
purchase decisions are entirely rational and based on hard
metrics and a thorough assessment of the marketplace
….of course this is only half the story
Their decisions are also driven by more human
characteristics
• Brand image
• Inertia and unwillingness to change
• A desire to present your own self image in a positive
way
• Etc. etc.

22. Going Beyond the Rational
Volante employs a number of techniques to do this…..
Wherever possible we interview in person
• Direct human contact encourages a much more open and honest interaction than the more linear
responses gained in an Online forum
Adopting a robust moderating style that challenges respondents to go beyond their first comments
Using Laddering and NLP techniques to access 2nd and 3rd order benefits, digging into the emotional drivers
that lie under the surface of rational decision-making
Ensuring that Online surveys are visually engaging and varied

23. London Brooklyn Worldwide
Thank you reading!
If you liked what you saw and want to see the full presentation please contact:
Nick Johnson:
nick@volante-research.com / volante-research.com