Have you ever heard of a Guide Shop? This new concept is revolutionizing retail and is a growing trend, especially among apparel stores. A Guide Shop is simply the option of going to a store to shop, try on the products, and then have them delivered to your home.
The idea is to bring online stores into the consumer’s daily routine and give shoppers the chance to see up close what they’re buying. And what are the advantages? The Guide Shop delivers a better shopping experience and reduces return rates, while also offering some extra perks for customers, such as interacting with a personal stylist.
Today, we’re going to take a closer look at this strategy and show you why Guide Shops are something you should be paying attention to as a retailer.
What is a Guide Shop?
Guide Shops are unique spaces that work more or less like concept stores, where customers get the opportunity to see, touch, and try on an online store’s entire product collection to figure out whether it’s really what they want to buy.
It’s not hard to understand the appeal of the Guide Shop, then: it brings into the real world what we’re used to seeing only on a computer screen, and it simplifies the decision-making process by putting us face to face with the products we want so badly.
The idea of walking out of a clothing store without a shopping bag may seem strange to you, but it’s not hard to get used to. After all, Guide Shops include the conveniences of online stores (such as competitive prices) along with the chance to interact with the products beforehand—quite an innovation.
Guide Shops serve as a physical showroom for items customers would normally only see in photos and videos. That makes them a chance to check whether the size is really the right fit, get a feel for the quality of the material, and get answers to key questions from sales associates ready to help.
In general, shoppers can check the brand’s website to find a Guide Shop near them and head over there to reserve the items they like most. There’s no additional cost for visiting one of these locations, and this new concept is well worth trying out.
One example of these stores is the Westwing Guide Shop at Shopping Cidade Jardim in São Paulo. A visit there is a great way to get familiar with the concept and understand what a Guide Shop is all about.
What are the advantages of Guide Shops?
If there’s no downside to visiting a Guide Shop, there must be countless benefits for consumers who choose to visit these pop-up stores to see what a brand has to offer, right?
Guide Shops are a concept that’s here to stay because they revolutionize the way we look at online retail. They combine a benefit we’ve already grown used to—being able to compare and choose items on Google, even while we’re at the mall—with the in-store shopping experience, supported by trusted sales associates, that many of us miss when shopping online.
This means that consumers finally have the chance to visit a showroom featuring their favorite items before making a purchase decision, while still being free to research prices, compare benefits, and take home only what they really want.
The idea behind the Guide Shop—bridging the gap between online and offline shopping—isn’t new, but it’s extremely necessary, especially today. Online-only sellers lose traditional consumers because they don’t offer a shopping experience where people can get their hands on the products, while offline sellers can’t compete with online stores’ prices.
The Guide Shop brings together the best of both worlds and gives your brand the missing piece it needs to connect with consumers and offer them standout shopping experiences—something extremely important in the face of competition, given that e-commerce is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Brazil, attracting new players to the market every day.
How does this shopping model differ from the traditional one?
The Guide Shop model differs from the traditional one for the reasons mentioned above, plus a few others. By offering traditional offline shopping experiences to consumers who are already used to buying with a single click, these stores enrich their interactions with customers and increase the chances of shoppers taking home at least one item.
And because they keep all of these items in a warehouse, following the same logistics process as their online store and delivering them to customers’ homes afterward, they don’t really need to invest in setting up a traditional brick-and-mortar store with all its logistics, staffing, and maintenance costs.
It’s a win for both those who run a Guide Shop and those who visit one. Retailers who choose to work with Guide Shops can rotate inventory frequently, refresh their window displays, and offer competitive prices without breaking the bank. Those savings can then be passed on to consumers who are already used to the deals and perks they get from e-commerce.
Guide Shops boost the appeal of a wide range of products while also providing unique brand interactions. On top of that, this customer-product interaction can be shared on social media, helping increase the visibility of your company and its benefits.
Should my store invest in a Guide Shop?
Figuring out whether your store should invest in a Guide Shop isn’t easy. First and foremost, you need to understand your customers’ needs.
Today, both large and small brands are already benefiting from the Guide Shop phenomenon, but all of them knew how to invest in this solution carefully. By creating concept stores that are unique, interactive, and different from every other store in their segment, these companies managed to draw attention to their brand and got customers willing to leave home to buy their products once again.
So, did you enjoy learning about the new Guide Shop concept? If you found this post helpful, be sure to share it with your friends on social media!
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