Physical Stores as Media

They are media, which is what we researched for years in innovation centers.    But how do they effectively collaborate with other channels?

Stores as Media  in Retailwire.   by James Tenser

Innovative, digital-first retail concepts are sprouting physical stores as the revolution continues in how consumer goods are brought to market.

In a session at this week’s Shoptalk conference, the founders of three successful, but very different, born-for-the-web retailers shared their formulas for cultivating business models firmly rooted in both digital and physical ground.

Ethan Song, co-founder and CEO of Frank And Oak, a Montreal-based apparel seller, said its 17 physical stores are located in “up and coming, creative neighborhoods” in major cities “coast-to-coast” across Canada. The company serves more than three million mostly-Millennial members via a web site that offers individual items or a subscription service that delivers a personalized box each month.

“We view the store as media,” said Mr. Song. “E-commerce-only misses much valuable data about our customers. It’s smart to feed store data into the rest of your business and use different KPIs to measure success.”  .... "