Is the Future Now?

The goal of Nike's new Manhattan flagship store is to make the brick-and-mortar buying experience as seamless and easy as it is purchasing online.  The store is huge - six floors comprising 68,000 square feet - with two customization studios, a sneaker center with displays on how shoes are designed, tested and manufactured, and a Speed Shop on the basement level with its own entrance where you can reserve shoes in advance that you are considering buying. When you arrive at the store, there is a wall of lockers, one of which will have your name on it. Use a smart phone to open your locker and the shoes you have reserved will be there.  If you decide to buy one of the pairs you reserved, you can simply check out using your phone without having to go to a register or wait in line.

 

To use the Speed Shop, just download the Nike App on a smart device (phone or tablet), which also can be used to reserve other merchandise in the store.  If you like an article of clothing, scan the QR code with the app or any other product in the store and those items will be waiting for you in the size you requested at a fitting room.  Additionally, the fitting rooms have three light settings to reflect how the clothing might look in daylight, at an indoor gym or at a fitness class.  Again, you can use the app to purchase everything without going to a register and Nike has placed small stations throughout the store on each floor as self-checkout points.  It is there that customers can leave hangers and grab a bag for their purchases.

 

To take advantage of the conveniences, consumers will have to become a Nike member (there's no cost for this), download the app and give Nike permission to track their location.  In that way, Nike will know the moment you walk into the store and will send you notifications when you are nearby.  If you don't want Nike to track your daily movements, you can simply turn the app off.  

 

Has Nike upped the ante? It's fans certainly won't mind receiving a constant stream of messages and taking advantage of conveniences that the app offers.  Undoubtedly, other retailers will follow suit, creating enhanced customer expectations that purchasing at a brick-and-mortar business should be fast, easy and fun. If someone came to your showroom to select products for their new bath, would they view the process as fast, easy and fun?  What can you do right now to make it easier and more enjoyable to buy from you as compared to your competition?