In 2017, East London’s Westfield shopping centre was to have a new tenant. The Swedish furniture company had chosen Westfield Stratford to open its first “Click & Collect” point, with the goal to expanding sales by making their homeware products more accessible to the Capital’s residents.
The Click & Collect store’s objective was to support and enhance the shopping experience, giving customers the opportunity to engage with staff, ask questions and to interact with Ikea’s unique products. Designed as a “Planning Studio”, the store granted wider accessibility to busy city workers with their time-restricted lifestyles, and residents without easy access to the company’s main stores.
Set in the middle of the shopping centre, the unit, which measured 900m2, was to have a free-flowing, organic layout. The well-known IKEA Market Hall would to be replaced with a solution that allowed consumers to order larger items but to also purchase smaller products displayed within the inspirational room sets.
The store’s façade featured two large-scale window displays, serving as a visual conduit that was constantly transformed to suit the demands of the company. These evolving window displays married up with specific product launches, holidays or simply showcased in-store promotions and campaign messaging. Whatever the theme, the desired outcome was the same; to entice shoppers in store and increase revenues.
For the opening, George opted to dress the windows with a traditional Scandinavian tablescape. An array of chairs were used in repetition, a display technique that neatly highlighted IKEA’s wide range of dining furniture. Textiles were used to create warmth and softness, paired with dinnerware, candelabras and glassware; the essential products needed for a perfect dinner.
Upon entry to the store, consumers were greeted with the “Ikea Village”, a large construction of white cubes, representing individual houses.
As the planning studio would not have the capacity to allow for the perennial showroom aspect of a typical IKEA store, which many visitors have come to love and plan a trip for alone, these houses displayed room sets on two levels, providing ideas and inspiration for customers.
George was tasked with design the room sets with a wide spectrum of consumers in mind, considering clever, space-saving solutions that work for studying, dining, sleeping, relaxing, and delivering the communal space and storage solutions IKEA has become synonymous with.
George was delighted to have been part of the team that successfully completed and opened the store for business in as little as six weeks. Accomplishing a complete fit out of IKEA’s new format store, delivering on the brief on time and within budget.
All rooms George designed had at their core the diverse and vibrant lifestyles of Londoners in mind. One concept was linked to photography; perhaps an art student’s home in the city centre that is vibrant and comfortable, yet stylish to encourage socialising. Another concept was a soft, cosy, and bright bedroom with new parents in mind.
IKEA
STRATFORD
IKEA
STRATFORD
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Visual merchandising and store design go hand in hand when influencing consumer behaviour. Visual draughts need to be planned meticulously, setting out a precise vision of the customer’s needs.
George can propose layouts though analysing sale reports, create bespoke themes based on engagement and produce memorable visual points of interest, which achieve the ultimate aim of increasing customer engagement and driving more sales.
George can imagine exclusive retail brand atmospheres from the initial concept stage right through to 3D visuals, before bringing his vision to life in the store.
Consumer demands are forever changing, and the retail industry must evolve accordingly by providing unique and relatable shopping environments designed with passion. If you need a fresh approach to your brand’s visual strategy to enhance your customer’s experience, then get in touch.
Bespoke installations or multi-store design, every window display is unique and imagined to inspire potential customers. Windows act as a gateway to the customer’s journey in the store, setting the scene for what is to come by dazzling the senses.
George has been creating memorable, innovative and engaging window displays for premier retailers for over a decade, capturing the intense experience that show-stopping window displays and distinctive visual merchandising schemes should induce in the customers.
Visual Merchandising
Windows
Design
