Challenge
Delivery
"How might we maximize an old department store's value by reconnecting two buildings as a whole and upgrading the customer experience?"
A Facade & Interior Design plan which reconnect and upgrade the retail experience by optimizing the building circulation, customer accessibility, and visual identity.
* This project was landed in 2020.
Project Concept
This is a real-life Retail Experience Renovation project. Our client, Guangzhou Grandbuy Department Store, is a long-established local department store located at the core of a national pedestrian street in Guangzhou, one of the biggest cities in China. The department store consists of two buildings constructed in different time, which divides the whole department store with a misplaced connection in between. The misalignment connection led to a poor Customer Experience Management and Guidance System, and eventually impaired their income. After observing customer behavior, we upgarded the retail experience by optimizing the building circulation, customer accessibility, and visual identity. We reconnected the two buildings as a whole in both spatial side and business side.
After the renovation, the total sales exceeded 32.5 million RMB on the reopening day, which reach the highest peak of the whole year. The cosmetics floor doubled its sales and successfully introduced the first GUCCI beauty counter of Guangzhou in-store.
Project Info
Project Type: Facade & Interior Renovation Strategy & Design
Client: Guangzhou Grandbuy Group
Scale: 66300 m²
Status: Landed in 2020
Project Team
Harber Chen, Sovia Liang, Locus Lv, Crystal Chen, etc (Team of 8)
My Part:
Desk Research, Strategy Design, Sketch Implementation, 3D Rendering, Discussion
01 Context
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Our client, "Grandbuy" is a reputed time-honored department store brand in Guangzhou, China. Their flagship store is located on a top-tourist pedestrian street, consisting of two buildings constructed at different times. The two buildings are disconnected, impairing customer traffics and sales.
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Our client wanted to understand why and how the disconnection affected their sales, and how could they solve the issues.
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We competed against other design agency with the strategy-driven spatial renovation solution.
02 What I Did
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Conducted primary research on the commercial district where the store is located, the property, the brand ecosystem, and the customers by documentary review, on-site observation, interview, and focus group.
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Synthesized the research information, identified pain points, and collaborated with spatial designers to turn the pain points into actionable spatial design directions.
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Sketched out the design concept, and visualized the research outcome.
03 The Process
Target Customer
Brand Ecosystem
Property
Commercial District
Pain Points
Opportunities / Insights
Solution Direction
Spatial Solutions
Strategy Research
Strategy Design
Spatial Design
04 The Research
Partnered with 2 senior Design Researchers & Space Designers, supported by the Design Director,
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I digested the government document of the district, the client document of the property, and the layout plan of the property to understand the ecosystem and vision.
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I went on site visits/observations 4 times, conducted 8 interviews with target customers, and implemented 2 focus group observations around the property.
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I combined, synthesized, and reflected the research results on the spatial layout plan to identified pain points for the spatial design team.
Pain Point 01:
The customer traffic is disconnected and non-sharable between the two buildings.
Observation from Research:
At least 2/3 of the customers entered the store from the old building entrance, as it's facing directly to the pedestrian street that contains most of the customer traffic in this area.
The customers entered and exited the store from the old building entrance without noticing and walking around the new building area.
There are obstacles and visual barriers lay between the two buildings, central area of the property is not clear.
Pain Point 02:
The majestic temple right opposite the new building entrance distracts customers' attention and makes the new building entrance even weaker.
Observation from Research:
People are more likely to walk into the majestic temple instead of the store when walking on the street.
The temple attracts a group of "destination customers", they come directly to the temple without spending time around.
Most of the people around don't think the new building entrance attracts them enough to walk inside the store.
Pain Point 03:
The brand ecosystem is not comprehensive. The department store is separated in the business side.
Observation from Research:
Most of the trendy, high-ended brands are clustered in the old building.
Several high-performance intercepted customer traffic, challenging other brands' visibility and traffic.
The in-store decoration is out-of-date and non-attractive to young customers.
05 Pain Points to Opportunities
I collaborated with Architects and Interior Designers to turn pain points into actionable opportunities.
Disconnected and non-sharable customer traffic.
Remove all the obstacles and barriers that block the customers’ sight, make the circulation smooth between two buildings.
The majestic temple make the new building entrance even weaker.
- Renovate the Facade make it more eye-catchy.
- Nudge some customers to enter from the new entrance by adding vertical circulation.
Not comprehensive brand ecosystem, lack of trendy brands.
- Consider the future brand matrix, offer potential counter space for specific leading brands.
- More fashion elements to attract young customers.
06 Design
Together with Architects and Interior Designer, the strategy has become a tangible solution.
Design Action 01:
Removed the staircase to form a main axis across the two buildings.
Design Action 02:
Redivide the entrance according to the column position, clear obstacles and reach commercial equity simultaneously.
Design Action 03:
Renovate the new building facade and add vertical circulation to nudge customers to enter the store from the new building entrance.
07 Design Outcome
On-site Photo Copy Right: Harber United Architecture Group
08 Design Achievement
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Sale Increase
Cosmetic category reached an annual sales of 500 million RMB (45% increase)
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New Brand Attraction
GUCCI Beauty first beauty counter in Guangzhou
3 "First Store" in South China, 5 "First Store" in the city (Guangzhou)
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Award Winning
2022 IDA - Honorable Mention
2022 A'Design - Bronze Winner
Resource: Baidu.com