What's the recipe for a winning retail strategy?

COVID has definitively transformed the brand ecosystem, and in particular the retail landscape, by redefining the function of the retailer as more than just a point of sale, but a point of experience. Since then, many brands have backed their development plans with an aggressive retail strategy. The stakes and investments are high, as are customer expectations of the services and experience delivered. How can we ensure that the network we create fulfills its objectives? What is the function of this touchpoint in an ever-richer brand ecosystem and customer journey? How can we make retail a high-performance asset in terms of both business and image?

Last spring, one brand was the subject of numerous rumors about a takeover by a major beauty group. This was the Omani Haute Parfumerie house AMOUAGE, whose unique retail approach is underpinning unprecedented performance (23.8% increase in sales by 2023, including +27% for boutiques) and attracting the interest of leading beauty brands.

Founded over 40 years ago in the heart of the Sultanate, 4 years ago the company set out to conquer the world with its vision of Middle Eastern elegance and modernity. What's so special about AMOUAGE's retail strategy? What brings it this level of performance, the envy of many large groups? Interview with Renaud Salmon, AMOUAGE's Executive Creative Director.

Added emotional value

Feeling, discovering and exchanging are now the prerequisites for an experience in a luxury boutique. In this respect, Renaud Salmon confided to us that "reflection on the experience is too often linked to the search for an aesthetic effect rather than added emotional value". It's about being able to experience a sensory journey to the heart of the company's inspirations, where the architecture, materials and path of discovery appeal to everyone's emotions and senses.

For most visitors, their journey begins online, so the purpose of a visit to the boutique is to live a unique experience, to access services exclusive to retail. In its stores, AMOUAGE offers interactive olfactory discovery to guide the customer, but also to deliver a unique moment with the advisor. More than a transactional experience, what we offer each visitor is the chance to enter into a conversation with the brand.

Collectible experiences

Renaud Salmon is equally convinced of the imperative need for retail to be seen by the public: "A store doesn't fully fulfill its role if it's only seen by those who visit it. It's all about working retail like a medium. Each new boutique must be a strong, impactful statement, creating destinations. The Omani company has decided to offer a different story for each new boutique opening, helping to build the brand myth as it expands its network. The Eclipse in Oman, the time of the rose harvest in the Dubai boutique, the sacred moment of sunset in the US boutique, and soon new chapters in China and Europe. This "Collectible Experience" approach, since each boutique is unique and therefore delivers a non-replicable experience, calls for a wide-ranging exploration of the retail network in order to accumulate unprecedented brand experiences. This approach is not only customer-centric, but is also aimed at the company's employees. AMOUAGE's Executive Creative Director adds, "Each AMOUAGE boutique opening is seen as a collective artistic project, glorified and celebrated, to reinforce the commitment and pride of our employees." It's also a guarantee of high traffic but also, and above all, of sharing by every visitor after their visit to one of the boutiques. Other brands have opted for this "collectible experience" strategy, including Aesop, Gentle Monster and Tamburins.

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Programmable retail

Experience is neither inert nor immutable. With the notion of "Collectible experience", we have evoked the renewal of experience in space; now let's look at the ways in which temporality intervenes.

In order to maintain its appeal, but also to guarantee a recurrence of visits (and to ensure that each visit is a surprise), it is essential to program the retail environment and equip it with devices that can accommodate renewed content. These devices, which can take the form of narrative window displays, interactive objects, counters featuring themed product curation, or spaces conducive to the exploration of the brand and its icons, must be conceived as reception structures for content specially developed for retail. That's why Amouage develops unique video and audio content for each store opening, to support the story told by the space created. This immersive story can then be renewed over time, transforming the customer journey through new entry points into the brand and its offering. Brands therefore need to anticipate the need to create content dedicated to retail, which can never be an adaptation or even a duplication of media content.

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Today, retail performance is inextricably linked to the added value that this point of contact represents in the customer journey and brand ecosystem. In order to meet the many challenges facing brands, it is no longer a question of pitting image-related functions against business-related ones, but rather of combining them to increase their impact tenfold.

Opinion column for Luxus+