CITY ENERGY EXPERIENCE RETAIL STORE
SINGAPORE
Client / City Energy Pte. Ltd.
Sector / Energy, Retail
Service / Experience Design, Spatial Design
The City Energy Experience Store turns retail experiences into scenario-based customer participation by making the store feel like a home. Multimedia touchpoints, demonstration zones, and physical and digital interactions help customers understand the products better, so they can make more informed buying decisions.
As these are built into the self-exploratory storytelling journey, customers can learn more about the benefits of green energy and sustainable home solutions, while staff can focus on customer service and sales tasks.
Background
With an increasing number of consumers turning towards digital retail experiences, brick-and-motar stores are faced with the challenge of innovating to remain relevant. Energy retailers like City Energy as well, felt the same pressing need to adapt to meet consumer demands. However, while expanding on their B2C business, the City Energy team was still keen to better service their B2B customers. Besides that, they also pivoted their business to focus on green energy.
In response to their requirements, we proposed a retail space that would incorporate different journey maps that could cater to different user groups; incorporating self-exploratory touchpoints and guided demonstrations to allow for an immersive and interactive shopping experience.
Conceptualization
We created Life by City Energy with the concept of a smart home in mind. The space was designed to evoke the feeling of a home with a garden out front, a cosy living room with a view, and a welcoming kitchen. The space was laid out such that customers would be tempted to explore and wander through the store freely without assistance. While the store is easily navigable by customers, they can choose to receive assistance at the touch of a button. This allows staff to dedicate quality service to their customers.
Design Approach
We found that many customers felt unsure about the right product to choose when presented with an influx of options. Hence, we intentionally designed the space such that customers would be able to receive valuable insights from brand experts, enjoy the benefits of physical retail, and interact with the multimedia tools to learn more about sustainable lifestyle options rather than face an overwhelming variety of products. The store turns retail into scenario-based customer participation by making it feel like a home, with products in hidden larders. Digital touchpoints and live demonstrations enhance the overall customer retail journey by helping them understand the products better, so they can make more informed buying decisions.
With the expansion of the store from the previous footprint, we created self-exploratory journeys in line with their manpower-lean model, to allow the current staff strength to focus on customer service and sales tasks. Through multimedia touchpoints and physical and digital interactions built into the storytelling journey, customers can learn more about how they can move towards a greener future and the impact they can bring to their environment.
In a busy retail environment, Life at City Energy feels like a palette cleanser as it is refreshingly different from its neighbours.
For further questions regarding this project, please feel free to reach out to hello@theafternaut.com for more information.
OCBC Wisma Atria Singapore
The Afternaut Group Pte Ltd. 2024
