The Paris-based Nike House of Innovation features four floors of holistic retail experience and integrates digital applications with their in-store shopping process.
Nike continues its endeavour to harness the potential of digital technology to best serve its consumers by opening its third House of Innovation. The Parisian store is situated amongst some of the world’s most iconic landmarks and brands at the legendary 79 Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Informed by its predecessors in Shanghai and New York, the flagship store will offer an immersive and digitally-powered end-to-end consumer journey, fulfilling the brand’s lifelong mission to transform the future of retail.
The House of Innovation 002 takes learnings from its predecessors to improve upon and innovate digital retail technologies.
The House of Innovation 002 will present the best of Nike, carefully curated by and for the unique style of the city; everything Paris in one “city shop” location. Not only will it offer one of the largest assortments of Nike footwear in Europe, its modular store layouts will be continuously updated, and exclusive member opportunities will be available for its customers; ensuring that the retail space ultimately serves as a vibrant centre of sport. The end-goal for Nike is for its consumers to step in and experience the largest, most digitally connected retail concept in the world. The president of Consumer and Marketplace, Heidi O’Neill, believes that the strength of Nike’s digital portfolio, combined with product innovation and the beautifully-designed physical spaces, will offer members of the sporting community a one-of-a-kind experience.
INSIDE THE DIGITAL STORE
At Nike, the mission is pretty straight-forward; that of bringing inspiration to every athlete in the world. Changing the retail world, however, does not come easy even to an innovator like the sportswear giant. The company has spent the last two years learning and evolving from the findings generated by its previous two stores; placing emphasis on four key areas: serving women with their most innovative services, creating more opportunities for kids to lead an active life, designing a more seamless end-to-end consumer experience and lastly, uniting shoppers to a global community.
When a customer walks in, they will be met by the Mission Control; a wall-to-wall installation or the heartbeat of Nike, as the company refers to it. Its purpose is to connect shoppers to global and local sports communities, offer exclusive member benefits and serve as a bridge between its sister stores in New York and Shanghai.
Nike Paris; the first House of Innovation to feature a Mission Control wall, better connecting shoppers to sport across Paris and beyond.
Nike Paris also provides entertainment for children through Kids Pod; an in-store interactive gaming and trial station which encourages children to get moving and keep active. The store’s designated area for kids presents the most extensive assortment of children’s athletic products available in France. Children can gear up and tap into features like a 360-degree virtual Parkour-inspired runners experience and a one-handed zipper challenge. In addition to enhancing the in-store experience, Nike encourages youngsters to get active in their Nike gear through neighbourhood activations taking place all-over the French capital.
Nike is creating experiential destinations for kids to get moving through in-store virtual gaming activations.
Staying true to its mission, the store’s second level boasts its largest and most progressive women’s range to inspire female athletes. The brand has continuously challenged the world’s definition of an athlete and encourages women’s participation in sport through inclusive designs. To appeal to a wide range of female consumers, the store features plus-sized mannequins and attire improvements like the Nike Victory Swim and Nike Pro Hijab to help cultivate a more accepting sporting culture for women.
To improve the shopping experience for their female consumers, Nike introduced more inclusive designs with varying mannequin body types, a hijab range and an innovative bra fitting assistant via their Bra Fit by Nike Fit app.
The Nike House of Innovation 002 employs an end-to-end retail experience; the store’s strategy expands on the traditional ‘brick and mortar’ store by seamlessly merging their ever-evolving digital capabilities and how consumers interact with their products. The integration of WIFI-based digital assistance is not limited to just the women’s section of the store and is used advantageously throughout each level. Using Nike app services enables shoppers to buy online, reserve items in-store, ‘scan to learn’ and ‘scan to try’ features, and the ability to ‘shop the look’, all while in the physical store.
The sportswear giant’s innovation strategy doesn’t stop at digital technology. Nike also aims to help save the future of sport and encourage sustainability discourse in the world of design through its ‘Move to Zero’ initiative. The innovative Parisian store is helping pave the way through their use of building materials, product lifecycle consideration and use of green energy sources. 85,000kg of sustainable materials are weaved into the framework and display fixtures of the flagship store, which is wholly powered by clean wind energy. The Nike ‘Circular Design’ concept was developed with a product’s lifecycle in mind; to last longer and to consider what happens to it at the end of its life. Chief Design Officer John Hoke reflected on the role of the design process: “We have to be really thoughtful about the choices that we make as creatives and not to think about just the composition before making but to incorporate everything — from the sourcing to the use, to the collection, to the end.”
Following the Nike Move to Zero initiative, the House of Innovation is powered by green energy, with sustainable materials woven throughout the store’s structure.
PIONEERING A CHANGE
Nike’s latest House of Innovation is a groundbreaking example of an immersive retail design which takes advantage of the brand’s digital capabilities. Through their continuous experimentation and learning, particularly from their previous New York and Shanghai stores, Nike is able to pull off a seamless integration of the physical store and their Nike app suite. As the largest sportswear brand in the world, their commitment to sustainability helps create positive change and encourages other brands to follow suit. Nike’s inspirational journey of continuous improvement and innovation in both retail and product design secures their position as a leader in their field and as one of the biggest brands in the world today.
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