'We need to come up with more innovative ideas': Retail boss hits out at the region's co
When entertainment retailer HMV was forced into closing large chunks of its 239-store chain in 2013, many commentators heralded it as the nail in the coffin of the humble music shop.
Online had won. There was no place, and no need for the swathes of physical stores that had pulled down their shutters for good in quick succession, especially with the music industry’s profitability struggling under the weighty impact of illegal downloads.
But to paraphrase a hackneyed quotation, reports of the entertainment store’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
At least that’s the case if you look to Virgin Megastore’s success in the Middle East, where the retailer is going from strength to strength, emphasised by the recent opening of its highly anticipated new concept store in Yas Mall at the end of last year.
Rather than fade away, Virgin Megastore has been enjoying double-digit growth, with plans to add to its existing portfolio of stores across the region, and ambitions to become the leisure destination of choice for a wide demographic of consumers.
Much of the credit for the steady increase in fortunes must go to the president of Virgin Megastore Middle East, Nisreen Shocair, who emphasises the effort that has been exerted in establishing the chain’s position in the market.
“For the past few years we’ve been working very hard and very consciously on repositioning the brand the right way for the Middle East,” she explains.
“I’ve been in this role since 2006, and we had to reposition the brand which was for men aged 35-plus to a broader representation of the market. We wanted a brand that resounded with young people and pointed towards the future of entertainment - not just CDs and DVDs. We wanted to move more into tech and other avenues.”
Shocair identifies the launch of the Dubai Mall store as a “great achievement” which gave new direction and impetus to the brand when it opened in 2010.
The demographic has certainly changed, with 60 percent of customers now under 29 years old, and 35 percent females, and with it came that double-digit growth.
“These people needed a third place,” Shocair continues. “Somewhere outside of school and home, or work and home. They wanted a third place to hang out. They don’t have to buy anything, they can just come to the store to be sociable.
“They come to check out what’s new. In the Dubai Mall store we have about 400,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) and we have about 40,000 new products every year. We set this up as a competitive edge, bringing in so many different items from different segments – interesting, new, exclusive, not seen before items that keep bringing customers in two or three times per week.
“They come and spend between 30 and 45 minutes there. They enjoy the beautiful design, the great customer service, and interesting environment. And this leads to great sales.”
But rather than rest on her laurels, Shocair reveals her immediate reaction was to say “how can we take it further? How can we take on the lifestyle segmentation?”
The answer, she explains, was concept stores.
The Yas Mall store is the first example of this new approach, offering a new aesthetic and new products which go far beyond the boundaries of the traditional CDs and DVDs.
Shocair says: “At the moment, customers will come to Virgin in Dubai, shop there, and then go elsewhere to shop for other things. If they’re interested in fashion, they will go to a clothes shop, for example.
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