It’s all about convenience

In retail history we see examples where conducting trials, testing and learning delivers incredible results. Just remember the 40 versions it took to get WD40 lubricant right and now look at that success....so I looked at the market for some examples of retailers testing new formats in this challenging retail landscape across Europe.
Ikea are active with several store trials such as the store they recently opened in Paris that caters for city dwellers with specific small living space ranges and a future promise to trial "loan" furniture. Then there is the Kingfisher Group, who in May launched their new small store format GoodHome by B&Q.
This new store is trendy, with a clean smart eye-catching exterior with parking directly outside the entrance which is often difficult on the high street...this store is all about convenience. The express order terminal, like those found in fast food outlets, is easy to use and contains 6 000 products stocked on site available in five minutes. You can access the full range from B&Q (over 40 000 lines) through another terminal that offers same day/next day delivery and click & collect. Top marks go to the sales team who were friendly and keen to help you make a selection, though the challenge will be to ensure the team are subject matter experts which is difficult in home improvement mass retail.

Overall, I liked the convenience and the fast pick up service and it is certainly something fresh to hit the high street. Reports suggest that they will start some additional trials of this format in France soon under the Castorama brand.
The GoodHome initiative is larger than just a few new store format trials, Kingfisher have done their research. They have learnt through surveys that peoples' homes make up one of the biggest contributions to our overall happiness and wellbeing. It showed they account for 15 per cent of our total happiness which compares to 14 per cent attributed to general health and fitness. Veronique Laury, soon to depart CEO of Kingfisher, commented, "Our homes are one of the keys to happiness...and we believe everybody should have a home they can feel good about". The GoodHome initiative is all about making home improvement accessible and easy and they have even created a…