Dual customer guidance

The French home improvement chain Castorama is testing a new retail concept with a new customer guidance model in Mérignac, close to Bordeaux. The customer shopping journey is organised into two different areas, with a signpost by the entrance to point shoppers in the right direction. "Need to do some DIY?" - please turn right. "Keen on a project?" - please turn left.
The customer route for DIY­ers should simplify the purchasing process and make it quicker. Here the customer wwill find a typical DIY assortment composed of the categories of tools, chemistry/cleaning agents, hardware and sanitary installation. All the materials required for DIY jobs are brought together in "boutiques", or "shops". Test zones are also available for customers to try out the products.
The second route is geared to customers who are looking for a project; they will find inspiration throughout the store as well as having access to 3D visualisation tools. The bathroom segment in particular has been redesigned on the basis of studies in France, Great Britain and Poland, and realised in partnership with architects. In the entrance area, 200 m² has also been devoted to creating a number of inspiration zones. These each focus on one type of home, for example the Haussmann apartments typical of France in the 19th century, or modern and loft-style apartments.
The newly erected building into which the old store is moving was awarded the BiodiverCity label for ecological construction and the British certificate BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) with a rating of "very good". It has a sales area of around 11 200 m², a 4 000 m² building material zone and stocks around 53 000 SKUs.

More than 40 000 other SKUs are also available to customers online at www.castorama.fr. Goods ordered in this way can be collected in store a couple of hours later.
To complement its product offering, the store keeps a record of tradespeople who can be contacted. For smaller jobs that people are not keen on tackling themselves, Castorama cooperates with the NeedHelp platform to make help available.