December 2020 - HMY Group

Which retail formats should be considered in an expansion strategy?
How does each point of sale format respond to the business objectives of a brand or retailer?

In recent years, brands and retailers have fostered huge professionalisation in their expansion and marketing departments use of physical points of sale.

This professionalisation has led them to use stores not only as sales tools but also as systems in a more complex and complete brand strategy. A change that has given rise to the birth of new formats of commercial spaces and the reinvention of the existing ones.

Opportunities that previously had the sole objective of ‘selling’ now play much more complex roles and seek additional benefits that position the brand and build long term customer loyalty.

Therefore, decisions regarding the location, design, complexity, quality of materials, technologies, or importance of new points of sale are guided by the business objective pursued within the company’s global strategy.

Some of these may be:

Analysis of business opportunities in new local markets.
Brand expansion.
Brand positioning.
Customer loyalty.
Extending the commercial network to new geographies within a specified period.
Etc.

What are the advantages for big brands in opening mega stores or flagships? What is more profitable for a brand, a shop-in-shop, or a corner? What role can pop-up stores play in your brand strategy?

The guide ‘Key elements for expanding retail and point-of-sale formats’ reflects on the expansion strategies that brands and retailers are currently using. You will find the keys to understanding what role each type of commercial space can play in the expansion projects of companies dedicated to large-scale consumption.

A document that will help guide decisions on how much, how, where, and when to invest in creating new points of sale for your brand or improving existing ones.

Flagship stores. One of the main trends in retail today.
The common concept stores that we are used to. What role do they play in omnichannel retail?
Corners or shop-in-shops. Formats with a lot of potential beyond the sale.
Displays and stands. A way to highlight your brand…or even other sales channels.
Pop-up stores. Are they a suitable format if your brand already has its stores?

Find out all the keys in this guide!

Download it for free

We present the first document that compiles the methodology of retail expansion projects.
This guide combines our 60 year experience in creating retail spaces and manufacturing commercial equipment for all sectors.
Introduces the trends that will dominate retail in 2021.

From retail, for retail

2020 has been a year full of events, new events and even events that have disappeared as we knew them. After everything we have been through, not only should we look ahead and move forward, but we also need to reflect.

As a result, at HMY we have been thinking over the last few months about how to better serve our customers and develop solutions to protect them, but also about the status of the retail sector.

Our first conclusion is that, despite being one of the most complex sectors, the one that integrates the most disciplines and professions (engineers, trades, craftsmen and designers, project and logistics coordinators, marketing, sales and assistance experts, etc.), retail is highly fragmented in terms of its approach.

There are no homogeneous criteria regarding brands’ and retailers’ expansion projects. As a result, each company integrates its own strategies managed by different profiles and teams, such as the procurement, marketing, expansion, trade or merchandising departments.

Any of these approaches is correct, as retail is an essential part of the strategy of companies, which responds to different objectives from time to time. There is probably no single pathway to success, as long as that path follows a strategy and methodology inherent to retail projects.

A methodology that until now was ‘unwritten’.

It is only recently that business schools have begun to incorporate degrees and majors in shopfitting projects. Therefore, our second reflection this year is focused on training. Should methodologies be created? Do we need to generate and share the ‘Best Practices’ of this sector, which is often stagnant and fragmented?

This is why we have created the first Shopfitting Guide. This guide seeks to convey our experience of over 60 years, turning companies’ retail projects into a reality, sharing our knowledge and everything we have learned thanks to our clients.

This guide includes:

Our approach to retail in 2020-2021.
A reflection on the status of the retail sector and the opportunity it faces to transform society.
The phases included in a 360º shopfitting project, both to carry out complete expansion projects and to improve current commercial equipment.
An overview of all the trades involved in the creation of commercial equipment for a retail point of sale.
The cross-sector elements that must be present in a retail expansion project.
The trends that will dominate retail in 2021.

We hope you find this guide useful, so that, based on your own approach and on the guide, you can build projects that involve a change not only in the retail sector, but also in society.

Download the new Shopfitting guide