UK. Dixons Travel’s newly opened store at London Heathrow Terminal 3, visited recently by The Moodie Davitt Report, sets a new level for the consumer technology retailer in terms of the customer experience.
As reported, Dixons Travel opened its new 2,196sq ft Terminal 3 store at the beginning of August. The shop, which complements the Heathrow T4 and T5 stores, marks a new direction for Dixons Travel and is part of Heathrow Airport’s wider plan to revitalise the T3 experience.
Dixons Travel Managing Director Heidi Woodhouse says the company was relentless in seeking inspirations for the store design. “We visited electronics stores in New York, the Middle East and Asia and were inspired by other brands’ stores in Heathrow Terminal 3. Where the Dior store has a runway with handbags and fashion items alongside it, our store has a runway with speakers next to it.”
One of the main aims of the new concept store is to attract more female customers by using increased gender-neutral lighting and signage, notes Woodhouse. “The store features a white exterior instead of black [like Dixons Travel’s other stores] and white fixtures and fittings.
Woodhouse adds that staff uniforms will shortly be restyled and the store aims to have a 50/50 split of male and female employees – a contrast to the often male-dominated world of consumer technology retailing.
Hue lighting at the front of the store can be changed according to store promotions along with electronic high-level signage. “One of the most important things about the store is that we’re able to tell customers where to go and spin promotional messages around it via high-level signage,” explains Woodhouse. “If there’s a deal on Bose then we can send a message the whole way around and it can land in the Bose bay and drop down to a specific message.”
Woodhouse emphasises that the company’s competitive pricing is being heavily promoted in-store and can be highlighted via digital technology. “We are proud of the fact that on key categories, we are between -5% and -10% cheaper than high street competitors and online retailers such as Amazon,” says Woodhouse. “50% of our customers are international so we price match against international competitors such as Best Buy and Media Markt and can send those messages around the store.”
Dixons Travel can also target a specific customer base or flight with in-store electronic marketing, reveals Woodhouse. “We understand who is shopping and at what time so, for example, we know that between 8am and 11am is the time we will sell the most Apple products so can send promotional messages.
“We also know which are the best flights [for sales] and what products people are buying so when those flights are departing from the terminal we can do targeted marketing. It’s coming into safari season now so we can send messages to customers flying to South Africa about what they might want to buy, for example, cameras.”
The customer experience in the T3 store is enhanced by a ‘learning table’, which features homeware gadgets such as smart heating and hot water thermostat Hive and digital doorbells. “These items are not necessarily things you would expect to find in airports,” explains Woodhouse. “But it’s about customers playing with products and seeing how things interact with each other because it’s the latest technology. We want customers to feel like they’ve got something to learn as well as just being sold to.”
A ‘lift and learn’ camera station enables consumers to pick up a camera model and discover its specifications via a digital screen, while an Oculus virtual reality (VR) area creates in-store theatre and excitement. “We often see a queue of travellers waiting to have a go on the VR experience and it is very popular among children who will play on it while their parents are browsing,” says Woodhouse.
Another new store feature is the play table with phone charging stations, specially designed for the company’s airport stores. The area allows customers to sit and relax while charging their phones before their flight. An FID screen showing departing flight details will be introduced to the store in the next few weeks, Woodhouse reveals, to allow travellers to keep an eye on their flight without leaving the store.
An in-store community Fitbit screen is prominently displayed in the centre of the T3 space, a feature which shows customers how the technology works. “All sales staff at the store wear a Fitbit and are divided into two teams,” explains Woodhouse. “Then at the end of each day, both teams’ steps are added up and we see who the winning team is.”
For ease of shopping and to help speed up purchase decisions, Dixons Travel has introduced ‘We recommend’ points at the T3 store. “We’re aware that people are short on time so if they want to choose something quickly the ‘We recommend’ points are available for headphones and key categories,” notes Woodhouse. “Equally, if they want to browse, there are lots of products left out for customers to play with.”
Woodhouse notes that headphones and Apple products are Dixons Travel’s best-selling items. “All headphones are live so customers can try them out and they are all done by brands because brands are really important to our customers.
“We wanted to make sure that we had consistency [in the store] and it felt like Dixons Travel but that the key brands stand out.”
“We are proud of the fact that on key categories, we are between 5% and 10% cheaper than high street competitors and online retailers”
Another key growth category for Dixons Travel is gaming, which Woodhouse says is becoming “massive”. Customers can buy their gaming accessories (and any other product in Dixons Travel’s stores) and collect it on their return or have it delivered to their home.
“We did some research and found that gaming is something that customers are interested in so introduced a range of gaming accessories to all of our stores but a specific gaming bunker in the Heathrow T3 store.”
Besides the core electronics and gadget product areas, Dixons Travel is also turning its attention to beauty and fashion & accessories. The T3 shop has a dedicated beauty section which includes premium brands such as Dyson plus some brands which do not feature in the company’s other stores.
A smart watches area features high-end fashion brands such as Michael Kors and Fossil, which are both top performers, according to Woodhouse.
A side wall of ‘gender-neutral’ laptop bags and rucksacks has also been introduced, and for sports enthusiasts there is a new section which sells digital chips to attach onto footballs, tennis rackets and golf clubs to monitor performance. The chips enable users to play back video clips to improve their performance.
Dixons Travel’s ambitious new concept store underlines how technology retailing can play a key role at airports in the digital age. A focus on the experience, on innovation and on attracting a wider consumer base can be made to deliver for the retailer, the airport and the shopper.
