Victorinox’s London Flagship Sports New Design
Pro Tip: Involving consumers in the retail process brings them into the brand eco-system and forges a new relationship between shopper and retailer. While in-store customization has done this for many years in store environments, bringing customers into the experience, even during essential trips, can create loyalty and positive memories.
As Swiss brand Victorinox celebrates the 125th anniversary of the Swiss Army Knife, the retailer returned to London with the opening of its flagship store on 388 Oxford St. this past fall. The return to London reflects the brand’s growing influence in the U.K. retail scene, while the new store and design concept (which can also be seen in Victorinox’s store in Brunnen, Switzerland) combines Victorinox’s principles of quality, functionality, innovation and iconic design with refined details. The brand’s corporate history, products and core values have all become part of the consumer’s overall shopping experience.
While perfect London locations are not easy to come by, Oxford Street has one of the highest footfalls in Europe and benefits from local visitors and tourists alike. The flagship’s retail neighbors — BOSS and Selfridges — also are aligned with Victorinox’s premium positioning.
The more than 550-square foot store stocks the full Victorinox product ranges of travel gear, watches, pocket knives, kitchen knives and fragrance. The brand has evolved to deliver on being a part of consumers' everyday adventures with its offerings, from everyday urban needs in the city to international travel and outdoor exploration, and cooking at home.
The new flagship encompasses two levels with a dedicated floor to the brand’s Swiss Army Knives and cutlery. Important to the consumer experience, the new flagship showcases the brand’s lifestyle products and ethos in a space that is designed to be modern, premium and inviting.
Telling the Brand Story
Victorinox is a family-run company producing hand-finished goods, so the “human touch” and “human connection” is very key for the company. Victorinox views its physical stores as a way to allow its end consumers to experience Victorinox personally, and its store staff act as brand ambassadors who help amplify the shopping experience, a company spokesperson said.
Victorinox’s new retail design concept — developed in collaboration with Dalziel & Pow — focuses on ensuring that its consumers can experience the quality of its products, as well as helping them understand the multifunctionality and the careful consideration that has gone into the products’ designs. Each product category has its own story, and a brand store experience was created to share those moments. Throughout the store, products are displayed in a way that encourages shoppers to engage with items via tactile and storytelling experiences.
In terms of in-store design, the brand’s industrial roots are emphasized with brushed steel used across key fixtures and fittings. The brand’s connection to its Swiss roots and nature is amplified and interpreted into the design with floor-to-ceiling windows in which natural light penetrates. Natural birchwood also plays a key role in the design, with reeded plywood paneling wrapping internal areas of the store and attracting shoppers upstairs.
Darker accents, the brand’s signature red on the exterior and interactive digital screens draw in passersby. Victorinox products — including travel gear, watches and fragrances — are merchandised on the first floor, and consumers are led upstairs by a spiraling glass and stainless-steel staircase to experience the range of cutlery and pocket knives on display.
“I am thrilled with the new retail design,” Carl Elsener, CEO Victorinox, said in a statement. “It authentically reflects our positioning as a premium brand and provides our customers with a unique brand experience.”
Custom-knife Building Experience
Personalization stations allow consumers to assemble their own Swiss Army Knife, and have it customized to their specifications. While personalization allows the consumer to create and put their mark on a product, it also provides Victorinox a chance to immerse consumers in the brand and its story. The experience is more than engraving, and gives an insight into the construction process and the opportunity to tailor the Swiss Army Knife’s functionality, a Victorinox spokesperson told Retail Leader Pro.
“The innovation, quality and multifunctionality of the Swiss Army Knife have served as an inspiration to all our products and the space really helps bring this to life,” a Victorinox spokesperson said. “Whether you’re shopping suitcases and need to know which suitcase will serve what kind of trip the best or which kitchen knives are best for which jobs, the store design has carefully incorporated tips to help consumers pick out the right products. Our key audience looks for quality, iconic design and shops in a considered manner. Our new retail design concept creates a space where they can really understand the product and our brand better.”