There are two sorts of retail shops. Xiaomi tends to comply with the standard retail system; you stroll into one in every of its shops, see the merchandise accessible for buy, after which head out. Apple shops are inclined to do issues in another way, and so they’re centered round creating experiences as an alternative of simply promoting merchandise.
Nothing desires to go one step past that with its retailer, delivering a 360-degree view of what the model is all about. Nothing has a retailer in London, so the one which it simply inaugurated in Bengaluru is technically its second retail retailer, however it’s on one other stage fully by way of scale and ambition.
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I headed right down to Bengaluru to check out the shop, and talked to Carl Pei and Akis Evangelidis about Nothing’s retail technique. Proper off the bat, it is clear that what Nothing is doing may be very totally different to most shops; it does an awesome job highlighting the individuality of the model.
The shop has a definite industrial really feel to it, and there is a sense of rawness that you just simply do not see in most trendy retail. Nothing says it is modeled after a Nineteen Seventies meeting line, and to focus on that, your order is delivered through a conveyer belt (which is simply plain cool). It’s also inherently modular, with all of the workbenches capable of be simply positioned in any configuration as wanted.
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Akis indicated that the objective was to create a collaborative house as an alternative of a conventional retail retailer, and there is even a DJ sales space, a creator studio, and an unboxing zone on a second stage that lets prospects shoot hands-on movies after shopping for a cellphone or accent on the location. Oh, and there is a enormous dragonfly figurine that is prominently highlighted as quickly as you enter the shop. “It simply appears badass,” says Carl.
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There’s an audio space the place prospects are capable of check out Nothing’s earbuds, and a cellphone part with a retro-futuristic design that homes the model’s current-gen units. You get your complete CMF portfolio of merchandise as nicely within the retailer, and whereas Nothing does not fairly have the breadth of merchandise that different manufacturers provide, it did a very good job showcasing what it sells.
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With the shop meant to embody an meeting line, you get three zones that spotlight how the model exams its merchandise. There’s an ingress ranking enclosure the place water jets are sprayed onto the Telephone 3, a USB robotic that exams the USB-C port by always plugging in cables, and a scratch check space the place metal wool is handed over the rear of the machine.
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One other factor I like is the flexibility to customise merchandise purchased inside the retailer. There is a laser engraving machine, and you may get your buds or cellphone engraved, and there is not any additional cost. Nothing additionally sells merchandise like t-shirts and sneakers, and you may get your identify printed on a tee as nicely.
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To me, it felt much less like a retail retailer and extra like a spot to hang around and join with different followers of the model. Carl says that it’s the thought; he is not apprehensive about what number of gross sales figures the shop will usher in, however extra so about what number of followers stroll in and take photographs of the house. It’s a novel technique as these items go, and contemplating Nothing’s positioning as an online-focused model, the retail retailer serves as a showcase for its overarching id, and it does that very nicely.
Nothing is now seeking to arrange related shops in Tokyo and New York, and I get the sensation that they’re going to stand out simply as a lot.
