Behind the scene

Last Thursday we were in Utrecht at the Retail and Brands Festival. An event full of information about the future of retail, technology to support retail and a number of interesting speakers. As a distributor, you also want to know what is going on in retail, so that you can look at the next steps together with the retailer. Consumers are no longer as they used to be and increasingly demand an omnichannel approach. In other words, integration of online and offline. Below are some speakers that were present at the event.

The Age of Assistance – GOOGLE

Our behavior evolved with the phone. A consumer is not looking for ‘men’s shoes in my neighborhood’ on his phone. He searches for ‘men’s shoes’, because he assumes that the phone already knows his location. People become much smarter; the tools become much smarter – to the point where people have the enormously high expectation that their mobile assistant will make smart decisions for them and you only need your voice. Karlijn Pels about The Age of Assistance and what this means for retailers.

This makes Vitaminstore an omnichannel brand.

Vitaminstore does not scream from the roofs, but has been growing steadily for years. The past period was characterized by a ‘replatforming’, in which the website has been improved in many areas. That already leads to a higher conversion. Alain Vermeulen about the Omnichannel challenges of Vitaminstore and the roadmap for the coming years

A nice look behind the scenes at this company with 35 sales points in the Netherlands, they were quick and already in 2000 they launched their webshop. An integration of Microsoft from 365 to websolutions and CRM support. A steady growth on a solid basis in their web sales. Their salesmen are the ambassadors and sevice points in the country. Also opening the chat function on their site helps clients make great choices in choices. What is particularly striking is that the Sunday morning is one of the busiest occupied moments.

How Skins Cosmetics gives the niche a stage.

Skins Cosmetics has grown into the place for niche brands in eighteen years and now has twelve stores. Creating more publicity for authentic perfumes is one of Hillege’s motives. In a push market with price stakes Skins’ philosophy is precisely not to put pressure on sales. Philip Hillege about the power of the formula and the expansion to ‘exotic’ countries. The development and expansion of Skins was extensively discussed, also the emphasis that they give no discount on their articles and that craftsmanship and authenticity are important for the formula. Clearly different from the fact that they start in the Nine Streets or on the Van Oldebarneveltstraat in Rotterdam, they are just looking for the A1 locations to become more visible. In their opinion, winekls disappear from the B locations that make shopping so fun. All in all, Skins is outgrowing the niche market and becoming a bigger player in retail land. The opening in Haarlem is coming and they still have a white spot plan in the Netherlands.

What can we learn from retail cities and concepts that are at the forefront of innovation?

For world cities like London and New York, traffic is not a problem, millions of people walk through the streets every year. But how do you as a retailer ensure that these people choose your store? Retailers must continuously innovate with their formula to create preference. London and New York are retail testing grounds where many retail innovations are visible first. Nancy van der Heijden shows examples of the most surprising physical stores that meet the wishes of today and tomorrow.

Also the developments at Amazon go beyond just a webshop, they see that the delivery of packages needs a solution and here too service is of paramount importance.

Future music? Amazon gets access to your house with a keyless key, they can deliver the packages to your house, you need a team to clean your house, you can also give them access to your home from a distance. Seems far away now but there are definitely elements that will be applied.

How the potato eaters suddenly wear Vans.

Who Van Gogh says, do not immediately think of retail. But with four stores, a collaboration with Alibaba, a café annex concept store in Hong Kong and a shoe line in co-creation with fashion brand Vans, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is surprisingly like a serious player. Nobody comes to Van Gogh to buy stuff, ‘but in terms of turnover per square meter we are in the highest regions of Dutch retail’. Here is a nice look at how Vincent van Gogh is being marketed. Licenses that may carry the Van Gogh logo throughout the world. An essential part of the turnover of the Van Gogh museum with smart locations spread over the floors. So even at the toilet already a small souvenir shop to trigger the people.

Recently we organized the Parfum-Dinner in Maaseik, Belgium, together with Parfumerie Margaux and Restaurant Smaakkamer Lavendel. An inspiring evening with a lot of smell, taste and renewed interpretations of ingredients. Explanation about the perfumes and the background, explanation of the dishes and the matching wines. In total there were 7 dishes, 7 scents and 7 wines. The evening started with a refreshing Gin Tonic.

How does it work? In collaboration with the perfumery we make a selection from the perfumes on the shelves and deliver them to the chef with the scent pyramids to get inspiration for ingredients in his dishes. The wine is also tailored to the tastes and together with the perfume contribute to a special combination. These evenings are also very successful with the sale of the perfumes. Together with the restaurant, you will be recruiting customers for this evening, so the knife cuts on two sides and you can then add new customers to the perfumery. If you are interested, let us know.

All in all a party and certainly worth repeating.

·To our great surprise it all started with the Perfume RUDIS from Nobile 1942, a powerful perfume with an opening of dried fruit, clove, saffron, marc, we were seduced by a nice cocktail with cloves and fruit notes and a refined amuse.
·The first starter is the eau de perfume of Profumi del Forte, By NIGHT BLACK, another surprise because here the cypress, pine and incense are the major players in the scent. The Carpaccio of salmon, smoked mackerel, fennel and asparagus give a sophisticated balance with a soft, tasty white wine.
·As an intermediate dish, the lobster soup continues to accompany the perfume ARETHUSA from Tiziana Terenzi. The opening tones of orange, ginger, saffron also come into their own.
·By NIGHT WHITE, the floral, soft powdery eau de perfume from Profumi del Forte is accompanied by Oriental fish with coriander. Again a nice white wine. Just smell the scent and then again the wine and then a bite of the fish. As if an angel is cycling your tongue.
·The new perfume of Nobile 1942, LEVANTE gets the attention together with a filet of quail with honey and duck liver. Here we discover sea fennel for the first time. In Levante we naturally come across the maritime notes and a hint of caramel.
·The first dessert was inspired by KIRKE from Terenzi, a magical and sensual perfume with a sweet fruit bouquet, passion fruit and peach. In the deep plate we come across a passion fruit soup with ice cream and fresh fruit. Again a nice matching wine, whose region / name has escaped me.

Because everything is so balanced and there is time and attention for smelling, tasting and smelling and tasting again, we keep our heads clear.

Then there is La Danza delle Libellulle, the perhaps famous topper in the vanilla scents of Nobile 1942. Here it is a Tarte Tartin, the turned hot apple pie, together with a chocolate mousse. That apple with the chocolate is doing well.

Everyone has enjoyed and has been surprised by the special possibilities in smell and taste area. There was also opportunity during dinner to try a perfume on the skin. With the aid of a specially designed card, the guest could indicate where he / she had been sprayed which perfume.

During and after the coffee, questions were asked and perfumes smelled again and bought. Of course we spoiled the buying customers with a 13 ml bag spray or a cheerful dragonfly brooch.

Are you ineterested?

Do you think: we want that too! Then contact us and we will discuss the plan of approach.