Launch at #FASHIONTECH BERLIN: This is how shopping works in the new bonprix pilot store – opening on 14 February in Hamburg

A trend floor with showroom character, smart fitting rooms for comfort, convenient payment via app – these and more are the highlights of the new bonprix pilot store in Hamburg city centre. Under the motto ‘fashion connect’, the advantages of brick-and-mortar retail are consistently combined with the benefits of online shopping. The focus is on the needs and wishes of the customer. The result is a unique, digitally supported shopping experience.

At today's #FASHIONTECH BERLIN, bonprix is revealing the details of its experimental concept for the first time. The pilot store at Mönckebergstraße 11 in Hamburg will officially open on 14 February. Interested parties can already get an insight into the new bonprix world on a dedicated microsite. As an innovation project of the Otto Group, ‘fashion connect’ was developed in close consultation with experts and consultants from the group. Last October, bonprix announced a radically new retail concept that offers a seamless shopping experience and real added value when shopping. Classic retail weaknesses such as rummaged-through store shelves, cramped and poorly lit changing rooms, and long queues at the checkout are cleverly remedied by technical innovations. The internationally successful fashion company focuses on consistent customer orientation, digitalisation, and learning ability.

‘We know what motivates our customers and enable them to experience our latest fashion trends in a uniquely comfortable and inspiring way,’ says Rien Jansen, Managing Director of bonprix Handelsgesellschaft and responsible for purchasing, marketing and retail. To ensure that this happens without any hurdles, the entire visit to the pilot store is app-assisted. From entering the store to selecting favourite items and trying them on with a feel-good factor to convenient payment, bonprix relies on intuitive technologies. ‘This turns shopping frustration into shopping pleasure,’ Jansen continues.

Shopping via app

The central link in the pilot store is the enhanced bonprix app, which guides the customer through the store from start to finish like a personal digital shopping assistant. It is both an admission ticket and a remote control for the store. Customers use it to check in to the store, scan items and select the sizes they want to try on. The selected garments are placed in the app's virtual shopping bag and made available directly in the fitting room. In addition, fashion assistants on site provide support in using the app and offer advice on fashion questions.

‘We have made the smartphone an essential tool in our new store because it is now a constant companion for our customers – whether they are using it to find information or to shop,’ says Markus Fuchshofen, who, as Managing Director for E-Commerce, Sales Germany and Brand, has brought the online expertise of bonprix – one of the highest-grossing web shops in Germany – to the project. ‘The extent to which we have digitised the shopping process is unprecedented in brick-and-mortar retail.’

A new fashion experience

One of the highlights of the new bonprix pilot store is the Trend Floor. Untidy shop shelves and rummaging around for the right size are a thing of the past here. Instead, each garment and accessory is presented just once in inspiring themed worlds. This ‘one-item presentation’ gives the store a clear and spacious showroom character, allowing the fashion to be presented in an appealing way and enabling customers to relax and browse for their new favourite items. With ‘fashion connect’, bonprix addresses fashion-conscious women and presents the highlights of its younger, particularly trendy own brands Bodyflirt and Rainbow.

Feel-good factor when trying on clothes

To make trying on clothes fun, bonprix has developed a completely new fitting room experience for its pilot store. After scanning the desired items, a fitting room is prepared for the customer. In the short meantime, she can refresh herself with a drink at one of the two fashion bars, for example. The customer is then asked to enter the fitting room reserved for her, where the items she has ordered are already waiting for her to try on. The cubicle is extra spacious and provides the right feel-good atmosphere with pleasant ventilation and four selectable lighting scenarios. A large display mirrors the contents of the bonprix app and shows the next steps. If an item of clothing does not fit, a different size can be easily reordered directly in the fitting room. And if you want personal advice or need help, you can call a fashion assistant at the touch of a button.

Fast check-out

There are no long waiting times at the checkouts in the bonprix pilot store. This is because customers can choose from a variety of payment options. To do so, they simply leave the fitting room with their desired items and the app's shopping bag is automatically updated thanks to state-of-the-art RFID technology. Customers can pay via PayPal directly in the app, by debit or credit card at the self-checkout, or, if they wish, at the cash desk. No additional security measures are necessary.

The ‘learning’ store

For bonprix, ‘fashion connect’ is not only a flagship brand, but also an experimental shopping lab. After around two years of conception and testing, the focus remains on further developing and continuously improving the shopping experience even after the opening. Gradual optimisations are to be made and new features such as personalised product suggestions introduced. ‘We will observe and learn a great deal, incorporate our impressions directly into our concept and continuously develop the store,’ says Daniel Füchtenschnieder, Managing Director of bonprix Retail GmbH, who is responsible for the development and implementation of the store concept. ‘In this way, we want to inspire our customers again and again.’

The project is also a high priority for the Otto Group. Sven Seidel, Chief Multichannel Retail Officer at the Otto Group: "The experience factor and personal advice are still unique selling points of brick-and-mortar retail. However, in order to be successful in the future, it is imperative to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalisation in offline retail as well and to integrate digital services geared towards customer benefits. The Otto Group is testing various concepts. The laboratory approach pursued by bonprix with ‘fashion connect’ is a particularly innovative one."

Further information on ‘fashion connect’:

• Tutorial: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWOCYJZ0BzQ&t

• Image film: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfv_KTx_XW4

• Animated infographic: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnel742WO4I