Would you enjoy shopping in a store without dedicated inventory but instead one that offers an immersive shopping experience? Well Canada Goose recently made that a reality when it designed and opened its “The Journey: A Canada Goose Experience” retail store in Sherway Gardens in Toronto. This is not your average retail store. It is outfitted with a cold room with snow and the temperature is set to -12 degrees Celsius. The immersive experience also features a floor that cracks when you walk on it as well as a fake-rock crevasse. The experience is also a little more personal with employees guiding customers through the journey.

Entrance to the Canada Goose “Journey”. The floor cracks as you walk on it similar to walking on ice. Credit: Canada Goose

There are enough items in the store if you want to test out a jacket but if you want to buy one a sales associate will help you to order one of their luxury coats using a touchscreen. Purchases are delivered to customers at a later time, sometimes with same day delivery.

Speaking about the new store the CEO of Canada Goose, Dani Reiss said: “we are pushing the boundaries of traditional retail and experimenting to see how an inventory-free format, where experience comes first, works.” “I think people will purchase products online after they walk out of the store. I do think they will.” “Wall-to-wall coats? What does that tell you about the value of the product? Is it special?” “What do luxury brands do? They don’t have 50 purses. They’ve got three on the wall. You don’t have wall-to-wall blouses and skirts. They’ve got three skirts.”

Is this gimmick or a better customer experience? Inventory free stores are not a new concept. Back in 2011 Bonobos a digitally native retailer opened its first physical store location called a “guide shop”. Guide shops carry all sizes and colours offered within each style of merchandise sold by Bonobos. The store is essentially a clothing showroom where customers can look at and try on merchandise for size and fit but they cannot walk out of the store with any purchases.

Under Bonobos’ new CEO Micky Onvural, the retailer’s strategy has shifted. Customers in the Boston area that are shopping at Bonobos can now walk out of the store with their purchase in hand. This underscores one of the key elements of friction within online shopping or stores of this type, not being able to get a purchase immediately.

Nordstrom is another retailer that is trying its hand at limited inventory stores. In September of 2017 Nordstrom launched a new store concept called Nordstrom Local. Nordstrom Local stores are small. They are only 3,000 sq. ft and they do not carry dedicated inventory. The stores are focused on service and providing a great experience. Some of the services offered at Nordstrom Local stores include personal stylists, free of charge, manicures, pickup for eCommerce orders (including curbside pickup), returns, alterations, gift wrapping and complimentary refreshments.

These stores have performed very well for Nordstrom. On average a Nordstrom Local customer spends 2.5 times the amount of a regular Nordstrom customer.

Even IKEA is experimenting with these types of stores. In April of this year IKEA opened its first city centre store within the United States in New York City. The 17,000 sq. ft three storey store, located on the Upper East Side, is significantly smaller than the average IKEA store that comes in at approximately 300,000 sq. ft. In this store customers can book design planning sessions with IKEA staff where IKEA hopes that based on the in-store consultation customers will pick out items that will be delivered to the customers’ home at a later time. Customers shopping at the IKEA store in NYC also receive discounted shipping, furniture assembly services if required as well as an option to pick up merchandise from that store location.

While Nordstrom Local and Canada Goose’s store have created a lot of buzz Bonobos’ inventory free store concept has been around for nearly a decade and it has yet to take off. There are still a lot of people that like the act of browsing through a store filled with inventory. If you are not an avid shopper this may seem bizarre. But the thrill of the hunt and finding the unexpected deal is one of the reasons why stores like T.J. Maxx that have a “treasure hunt” shopping experience have been particularly resilient while other retailers have struggled. While attentive and personalized service makes a difference many people prefer to enter a store and help themselves to whatever they want with employees there to assist as necessary.

Instead of inventory free stores taking off I believe the bigger trend is in retailers opening smaller stores in urban areas. These stores still carry inventory just less of it with more staff per sq. ft making it easier to serve customers. Target in additional to IKEA is opening these types of smaller stores with success.

Canada Goose Reimagines Store Design With New Store Concept