As the retail landscape evolves in the ever-fast pace these days, fueled by the technology particularly, it has drastically changed how consumers shop. Aside from all the debate about online platform vs.  physical brick-and -mortar, one fundamental factor all retailers need to acknowledge and cater to the consumers’ need: an integrated online plus office experience. Taobao, arguably one of most popular and profitable online shopping platforms in the world under Alibaba Group, is taking the first attempt to further engage their online audience in the physical environment – the Taobao Choice store. Positioning and market differentiator – data driven and rotating content: One of the biggest assets for Taobao, or the entire Alibaba eco-system in the greater sense, is data. Taobao Choice store curates its offerings based on the constant data analysis and rotates the content periodically to stay relevant to its audience. The word“choice” reflects this pre-select approach.  Store Design: Brand-inspired storefront: “A good digital experience is invisible” – was one brief we gave ourselves. This experience starts with the window display which is equal to the website – a catalog of products. The shelving design takes cue from its logo and webpage layout to greet the audience with familiar interface. Highly curated and rotating in-store experience: The Gensler team carefully orchestrated dwelling time and browsing experience for customers within this 360m2 space, moving from “the studio” – a fast-changing temporary pop-up space, via “on the go” for traveling, to “the living room” where people can spend more time on detailed exploration; the experience becomes richer as people dive into the space. Considering the post-opening programming, Gensler developed several concepts for the studio space to allow local and international designers to introduce their work. A launch event every month marks the start of a fresh display and helps to create a rotating store experience. Modular display system to accommodate various footprints: All the visual merchandise shelving system throughout the store was designed with modules in mind to best help accommodating different store footprints for future roll-out purpose. Co-creation experience in-store Customer can customize their product– print their names on a cup or make your own bag– the co-creation space offers many opportunities to personalize your purchase– an advantage over online purchase. “Clicks-to-Bricks” integration – a more personal experience: Via various technology already implemented locally, the screens on the storefront and on the columns instore, can recognize customers and push a more personalized information and recommendation. This is one of the biggest assets of Alibaba group and a great demonstration of a holistic “click-to-brick” experience. Throughout the space customers are able to scan QR codes that give you information about the product, it’s origin, the designer, price etc. Digital Payment Obviously, the checkout is a cash-less one, fully utilizing Alibaba’s Alipay system. Not personal you say? There are still people working in the store, but rather than standing at the check-out desk, they can answer any of your queries and are really into all the designer products we sell.

Strategic roll-out move for further online/offline audience: This first Taobao brick and mortar store marked its commitment to create further engagement for both current and future customer. Via potentially different store type offerings from this prototype, Taobao is planning to penetrate different sectors with variations of store offerings to engage different consumer base into its larger Alibaba and Alipay eco-system.

在科技的推动下，零售业发展得越来越快，消费者的购物方式也因此发生了巨大变化。除了所有关于网络平台与传统实体商店的争论之外，所有零售商都需要承认一个基本因素，并迎合消费者的需求：一种整合的网络+办公的体验方式。 淘宝隶属阿里巴巴集团，是全球最受欢迎、盈利最高的网络购物平台之一，它正初步尝试在现实环境——淘宝心选店——中进一步吸引其线上顾客。 定位和市场优势——数据驱动和更新内容： 数据是淘宝的一大资产，或者说是阿里巴巴整个生态系统的一大资产。淘宝心选店在持续数据分析的基础上策划其产品，并定期更新内容以保持与其顾客的相关性。“心选”一词反映了这种预选做法。  商店设计： 受品牌启发的店面： “良好的数字体验是无形的”——这是我们对自己的一个简短描述。这种体验从相当于网站的橱窗陈设开始——产品目录。货架设计模仿其标志和网页布局，以熟悉的场景迎接顾客。 精心策划和变换的店内体验： 在这个360平方米的空间内，Gensler团队精心安排了顾客的停留时间和浏览体验。顾客从快速变化的快闪空间“工作室”，通过关于旅行的“在路上”，来到“起居室”，在此他们可以有更多时间进行详细探索；随着顾客深入空间，体验会更加丰富。至于开业后的计划，Gensler为工作室空间构想了几个概念，让本地和国际设计师介绍他们的作品。每个月都召开一场发布会，标志着全新展示的开始，这有助于创造一种变换的店内体验。 模块化显示系统，容纳各种足迹： 在设计整个商店内所有的可视商品货架系统时，考虑到不同模块，以完美容纳不同的商店足迹，为未来店铺的推广打好基础。 店内共创体验 顾客可以定制他们想要的产品——在杯子上印名字，或制作自己的包袋，共创空间能够为您提供个性化服务——这比网购更有优势。  “由虚拟到实体”——一种更加个性化的体验： 通过已经在本地实施的各种技术，店面和店内专栏上的屏幕可以识别顾客，推送更加个性化的信息和建议。这是阿里巴巴集团的一大资产，也是“由虚拟到实体”完整体验的一大体现。 在整个空间内，顾客能够扫描二维码，了解产品的原产地、设计师、价格等信息。 数字支付 显然，这家收银台不用现金，而是充分利用了阿里巴巴的支付宝系统。觉得这样就没有专人服务了？商店里仍然有工作人员，但不是作为收银员，他们可以回答您的任何问题，并且完全了解我们销售的所有设计师产品。 面向更多线上/线下顾客的战略性推出举措： 这是淘宝的第一家实体店，标志着它致力于提高当前和未来顾客的参与感。淘宝正计划通过可能与原型店不同的商店类型产品，进入不同行业，以吸引各类消费群体进入规模更大的阿里巴巴和支付宝生态系统中。