Project Overview
Rebel is a well loved Australian sports retailer. But with international behemoths like JD Sports and Decathlon arriving on our shores, this homegrown hero needed to step up their customer experience and take the fight to the global players.
In 2020 we were appointed by Rebel to create an entirely new store concept centred around highly immersive customer experiences. And this year we opened a state of the art experience store split across two levels in Melbourne’s Highpoint Shopping Centre.
Since its opening the store has experienced double digit growth across every single performance metric and is beating all targets on the business case developed for the project (including metrics such as traffic, sales, conversion, basket size and NPS). Achieving its first month sales target within the first 10 days, rebel Highpoint has fast become the number one store in the rebel network, and is on track to complete the financial year as the most successful store in the company’s history.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Danny Lattouf - Partner / CSO
Reid Nakou – Head of Retail & Design
Paul Morrison – Retail Project Director
Ana Marre - Senior Retail Designer
Michael Chen - Retail Designer
Project Brief
With a focus on growing the number of experience stores in the country, this year our team undertook the enormous task of relocating an existing and outdated Rebel store across the mall and splitting it across two levels.
With Highpoint having recently undergone significant investment, and competitive retailers (such as Nike, Adidas, Stylerunner and Footlocker) opening state of the art flagship stores in the centre, we knew we had to open perhaps one of the most jaw dropping Rebel experience stores yet.
Project Innovation/Need
Creating immersive customer experiences was our primary focus in designing this store.
- We dedicated 250sqm at the front of the store to telling stories rather than selling product.
- We actively elevated the female shopping journey, with a unique bra fitting experience. Complete with a dedicated fitting room designed for two, additional mirrors, highly trained fit experts and customisable lighting options that customers could control themselves.
- We created an in-store basketball court where customers could try out products our just shoot some hoops. Complete with bespoke graffiti completed by local Melbourne artists, paying homage to Aussie basketball icons such as Paddy Mills and Lauren Jackson. A refreshing Aussie centric gesture amongst overseas competitors.
- We created a digital soccer experience game where customers could test out their kit against a series of custom made games (designed by our in-house team).
- We built an e-sports lounge in the kids footwear area…one way to get kids to sit still during a fitting!
- Our running section is complete with treadmills and trained podiatrists, providing an unrivalled fitting experience.
Of note in a store that is 2800 sqm there is no one silver bullet. Our team had to ideate and implement a number of experience gestures to ensure we created the memorable and impactful customer experience.
Design Challenge
There were three key challenges we tackled with this brief:
1. Perhaps the biggest challenge of this project was the sheer scale of the store. At 2800sqm, our team recognised there wouldn’t be a single silver bullet that would create a great customer experience. Rather we had to ideate and implement a number of experience gestures to ensure we created the most memorable and impactful customer experience possible.
2. We had to work diligently to ensure that with such a large footprint, and split across two levels, customers could easily navigate the space.
3. It was an enormous undertaking designing a store that would sit across two levels but feel like a single, cohesive experience.
Sustainability
Our team made it a priority to use sustainable materials wherever possible.
We introduced the use of screens to reduce the dependence on point of sale for seasonal campaigns.
Any printed point of sale is printed on 100% recycled paper.
The entire store was fitted with energy efficient lighting.
And the store contains a Footwear Recycling Hub which encourages customers to bring in old footwear which is then used to create the floor mats that sit underneath heavy equipment. An innovative initiative we are extremely proud of.
Interior Design - Retail
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors, with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes and aesthetic presentation. Consideration given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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