In the beautiful scenario of the Victoria Dockside, overlooking the Victoria Harbour, The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in HK hosted the 3rd edition of the Luxury Symposium.
SEE ALSO : Luxury Symposium, Nov. 5th : Greater Bay Area: a new playground for luxury brands?
Within its framework, Retail in Asia, in partnership with the Chamber, launched the Best Retail Experience Award 2018.
The retail industry is going through a transformation, and the physical store being among its main assets has always been the materialized vision of the industry leaders.
The aim of this initiative was to reward the best retail experience within the region across 5 categories: luxury pop-up, luxury permanent, lifestyle pop-up, lifestyle permanent, and omnichannel experience.
Prizes are provided from both Retail in Asia and The French Chamber and they include visibility and business development products and services.
From Retail In Asia
Visibility
- Post-event article to promote your business on Retail in Asia
- EDM to promote you along with the other winners
- 1-week banner featuring your logo on Retail in Asia’s newsletter
- 1 post to promote you on Retail in Asia’s LinkedIn and Facebook pages
- 1 interview shared on newsletter and social media
Business Development
- 6-month consulting services (Operations and Business Development, face-to-face/conference call up to 1 hour per week)
- Business Matching
From the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hong Kong
Visibility
- Post-event article to promote you on the Chamber’s blog
- Post-event article to promote you in the HongKongEcho magazine – 1 page
- 1 banner featuring your logo on the Luxury and Retail watch’s newsletter sent exclusively to high-level contacts in the industry
- 1 post to promote you on the Chamber’s LinkedIn and Facebook pages
Membership
- 6-month French Chamber membership free of charge from 1 January to 30 June 2019
- Pitching session with the Chamber’s Business Advisors Group if interested
As per the criteria, the jury members, all with different backgrounds, looked at different factors such as alignment between brand DNA and store design, Visual Merchandising, uniqueness of the experience, customer engagement, ambiance, and quality of the material for submission.
The call was sent out in early July 2018 through different channels, and applications closed early October.
40 applications for concepts opened all across Asia were received. After reviewing the material, 18 applications were shortlisted and sent to the Jury Members.
Two representatives of the jury, Pierre Buet, CFO at Bluebell Group and Sophie Leconte, Executive Director of the Chamber, welcomed the winners on stage for the ceremony.
Luxury Pop-Up Store
For this category, we were looking for a fully engaging concept able to transform retail into to one-of-its kind experience.
With a strong focus on customer-product interaction, digital touchpoints, the playful, young, energetic concept, as defined by our judges, the winner for the Best Retail Experience for Luxury Pop-Up is: Les Gens Asia X Nars.
LES GENS is a creative boutique agency specialising in Strategy, Branding, Content Creation, Advertising, Digital Activation, Retail and Events for luxury and premium brands.
On stage to collect the award, Ms. Jade LEROY, LES GENS ASIA CEO & Founder; Mr. Vinco YIU, LES GENS ASIA / NUMERO Production Director; Ms. Eva CHOI, NARS Content and Communication Manager.
Luxury Permanent Store
The award for this category goes to a quite exclusive concept.
Luxury, exclusive experience, innovation, and excellence are the recurring words used by judges to define this store experience where products are displayed if they were jewels.
In line with its brand DNA, Devialet has created the Best Retail Experience for the category Luxury Permanent Store for this edition.
SEE ALSO : Devialet Hong Kong flagship store is officially open
Devialet brought technological revolution in the audio world with its wireless sound system device. Mr. Julien Bergere, General Manager for Devialet Asia Pacific, went on stage to collect the award.
Lifestyle Pop-Up Store
For this category, the concept awarded created a 360-degree storytelling experience.
From design to retail staff, from workshops to customization and events, everything was planned to provide customers with an interactive experience into the brand DNA.
The winner for the Best Retail Experience Lifestyle Pop-Up Store is Lore Limited X TUMI.
SEE ALSO : EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with TUMI : Redefining the travel experience
Lore is a marketing and advertising agency, which creates immersive experiences, stories, events and environments for brands and corporations.
Ms. Beatrice Remy, Managing Director of LORE Limited and Mr. Adam Hershman, General Manager of TUMI Greater China and APAC Regional Distribution and Travel Retail & Project team members joined the ceremony.
Lifestyle Permanent Store
This category received several entries, and the competition was fierce.
While many brands and retailers are focusing on digital to revolutionize their retail experience, the winner for this category was able to bring customers back in time through a highly designed and detail-oriented ambiance, able to represent the brand DNA and encapsulate the products in a unique universe.
The immersive experience into Buly HK’s permanent store in Wyndham Street is the winner for Best Retail Experience Lifestyle Permanent Store.
SEE ALSO : L’Officine Universelle Buly brings its emporium to Hong Kong
L’Officine Universelle Buly has been offering perfumes and atmospheric fragrances, natural beauty treatments and accessories since 1803. Mr. Arnault Castel, Retail Partner of Officine Universelle Buly Hong Kong, collected the award.
Omnichannel – Holition Ltd.
Omnichannel has become a buzzword in the retail industry.
The aim of this award was to find a way to define this practice by looking at an innovative concept able to integrate technology into an experiential retail space.
Holition X Charlotte Tilbury created a highly customer-oriented experience able to engage the new generation of shoppers, and provide them with a space to enjoy their spare time.
Holition is an augmented reality solutions and software provider helping companies promote their brands through interactive marketing. Mr. John Peeters, Business Development Director, Holition, please come on stage to collect the award.
Stay tuned to know more about the awardees and their current projects!
A summary of the Luxury Symposium is also coming soon!