Retail design consultancy Green Room has created a prestigious new ‘multi-channel store’ concept in London’s Foubert’s Place with digital sportswear retailer Pro Direct, bringing the brand’s on-line experience to life within the physical retail space. In addition to the creative brief of designing a ground breaking concept, that would shake up the football category and separate from all that has gone before, Pro Direct’s vision was to capture the dynamic feeling of walking into a physical realization of their website. This vision was realised by Green Room in the form of London’s premiere ‘digital mortar’ space, just off Carnaby Street.

In a world where consumers are connected everywhere and all of the time most high street retailers are struggling to create an aligned approach across channels. Pro-Direct is responding to this shift in consumer behaviours by transforming from an ecommerce platform to the world’s most digitally dynamic omni-channel retail ecosystem where each and every consumer touch point is connected, consistent, transparent and of course – always on.

Aimed at digitally-enabled football champions, the new Pro Direct store presents elite sporting goods in a premium format through immersive digital experience and seamless mobile and web integration to satisfy the consumer demand (grown out of ecommerce) for real-time information and innovation at every touch point. Showcasing soccer brands such as Nike, Adidas and Puma, the premium space presents a flexible digital environment acting as a blank canvas for branded content, whilst creating immersive experiences at the same time.

Adrian Lake of Pro Direct, said, “Our vision was to create a live, connected retail theatre for the world’s most beautiful game. We went into a partnership with Green Room to lead the way in creating a digital store that lives and breathes through content working in pure synergy with our online presence.” The flexible, changeable store concept aligns itself with young tech-savvy customers, by reflecting the pace of the new digital world. The ‘living’ digital environment is created through grid systems of digital screens and product display panels which flex to present brand product stories, themed collections or full store takeovers. These elements all update in real time with web-based content, showcasing the store’s agility to adapt with breaking news and live product launches. This allows consumers to sample an exclusive selection of the latest, greatest boots, whilst browsing the world’s biggest virtual boot room at the same time.

Other stand out features include an iconic glass monolith of special limited edition boots and signed boots by the world’s best players; interactive digital mannequins that feature life-size video of players and models wearing the latest apparel; and an exclusive, basement area used for player appearances, launch events, live match screenings and display of football art. As the store continues to evolve a forthcoming mobile app will be launched to interact with the store using beacon technology to create a personal dialogue between the store and the consumer with personalised greetings, content and proactive product suggestions. It will also prompt staff to have products ready for trial in the right size, knowing size and preferences from consumer profiles.

Green Room’s Creative Director, Paul Mynard, said, “With the biggest online boot room in the world, Green Room faced the unique challenge of creating a high-street presence for an established digital brand which reflected this wealth of information and product. By placing digital at the heart of the store – through digital window displays, product merchandising and immersive, interactive content – we have been able to present the beautiful game in a beautiful way. Green Room’s CEO and Founder, Richard Ash, said: “Green Room has always been at the forefront of retail design, currently exploring the relationships between bricks and clicks, and how we can engage consumers at any given part of the omni-channel journey. This store is a ‘game changer’ in that respect and will hopefully show that in an omni-channel world, retailers need to throw away the cookie cutter.”

Photography: Real Spirit
Design by Green Room Retail