Pop ups pave the way

From May, the coffee group, which already has 11 boutiques and a thriving e-commerce store in Australia, is launching pop up boutiques in three Sydney locations: Westfield in Miranda; Sydney Airport’s T2 Domestic terminal, and Castle Towers in Castle Hill.

Nespresso’s GM for Australia and Oceania, Loïc Réthoré, said the pop up concept had proved successful in other markets recently.

“We wanted to come up with a more innovative retail format that would help us test the demand in retail locations where we didn’t have a presence until now. If they prove popular, we will consider opening other pop up boutiques in more locations in future.”

The pop up boutiques will be trialled for up to six months and will stock selected coffee machines and a full range of 23 ‘Grands Crus’ − different roasts of pod capsules to fit Nespresso machines.

Réthoré said these outlets are a condensed version of Nespresso’s permanent boutiques which are primarily located in capital city centres around the world.

“The Nespresso boutiques are integral to meeting the needs of our club members,” he said. “They allow new and existing club members to enjoy the ultimate coffee experience and easily engage with everything Nespresso has to offer: the highest quality coffee, smart and innovative coffee machines and exclusive, personalised service.”

As part of Nespresso’s commitment to sustainability, club members are also able to recycle their used Nespresso capsules at designated collection points within the boutiques.

Réthoré explained that Nespresso’s boutiques are designed with attention to detail and dedicated zones to increase convenience, choice and availability for consumers.

“The Coffee Room allows coffee enthusiasts to enjoy the art of Nespresso coffee tasting with a coffee specialist. The self selection room, available in selected boutiques, enables club members who are already familiar with the brand to choose a shopping experience at their own pace and check out automatically by scanning their capsule sleeves (using RFID technology).

Each location showcases collections of accessories and coffee preparation ideas to enable consumers to recreate their own ultimate coffee experiences at home. Of course, we have adapted this to a smaller format for the pop up boutiques, but the same philosophy underpins the design.”

He noted: “By expanding our footprint through the pop up boutiques, we will be able to bring that experience to more people. We see it as a way to build Club Member loyalty, which has been critical to Nespresso’s success in recent years.”

A key design feature of the pop up boutiques will be the Grand Cru Wall, featuring Nespresso’s range of Grands Crus. Other services include complimentary coffee tastings and capsule recycling collection points.

The three sites have been selected based on a number of factors, including Club Member penetration in those areas, the presence of other premium retailers, and customer traffic in the centres.

Commenting on the Australian market, Réthoré said: “Australians are passionate coffee lovers and have high expectations about their coffee experience. I think that Australian consumers are very digitally savvy and have a unique way to combine both digital and bricks and mortar experiences. From a brand perspective, this creates a lot of opportunities as long as the brand provides an experience that is consistent across channels.”

This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 2047. To subscribe, click here.