No shelves with fashion, just displays. The stone e-shop is a joke for some, a trend for others

Instead of shelves with clothes and shoes, the store offers customers large-format displays with current offers and tablets, on which they can search and order goods according to the required parameters – similar to what they are used to when shopping through the e-shop. The difference is that selected goods can be tested in booths within a few minutes.

The so-called “phygital” concept combines a physical store with a digital environment and has so far only operated in Poland. “The store we introduced in Prague is our first realization outside our home country of Poland,” said Piotr Badowski, head and founder of Nanovo, which operates the technology in the store, during the opening last week. According to him, customer interest in this concept is great.

The store offers the opportunity to order 100,000 products through fifty tablets. According to companies, three minutes should elapse between ordering and delivery from the warehouse. The technology in the store can also “measure” the customer, for example, there is a device for measuring the length of the foot. However, customers are also helped during shopping by “live” staff, which numbers 80 employees.

“We combine the benefits of off-line and online shopping in one place. Fast delivery, a wide range, convenient return options and the opportunity to try everything, this is a completely new shopping experience that has revolutionized the fashion industry in Poland. We hope that the concept will be just as successful in the Czech Republic, “added Mikołaj Wezdecki, a member of the Board of Directors of Eobuwie.pl.

No seasonal fad

Marketing consultant Zdeněk Hašek believes that the phygital concept is not just a seasonal fad, but a long-term trend that will further strengthen. “And covid is accelerating it even more,” he adds for the online daily Aktuálně.cz.

“It simply combines the benefits of online and physical shopping, the boundaries of which are gradually disappearing – and which the young generation no longer distinguishes much,” Hašek continues, adding that most people are already starting their online shopping process.

“But still, for example, half of Americans still prefer to shop in a physical store. The main parameters for selection and customer satisfaction are price, quality and comfort. To this, phygital can add experience and personalization. It can exist in two forms: items – and the rest is delivered from the warehouse or the customer picks up only via mobile devices, “describes the operation of the Hasek concept.

Technology as a shopping trend

The new store of the Polish footwear brand Eobuv and the clothing brand Modivo is not the only one that makes extensive use of technological elements in its stores.

“A good example is Amazon Go, where customers with the application select goods and simply leave, the items are automatically loaded at the exit and the amount is deducted from their account, there is no need for cash registers,” continues Hasek. “Timberland, in turn, has digital walls in the store where visitors can view the product catalog and order,” he adds.

In the Czech Republic, the phygital concept is similar to, for example, the concept of the Czech e-shop Zoot. It originally had over two dozen of its own dispensaries, where customers could order clothes immediately after ordering via the e-shop, or return them. However, due to the high number of returns and the associated costs, the company had to modify the concept. He now operates dozens of test booths in partner stores.

Online sales continue to grow

The concept combining a fashionable stone shop with online ordering on the spot is a novelty in the Czech Republic, but Czechs are buying fashion more and more in e-shops, confirming current data.

The turnover of Czech online stores increased by 12 percent to 50.5 billion crowns in the second quarter of this year. From April to June, 3,144 e-shops were created, a quarter more year-on-year, according to data from Shoptet, which is the largest domestic provider of solutions for creating and managing online stores.

And most online stores are just clothes and accessories, followed by an assortment focused on houses and gardens, as well as food, baby goods and electronics.

Last year, Czechs spent 196 billion crowns in online stores, according to the Association for Electronic Commerce (APEK) and purchasing advisor Heureka.cz, up 26.5 percent year-on-year. According to the executive director of APEK, Jan Vetyška, the turnover of online stores will exceed 200 billion crowns this year.

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