Vepsäläinen
How a value-adding and elevated customer experience is brought at the core of furniture retail?
Vepsäläinen is a Finnish furniture retailer that carries such home decor brands as Hästens, Kartell, Artek, BoConcept and Tempur. As an iconic furniture company in Finland, Vepsäläinen carries durable, high-quality furniture from the top domestic and international designers and brands.
As digitalization continues to transform retail, Vepsäläinen aspired to redesign its physical store concept and service structure to better meet the expectations of today’s consumers. They asked Pentagon Design to bring life to this objective. Our task was to evoke the potential of an all-inclusive and inspirational store concept that appeals to both private and professional customers.
Approach
The goal of the project was to design a customer experience and service path that exceeds the customer’s expectations with inspiring ensembles immediately when entering the store.
Throughout the project we maintained close collaboration with sales representatives, management and our design team. This allowed us to better understand the current sales structure and the stores.
Our designers also wanted to recognize the pain points between personnel and customers meetings in order to better facilitate the customer journey. Solutions for improving the journey included the partner brand placement concept, adaptability of the store fixtures, and incorporating tools and support for sales.
An important task was also to incorporate interior design services in the service path instead of hiding them as independent services.
Result
Today, the Vepsäläinen retail spaces are a popular destination for home decor inspiration and a marketplace for a classy design. The stores manifest the coziness and joy of good interior design.
The renewed layout and flow of the stores create an inspiring atmosphere. Stimulating ideas and ensembles showcase the functionality and the look and feel of the products.
To prominently guide down the customer journey, we created supportive wayfinding signposts and self-service elements with digital content for the entrances.
The store concept design also included partner design guidelines on how and what type of visibility Vepsäläinen gives to various brands in order to uphold the overall concept of the stores.
Scalability from store to store was taken care of in all aspects from communication to the product displays and fixtures. The fresh concept was first launched in the Vepsäläinen flagship store in Espoo in 2016. As a sign of success, it has since been applied across all of their stores.
Online marketplaces don’t serve all consumer needs. Inspiring real-life ensembles and the feel of textures makes purchase decisions easier and more delightful.
