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Why A Store You've Likely Never Heard Of Hints At Retail's Future

This article is more than 8 years old.

Bonobos is hardly a household name.

The online-only-turned-ecommerce/brick-and-mortar menswear retailer was founded in 2007 to offer guys better fitting clothes in a no-fuss, hassle free transaction.

Its signature mission: To banish men’s slouchy-behind syndrome, what the retailer used to like to call “khaki diaper butt,” by offering pants that fit like they were custom made.

After gaining a following online, Bonobos took its model to the brick-and-mortar space with the 2012 launch of Guideshop stores.

And last month, the retailer opened its first official flagship and its largest store to date: a 4,000 square foot unit at 95 Fifth Avenue in New York City. (An average store is 1,500 square feet.) The flagship marks Bonobos' 17th store, although it also operates shops in Nordstrom .

While online sales still account for the largest portion of Bonobos' business, "A greater portion of new customers come to Bonobos through the Guideshops than online," a company spokeswoman told Forbes.

What's more, "First-time Bonobos customers that come in through the Guideshop also tend to spend more than first-time customers to the website, which we attribute to the high touch, highly personalized model of the Guideshop."

That one-on-one service helps men find the best-fitting chinos, for example, Bonobos’ signature item — which sold for $88 at the store — but applies to all the merchandise, be it dress pants, tops, suits, outerwear, shoes and accessories.

Bonobos aims to bring the ease of online shopping to the in-store experience, while spicing things up with experiential perks that can’t be duplicated on the web, such as one-on-one, personal service. It's a model that hints at the future of the brick-and-mortar store in the digital era.

The Comforts Of Home – And Free Booze!

Brick-and-mortar retailers are all too aware that they better create experiences shoppers can’t get online to lure them through the door, like Lululemon’s yoga classes and  Urban Outfitters ’ Herald Square store in Manhattan, which hosts a coffee shop, hair salon, and an eyeglasses shop.

Bonobos’ new store offers a cozy seating area reminiscent of a living room in a Manhattan loft, where shoppers can sit and drink free beer from the Brooklyn Brewery (each store aims for local flare) as well as soda, still and sparkling water on hand in a cooler nearby.

High Service

Guideshop "guides" work one-on-one with customers during appointments, which can be scheduled and typically take fewer than 45 minutes. Stores also take walk-ins. The service is completely free.

These guides help shoppers find the best fit, and double as stylists. During my trip there, I was asked my jeans size and was shown a variety of fit and style options.

I was then recommended a pair of jeans from the AYR (all year round) women’s line. (The new store is the first one to test a limited selection of women’s clothing.)

At first, I balked at the guide’s recommendation: A pair of skinny jeans. Not for me, I said. I reluctantly tried them on, and was told, “You’ll love them when you get home.”

Turns out I did.

Inventory-Free Stores

The store is inventory-free, but offers a full display of merchandise and sizes for try on purposes only. If you want to walk away with merchandise, you won’t be able to – and that’s become an increasingly freeing notion for shoppers, said Nicolas Wiessler, Bonobos' West Coast regional manager, during my store tour.

Indeed, the stores of the future will increasingly serve as showrooms, rather than football fields of merchandise, some industry watchers predict, a shift that will reduce the cost of managing inventory.

And shoppers' increasing willingness to forfeit the instant gratification of leaving the store with their merchandise is clearly a sign of the times.

Online shopping and speedy delivery have made consumers “more comfortable with the idea of the product being shipped to their front door, rather than walking out of the store with their purchase,” according to Scott Lachut, head of research and strategy at content provider PSFK Labs, told me back in 2013. And that’s only become truer over the past two years.

Free And Easy: Fast Checkout And Free Shipping

Checking out at Bonobos means no lines: Roaming sales people with mobile checkout tools are at the ready.

What’s more, My Bonobos skinny jeans were delivered the following day — for free. The box also came with a free-return label in case I wasn’t feeling those skinny jeans after all.

 

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