When Simons was brought to West Edmonton Mall excitement came to not only Edmonton, but across the country, as the Quebec based retailer opened new clothing retail options for consumers, while increasing competition against both fast-fashion retailers like H&M and more luxury brands due to Simons’ breadth and depth of selection.
Since the initial expansion outside of Quebec, Simons has been adding stores to major Canadian cities, including Vancouver, with stores opening within the next couple years in Ottawa, Calgary, and Mississauga. Each store is built uniquely in each city by differing in architecture and adding new innovative features (such as the photo studios in Edmonton) to increase customer engagement. While resulting in expensive construction for the stores, these unique stores help Simons appeal to consumers in these separate cities (such as using Vancouver’s local artist Douglas Coupland sculpture at the entrance) by providing unique atmospheres inside and out, while affirming a differentiation from the competition by offering a different, unique experiences at each retail location. This creates a significant competitive advantage in comparison to most that use a cookie-cutter store design nationally and even internationally, as visiting stores in each city is a new experience.
With the new store in Quebec, Simons is looking to make an initial push as a retailer to use a location that runs as green as possible with current technology. This store will use green technology such as electric vehicle chargers and solar panels in a goal according to Mr. Simons, “…to achieve a zero net footprint.” Simons is not only keeping green in mind, but also looking to increase customer engagement through new interactive digital technology (unannounced). This store will serve as a prototype to test new technologies and shopping experiences, much like the South Edmonton Common Canadian Tire, for future and current store changes.
I commend Simons for being actively involved to reduce their carbon foot print. Simons is taking the initiative to become the first and foremost of large clothing retailers to test green technology and this has the opportunity to further Simons competitive advantage. Despite the excitement around another unique Simons experience, Simons needs to maintain its breadth and depth of selection to drive sales. Consumers expect businesses to become greener without understanding the significant cost to the company, but the product and service offered outweighs the environmental expectations from consumers. Simons needs to provide exceptional service away from the digital interaction, and maintain its wide-ranged selection to ultimately keep the customer happy. If Simons changes its focus on this new store away from the product and service offered at current stores, to creating simply a green location, they may risk lowering conversion rates. Ultimately, this store is a prototype and testing location, which may help mitigate future loss from unsuccessful engagement tactics. This store very well may be the future change for most large retail locations, as pollution laws, transportation, and how we shop evolves.
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