Zara opened on April 21, 2023, at 74 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, its largest store on a single level. Nearly 2,700 square meters await the visitor, immersing him in a very modern customer experience where digital is omnipresent. The store format is unprecedented for Zara because it is a full-length surface in one piece. To celebrate its opening, Zara teamed up with pastry chef Cédric Grolet.
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The Zara flagship store on the Champs-Elysées in brief
- 2700 m² on one level
- 230 employees
- 11,000 to 13,000 daily visitors expected, 10% more than the Zara store located a few meters further up
- 50% of customers will come from abroad
- 40 digitalized fitting rooms
- 25 self-service checkouts that also manage returns
- 10 traditional checkouts
A one-stop shopping area
The new Zara store on the Champs-Élysées, located at 74 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, replaces the brand’s two former stores and extends over a single level of 2,700 m2. Designed as a promenade, the space offers display areas dedicated to specific product categories, such as women’s shoes and accessories, and differentiated spaces for the brand’s latest launches, such as the lingerie line or the origins collection. The store proposes the brand’s women’s and men’s offerings.
A very phygital customer experience
Customers can see the whereabouts of items available in the store and even locate the location of a garment on a map. Zara also allows customers to pre-book fitting rooms or buy online and pick up the item within two hours. Items are collected from a designated counter.
A row of self-service checkouts in sleek black glass greets customers with moving touch screens that automatically adjust to the customer’s height. Zara is also introducing a mobile payment feature, which allows customers to purchase items by scanning them with their phone (Pay&Go app). Some of these technologies were tested at the store in London’s Battersea Power Station, but officials said the company has continued to refine and improve the services.
The fitting rooms are also very technological. Gone are the days of item limits and an employee taking numbers; instead, customers swipe clothes in front of a screen at entry and exit. RFID tags are read to count the number of pieces in the booth accurately.
Giant screens to animate the commercial space
Two giant screens are positioned near the middle of the store. They are positioned respectively behind the payment counter and the automatic checkout area. They face each other and show a very nice abstract 3D animation. They contribute to giving this store a futuristic look (the color is a big part). This was the first time I had seen something like this.
Special operation Zara x Cédric Grolet
To celebrate the opening of this flagship store, Zara teamed up with Cédric Grolet, the best pastry chef in the world. For those who don’t know Cédric Grolet, he is undoubtedly one of Paris’s most popular pastry chefs. In addition to his awards, he has become famous for his signature desserts: fruit-shaped trompe l’oeil and petal-shaped desserts. It is for the latter specialty that Zara has opted.
The first 1000 customers of the Zara store on the Champs-Elysées were entitled to a dessert in the shape of a flower perched on top of a stick. The beautiful colors and Cedric Grolet’s reputation attracted the curious, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that some purchases were made to taste the Parisian chef’s creation.
Posted in Marketing.
