Time for bricks-and-mortar retailers to embrace in-store selfie experiences.

SAN FRANCISCO , CALIFORNIA , UNITED STATES , November 26, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Bricks and mortar retail stores can learn a thing or two from the tourism industry by creating in-store selfie experiences for shoppers on a similar scale to the County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, says well-known New Zealand portrait photographer Rory Laubscher.

“The one thing bricks-and-mortar stores have over online competitors is the ability to give customers an unforgettable or shareable experiences,” Laubscher says.

His point is that while there is a lot of doom and gloom around the retail sector at the moment, the fact is that if it really was as dismal as some make out, corporations wouldn’t be putting the kind of investment into retail that they are – think of the growth in near field communication and also cloud-based point-of-sale and retail management software like Vend.

“In store it’s not unusual to see youngsters surreptitiously taking selfies with hats or sunglasses for sale – so why not bring it out in the open and turn the selfie into a marketing or sales tool. Museums are doing it.”

Visitors to County Museum of Art, for example, have an opportunity to take selfies in what the museum calls the ‘The Boulder Holder’ pose which features them pretending to hold up Michael Heizer’s sculpture Levitated Mass.

Laubscher says the concept of creating a selfie space or experience in the store is particularly suited to clothing and accessory outlets, including jewellery stores.

“Make the customer look good, and you make your brand look good too,” says Laubscher. “Clothing and jewellery are designed to make you look great, so it’s a natural fit.”

Laubscher offers three tips for retailers thinking of creating a retail selfie space.

1. Use soft overhead lighting

“It’s not as complex at it may seems. Your first consideration is lighting. Lighting has its own colours – warm light, cool white and daylight – and the difference is between soft light and hard light.

“Hard light, usually cool white or daylight, is harsh and not very flattering. Unfortunately, many indoor spaces have fluorescent or tungsten lighting which emit hard light. You want soft LED light from above.

A big bank of LED lights overhead is recommended because that’s where we expect light to come from, think of the sun. Keep it constant to avoid use of flash.

2. Brand the background

Retail outlets could consider featuring their branding as a background – perhaps their logo along with the desirable labels that they sell.

“A logo, a message or social media friendly metadata tag like the hashtag is a great way to build your brand or promote a conversation about your store.”

3. Create a store brand compatible selfie set

When setting up a selfie space, draw on your window dressing experience to create an interesting brand friendly background. Interesting props, pieces of furniture, even an entire set where people can take selfies.

“Lighter tones for background generally work out well. You don’t want a heavy colour background, and you want to make something that you can change frequently to keep it fresh.

“Think about colour balance – white, some splashes of colour for energy, keeps things light and airy. There isn’t a generic way to do this. It is going to depend on your store and your brand,” says Laubscher.

Variety and interchangeability of selfie backgrounds can help keep things fresh, or even just setting up the change rooms to encourage selfies may be a way to go.

“The change room is more private and so people are more comfortable doing selfies in that kind of environment. Either way you might not want to make the selfie-space too public.

“You want to encourage conversation and sharing, but most important of all is creating a memorable customer experience,” says Laubscher.

Rory Laubscher
Firefly Photography
+64 21 063 1279
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