Non- stock stores. Is that crazy? Nordstrom´s idea

In the world of retail there are some obviousness, as the fact that to sell you need to have items for sale in your store... right? Well, maybe not. Today we come to challenge that idea with a new concept of non- stock store. Don't you think that it is possible? Well, keep reading and you will see. 

For sometime now, some stores like Nordstrom have been proving that non- stock stores can be a success; And, in fact, they are already planning to open new similar stores in new locations as part of their business strategy. 

Behind this concept something much less mysterious lies behind. 

Non- stock stores are click & collect business, ie businesses that combine online with physical store. The difference with the traditional click & collect is that in non- stock stores there is no inventory of any kind: only products that have been ordered online are available. 

As a customer, you can order online and go to a non- stock store of the brand to see the product, touch it, try it on and pick it up. But once there, that customer will not be able to buy other products, as he could do in a traditional click & collect business. 

At this point, it may seem that non- stock stores are at a disadvantage with respect to the physical stores that normally complement the online business of the click &collect model. 

Nothing further from the truth: non- stock stores offer the customer another type of services that provide added value and that prioritise the client´s experience, while promoting their loyalty. This model of store is very focused on enhancing the local part of the brand's multi-channel strategy. 

The main goal of a non- stock store is to drive the experiential side. This is a really effective way to complement the online shopping experience while destroying some of the most obvious brakes in the acquisition of certain products through an eCommerce. 

These non- stock stores sell products related to sensory perception and personalization especially well. It is easy to think of a fashion eCommerce, accessories, perfumery, decoration and home, but if we are a little creative we do not have to limit ourselves to these niches. 

Nordstrom brand is dedicated to the commercialization of fashion products, accessories, woman and men cosmetics and housewares – just the niches that we have highlighted above as the most appropriate for non-stock stores. 

Nordstrom is characterized, among other things, by having an amazing capacity to reinvent itself and always step forward in terms of its marketing strategy. 

This retailer was established over 117 years ago, and it has not only been destined to disappear as many of its competitors, but it has been able to grow in harmony along these years. 

They have been selling online since 1998, which it is only 4 years after Amazon itself; And in 2012 they participated in another one of those remarkable companies thanks to how well they usually do things: the fashion firm Bonobos. 

One of the novelties that Nordstrom launched at that time was the possibility to reserve a garment online and collect it at one of the 373 stores around 40 of the 50 United States (including Puerto Rico) and Canada. 

The success of this initiative was decisive and opened their eyes to certain insights that allowed them to exploit the two master lines of their strategic philosophy: The local and the experiential. 

Non-stock stores are business with impeccable design and huge and very comfortable dressing rooms which are decorated in detail. The specialists of the store assist you with an extraordinary level of customer service. 

But, in addition to this, you have a bar at your disposal with alcoholic beverages and all kinds of juices or a beauty salon to take care of your look. 

Entering one of these shops is a real immersion in the brand. You have the perception of being enjoying the purchase with all the pleasurable part that implies the physical act of shopping: from the personalized attention to the fact of being able to try the products by yourself, going through the personal care and, of course, the socializating with other clients. 

And all this at ease on your couch, since you buy online. 

What you cannot do in these stores is to buy any product of the brand: You can only collect your orders online or attend an online arranged appointment with your stylists-but taking advantage of all the advantages offered by this type of stores at customer experience level and service personalization. 

If your brand combines physical and online store – ie, if you have a click & collect – or you have an online store with distribution in third-party physical stores, an interesting step to give in the retail channel is to bet on a non-stock store.

Being a store concept that enhances high value added services that add to the shopping experience and the brand experience, it is a fabulous idea if you want to create the Concept Store. 

By the way, you do not need to spend thousands of euros in expensive places and lush renovations: Just find a corner in a mall to take advantage of the idea of non-stock stores.