Chief innovative officer of Brookstone, Lauren van Heerden, recently sat down at a panel hosted by Indiegogo to discuss how campaign organizers can bring their innovative projects to the retail brand’s stores.
van Heerden revealed the following tips for three consumer categories:
- For Healthy Lifestyle: Lauren noted, “Brookstone customers are health-minded and always on the hunt for new ways to live better.” In order to be in this category, the product must help people with fitness, relieve stress or offer ways to get a better night’s sleep.
- For Social Lifestyle: van Heerden shared, “Brookstone customers love to have fun and entertain their friends.” Products in this category must make it easier to listen to music or helpful for events.
- For Travel Lifestyle: For the final category, Lauren added, “Brookstone customers are expert travelers.” Products must help customers travel faster, easier and more comfortably.
Lauren went on to note Brookstone target customer is between the ages of 20 and 55, expect to be wowed by-products, are more than likely health conscious and love to impress those in their social circles. She then explained:
“Brookstone’s core strength is giving customers amazing interactive product experiences, or ‘wow’ moments. When Brookstone evaluates products, they always ask, ‘What’s the ‘plus one’? What is the new feature that makes the product better and more entertaining than others in its category?”
van Heerden then added:
“Since Brookstone stores are so much smaller than big box stores, each product on our shelves gets a lot more personal attention. One of our stores may have 300 products vs. 50,000. Our customers expect their shopping experience with us to be fun, interactive, and educational. By being more selective in our product assortment and only carrying products in our stores that naturally generate conversations, we’re able to give consumers a fulfilling, individualized experience and really explain the ways in which a particular item will make life better.”
To read more about Lauren’s helpful tips, click here.
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