In 2018, walking into Samsung’s experience centre in Bangalore was a moment for the scrapbook. The iconic Opera House, at the intersection of Brigade Road and Residency Road, was originally designed by Thomas Charles William Skipp and, over the years, it took a beating until Samsung stepped in and turned it around. Today, it’s one of the best experience centres for electronic gadgets in the country. It’s not just a paradise for customers looking for the latest products, one can participate in workshops or just hang around with friends, after a meal at the popular Nagarjuna Restaurant, which is a stone’s throw away.
Encouraged by the success of Opera House, this year Samsung opened an experience store in Connaught Place in Delhi. Why stop there?
“The premium product portion at Opera House jumped from 60-62 per cent to nearly 80 per cent. And that gave us a lot of confidence in terms of taking this kind of retail approach to other areas. I think these things have great demand across the top nine cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Chandigarh and Pune. These are the nine potential targets (in the first phase) where we want to expand the retail experience and showcase a differentiated way of living life,” says Sumit Walia, senior director, D2C Business, Samsung India.
The company has planned 15 premium experience stores across nine cities this year, meaning the chances of you experiencing premium Samsung products is very high. After all, you want to feel and play around with a product before splurging. The premium category is growing across the product range, be it smartphones, smart TVs, washing machines, tablets or even monitors.
The gaming zone at Samsung Opera House
Demand from customers in the premium segment
“What we see today is a shift in the market. We see a jump in the premium segment of our products. In 2019 around one-third of our consumers were buying premium products. This is pre-Covid times. In these three years, demand for premium products increased substantially. We saw a rapid change in the short period of two to three years and people’s expectations from products and their lifestyles have changed. So we started changing our retail experience to serve the new demand from customers in terms of looking at the premium segment. At Opera House, we started giving tailored premium experiences to be able to showcase many of these premium products in an environment that brings out the true potential of the products,” says Sumit.
For example, highlighting the concept of Samsung SmartThings. People want machines that talk to one another. “I work on my smartphone, I have a refrigerator, there is my washing machine and then my monitor… it’s a connected ecosystem. And to bring that alive, we have put special zones.”
In Opera House, for example, there’s a gaming zone where you can connect your phone to a big screen. You’ll be able to see what the potential of the smartphone is from a gaming perspective. “Then we have a work-from-home zone for consumers with a busy lifestyle. You can use the same device connected to multiple screens, Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Book and so on. It’s about interoperability.”
Samsung has a network of 1,700-odd brand shops across India. “At the moment, it’s the deepest kind of retail network that any brand has in India. We have been far ahead of the closest competitors in the market,” says Sumit.
A tailored experience
Samsung wants to make its retail stores feel more than just a destination for products. The idea is to make it feel like a gathering place for like-minded people. To make this possible, the employees — the company calls them brand ambassadors — on the store floors need to be well-versed.
“We’ve done a little bit of change in the way these products are spoken about. The brand ambassadors that we have, at the store level, are passionate about technology and can showcase the products in the right light. For example, we have camera enthusiasts, music- and gaming-focused employees. People will be able to relate to the right kind of brand ambassadors,” says Sumit.
Not all of the 15 premium experience stores that are being planned will be as massive as Opera House in Bangalore, where the standalone property is spread over more than 30,000 sqft. “The store we’ve just opened in Connaught Place is around 3,500 sqft. Depending on the place and customer demand, we will decide on store space — it can be3,000-4000 sqft to, who knows, maybe 30,000 sqft.”
Whatever happens at these stores, SmartThings will be at its heart. “For every category we work in, we will choose premium products. For example, in televisions take models 65 inches and above, washing machines that have SmartThing capability will be shown… the same goes for monitors. From a price point, these are top-of-the-line products. One more unique thing that we are doing is the ability to offer customers choices beyond what we have stocked in a retail store through something called Store+. We want to ensure that consumers don’t get limited to products being showcased in a retail space. Through smart kiosks our retail stores can connect with our warehouses. Consumers have a choice to pick up a product, which may not be in the retail store but our warehouse can get it delivered to the customer’s doorsteps.”
A big learning from Opera House has been the stage area where workshops are done. Samsung has been able to attract diverse consumers to the store. To take things further, there is a new initiative called Learn@Samsung. “This is a new initiative at these premium experience centres. It’s about creating a community, like learning about mobile photography. We can get deeper by, say, focusing on portrait photography. Or how do I make my refrigerator, washing machine, television and smartphone talk to one another? How do I make routines?” It’s already an ongoing initiative at the Opera House but now it will be extended to all the premium stores that are coming up.
“We want to build this as a unique property to India. Around 60 per cent of our consumers come back and buy a second product. When we do these sessions, more people get interested in our ecosystem,” says Sumit.
So the next premium Samsung product you are looking at will be available at a premium Samsung store. Visit the store, learn about the product and then make an informed decision.