The rise in popularity of e-commerce platforms has made shopping more convenient and time-efficient than ever, making it easier for shoppers to purchase items from their favorite brands with the simple click of a button and without having to enter a physical store.
As great as online shopping platforms may be, they have decreased the need for traditional shopping malls and brick-and-mortar stores, causing retailers to reduce their physical store footprints and prioritize their online platforms.
Although today’s consumers have shown a significant shift towards online shopping, Bath & Body Works claims its Gen Z customers prefer to shop in person at its stores rather than online via its website.
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This is due to the company’s product category, which sells scent-based items such as fragrances, candles, soaps, hand sanitizers, body care products, diffusers, wallflowers, and laundry care products. Customers must smell the products to decide whether to purchase them.
People walking in front of a Bath & Body Works store at a mall.
Bath & Body Works stirs away from traditional malls
Despite Bath & Body Works (BBWI) customers’ preference for in-store shopping, the company has begun stirring away from malls to avoid suffering the same troublesome faith.
Today, around 57% of Bath & Body Works’ domestic stores are in off-mall locations, with the goal of reaching 75% over time. Last year, the retailer opened 106 North American stores, mainly in off-mall areas, and closed 61 stores, predominantly in malls.
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The company has begun making huge changes over the last year as part of its growth strategy to reverse continuous sales declines by investing in improving its in-store experience.
Bath & Body Works unveils a brand new store design
On Mar. 12, Bath & Body Works unveiled the Gingham+, the company’s latest store design. The new design aims to improve the company’s brick-and-mortar retail footprint worldwide by featuring new technology, a more open floor plan, and elevated design elements.
The Gingham+ store design will improve store navigation with a new layout that includes dedicated zones for popular products, larger aisles to facilitate flow, and more shopping space to prevent overcrowding.
Because Bath & Body Works emphasizes people’s ability to smell their products before buying, it created a new scent bar where customers can more easily test candles, wallflowers, and fragrance mists since they are all in one place.
The retailer has also added screens with videos that inspire and help customers visualize and discover new fragrances and products while walking around the store.
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There are currently 15 new fully opened stores modeled after Bath & Body Works’ new design nationally and internationally, with plans to apply it to most of its new store openings in the U.S.
“We’ve heard from this demographic (Gen Z) that many of their purchase decisions are rooted in their ability to try a product first, and while we’ve previously offered this, our new design is more intentional with specific destinations in store to test and learn,” said Bath & Body Works Group Vice President of Store Design Eduardo Tonietto.
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