Events
Winners announced for Retail in Asia ‘Best Retail Experience Award’
For this year’s Luxury Symposium, the French Chamber in Hong Kong was delighted to collaborate with Retail in Asia for the inaugural ‘Best Retail Experience Award’.
Despite a rapidly changing landscape in the retail industry, the physical store remains a key asset for brands as they look to bring their image, vision and values to life in new ways.
The aim was to reward the best retail experience within the region across five categories: luxury pop-up, luxury permanent, lifestyle pop-up, lifestyle permanent, and omnichannel experience.
Up for grabs would be prizes offered by the French Chamber and Retail in Asia including visibility and business development services.
A judging panel with a range of different backgrounds and expertise looked at various factors such as alignment between brand DNA and store design, visual merchandising, uniqueness of the experience, customer engagement, ambience, and quality of the material for submission.
The judges:
Bluebell Group – Pierre Buet, Samy Redjeb, Alex Misseri, Lili Chieng de Montal, Gregory Airault, Esterina Nervino
French Chamber – Sophie Leconte, Alain Li
External members – Francesca von Etzdorf, Markus Schuckert, Alessandro Bisagni, Paolo Giannelli
Over 40 applications were received for concepts opened across Asia including Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Korea, and Australia. After reviewing the material, 18 applications were shortlisted and sent to the jury.
Without further ado, we’re delighted to announce the winners:
Luxury Pop-Up Store – Les Gens Asia X Nars
For this category, the judges were looking for a fully engaging concept able to transform retail into a one-of-its kind experience. With a strong focus on customer-product interaction and digital touchpoints, Les Gens Asia X Nars’ playful, young, energetic concept takes home the Best Retail Experience for Luxury Pop-Up Store.
Luxury Permanent Store – Devialet
The award for this category goes to quite an exclusive concept. Luxury, exclusive experience, innovation, and excellence were the recurring words used by judges to define this store experience where products are displayed as if they were jewels. In line with its brand DNA, Devialet created the Best Retail Experience for the Luxury Permanent Store category.
Lifestyle Pop-Up Store – Lore Limited X TUMI
For this category, the winning concept created a 360-degree storytelling experience. From design to retail staff, from workshops to customisation and events, everything was planned to provide customers with an interactive experience in line with the brand DNA. The winner for the Best Retail Experience Lifestyle Pop-Up Store is Lore Limited X TUMI.
Lifestyle Permanent Store – Officine Universelle Buly Hong Kong
This category received several entries, and the competition was fierce. While many brands and retailers are focusing on digital to revolutionise their retail experience, the winner for this category was able to bring customers back in time through a highly designed and detail-oriented ambience, which is able to represent the brand DNA and encapsulate the products in a unique universe. The immersive experience in Officine Universelle Buly Hong Kong’s permanent store on Wyndham Street is the winner for Best Retail Experience Lifestyle Permanent Store.
Omnichannel – Holition Ltd X Charlotte Tilbury
Omnichannel has become a buzzword in the retail industry. The aim of this award was to find a way to define this practice by looking at an innovative concept able to integrate technology into an experiential retail space. Holition X Charlotte Tilbury created a highly customer-oriented experience able to engage the new generation of shoppers, and provide them with a space to enjoy their spare time.
Congratulations to all the winners!
