Health and beauty giant Boots is to woo shoppers with a 'Work Convenience' store-type, geared towards time-poor, cash-rich city workers.
The retailer will unveil the prototype shop on London's Holborn on Monday.
It is Boots' first new core chain store concept in two years and, if successful, could be replicated in 150 city centre stores.
Director of format development Gary Cormack said: 'Work Convenience is aimed at office workers and commuters who are young and don't have much time, but have a bit more money.'
Cormack said research, also drawing on data gathered from Advantage Card customer transactions, helped Boots develop the new approach in the existing Kingsway store. It revealed that 57 per cent of the store's shoppers are under 35, and 78 per cent are ABC1s. The research highlighted the importance of the food offer - more than half of customers buy lunchtime snacks and the like.
Work Convenience, developed with design agency 20/20, targets workers through longer opening hours, edited product ranges, fine fragrances and an enhanced food assortment, including ready meals for the first time.
'We're taking out 30 per cent of the normal toiletry ranges and adding 15 per cent more upmarket lines,' said Cormack. 'We've found that if we help customers find the essential items quickly they are more willing to browse.'
Boots is spending£134 million on stores and refits this year.
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