The challenge
Shell Retail decided that the ‘cookie cuttter’ approach to shop layouts it had operated up to 2006 had resulted in over-capitalised, oversized and unprofitable shops. Other companies had invested in design and this was seen as the key to the sales growth in the sector demonstrated by forecourt shops run by Tesco, BP, Spar, Esso and Total. Shell had to decide whether to position itself as a low-cost provider of competitively priced fuel or a full-service retailer with well-developed convenience store operations.
The Brief
Conran Design Group was briefed to create a Global Shop Format to be used as Shell Retail’s sole standard from 2006 onwards. The brief had four key areas: reinforcing the Shell presence in and outside the shop, increasing the speed and ease of shopping, clearly communicating key product and service categories and creating a brighter, contemporary environment with a warmer feel. The design needed to address local market product and customer needs while conforming to a global format, to match improved customer experience with reduced cost of manufacture and to encourage increased spend per purchase in a market with high levels of customer indifference.
The Design
The new Global Shop Format, launched in January 2006, highlights the shop entrance outside, while inside dynamic graphics and colour-blocking provide clear category definition. This enables customers to clearly understand the shop, with shop layouts now fit for purpose and easy to navigate. The new open chiller for sandwiches gives the ‘food on the move’ category strong visibility as soon as the customer enters the shop and overall there is a softer feeling throughout the structure and design.
The Results
The new Shell Global Shop Format has created impressive sales uplift in Shell’s toughest markets (the UK, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands) with incremental like-for-like sales increasing. All markets experienced sales uplift in core categories such as beverages, coffee and sandwiches, and snacks and confectionary. Stronger and more consistent branding has increased customer awareness of the Shell brand to almost double that found in research conducted on forecourts without the new format, while staff report that Shell stores are now ‘a better place to work’.
