Member Article

Abbey Road Studios embarks on retail journey

Building on its legendary history with music, Abbey Road Studios – a recording location synonymous with artistry and musicianship - has adopted an omnichannel retail strategy to leverage additional revenue opportunities from global fans and shoppers.

Currently a working recording studio, Abbey Road has extended its retail operations, opening a new bricks-and-mortar outlet, the Abbey Road Shop, in addition to its existing ecommerce website.

Selling merchandise and memorabilia at the site of decades of landmark recordings, the store will be underpinned by a retail management solution from IT services provider, TRC Solutions, and integrated omnichannel retail system, iVend Retail, as it looks to capitalise on impulse buys and deliver seamless customer journeys.

Commenting on the new store, Isabel Garvey, Managing Director of Abbey Road Studios, said: “Abbey Road is not just an iconic venue, it’s a working studio too. With thousands of music fans coming to the studio each year – often making long journeys to visit – we needed to ensure that the customer experience lives up to expectations. The decision to use in-store technology from TRC Solutions and iVend Retail in Abbey Road Shop is fully in line with our omnichannel model.”

Founder and CEO of TRC Solutions, Gavin Peacock, said: “With Abbey Road looking to expand its retail operations, we needed to provide a platform that would underpin their approach with a single stock pool, while giving them a system that could grow as they do. We’re delighted to be working with the Abbey Road Shop on a long-term solution which will drive growth.”

Richard Kolodynski, Senior Vice President European Operations at iVend Retail (part of Citixsys worldwide) added: “Today’s consumers don’t differentiate between channels; they just shop using the option that’s most convenient to them at the time – be it online, in-store or via smartphone devices – making a seamless customer journey all the more important. Retailers must ensure fluidity and visibility between them, which is what our solution offers Abbey Road as they embrace multichannel retail.”

Looking ahead, Abbey Road also plans to use mobile POS to allow staff to take payments from a tablet device away from fixed till points, anywhere in the store. This will also present up-selling and cross-selling opportunities for store associates as they will be armed with online information and a single view of stock on tablet devices.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chelsea Reay .