Eileen Yeo, Managing Director of Marionnaud France

The 3P concept, its bright colours and its strong lighting, are officially over. Marionnaud’s outlet renovation program, which was launched in 2011, is shifting towards a new warmer and upscale store concept. Actually, the retailer is moving away from mass-market codes and is betting on the high-end values: warm welcome, services, and wellbeing. The company wants to please its customers with a high quality services and products. "We want to offer customers a unique shopping experience in a warm and human scale atmosphere," says Eileen Yeo, Managing Director of Marionnaud France.

Services and products discovery

The retailer thus opted for a bright and soothing ambience, a palette of soft colour. The brand now wants to attract its customers with exclusive services and the discovery of new products rather than through an endless race to price discounts.

One of the distinctive features of the new concept is the importance given to in-store free beauty services such as "flash make-up", in a dedicated area at the centre of the store, or with the “Ioma Link" skin diagnosis now fully integrated within the skin care area. Some stores also offer a "nail bar" paying service offering a wide range of nail and manicure services, with or without an appointment.

Moreover, all the Marionnaud stores offer free Click & Collect services. "Today’s digital innovations, such as Click & Collect, Store to Door, Reserve and Collect, are the core of our customer strategy. They perfectly address customers’ expectations in term of services and increase the number of visits in our stores. Our priority is to link digital services with our in-store offer in order to provide our customers with a comprehensive shopping experience," adds Eileen Yeo.

60 stores per year

A pilot store was opened in 2013, rue des Martyrs in Paris, and the new concept was tested in 2014 in nine stores located in shopping malls or in city centres across the entire French territory. The new concept will now be deployed in priority in the 150 French stores that have not been renovated for the last 6 years. The program provides that 60 stores per year will be put in line with the new concept.

"2015 promises to be an extremely dynamic year for Marionnaud, with a lot of opportunities. We are redeveloping our network with several store relocations as well as new openings, with the aim to be closer from our customers," concludes Mrs Yeo.

With more than 1,000 stores in Europe, including 519 in France, Marionnaud is one of the leading European retailers of high-end perfumes and cosmetics