There are two kinds of retail stores. Xiaomi tends to follow the traditional retail system; you walk into one of its stores, see the products available for purchase, and then head out. Apple stores tend to do things differently, and they’re centered around creating experiences instead of just selling products.
Nothing wants to go one step beyond that with its store, delivering a 360-degree view of what the brand is all about. Nothing has a store in London, so the one that it just inaugurated in Bengaluru is technically its second retail store, but it is on another level entirely in terms of scale and ambition.
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I headed down to Bengaluru to take a look at the store, and talked to Carl Pei and Akis Evangelidis about Nothing’s retail strategy. Right off the bat, it’s clear that what Nothing is doing is very different to most retail outlets; it does a great job highlighting the uniqueness of the brand.
The store has a distinct industrial feel to it, and there’s a sense of rawness that you just don’t see in most modern retail. Nothing says it’s modeled after a 1970s assembly line, and to highlight that, your order is delivered via a conveyer belt (which is just plain cool). It is also inherently modular, with all the workbenches able to be easily positioned in any configuration as needed.
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Akis indicated that the goal was to create a collaborative space instead of a traditional retail store, and there’s even a DJ booth, a creator studio, and an unboxing zone on a second level that lets customers shoot hands-on videos after buying a phone or accessory at the location. Oh, and there’s a huge dragonfly figurine that’s prominently highlighted as soon as you enter the store. “It just looks badass,” says Carl.
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There’s an audio area where customers are able to try out Nothing’s earbuds, and a phone section with a retro-futuristic design that houses the brand’s current-gen devices. You get the entire CMF portfolio of products as well in the store, and while Nothing doesn’t quite have the breadth of products that other brands offer, it did a good job showcasing what it sells.
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With the store meant to encompass an assembly line, you get three zones that highlight how the brand tests its products. There’s an ingress rating enclosure where water jets are sprayed onto the Phone 3, a USB robot that tests the USB-C port by constantly plugging in cables, and a scratch test area where steel wool is passed over the rear of the device.
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Another thing I like is the ability to customize products bought within the store. There’s a laser engraving machine, and you can get your buds or phone engraved, and there’s no extra charge. Nothing also sells merchandise like t-shirts and sneakers, and you can get your name printed on a tee as well.
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To me, it felt less like a retail store and more like a place to hang out and connect with other fans of the brand. Carl says that it is the idea; he isn’t worried about how many sales figures the store will bring in, but more so about how many fans walk in and take photos of the space. It is a novel strategy as these things go, and considering Nothing’s positioning as an online-focused brand, the retail store serves as a showcase for its overarching identity, and it does that very well.
Nothing is now looking to set up similar stores in Tokyo and New York, and I get the feeling that they’ll stand out just as much.
