Red Chief

From Sole To Soul: The journey of House of Red Chief’s award-winning retail redesign

The Indian footwear and apparel industry, an industry with a storied past and promising future, is in the middle of a paradigm shift. This shift is being fuelled by rising disposable incomes, urbanization, and foreign players entering the mix.

And now, the result of that shift is visible from afar. With a multi-billion-dollar industry

We find ourselves in the middle of a change - a change in the way we compete with each other. Brands have found a new ground to compete on, to speak, and that ground is experience.

After this realization, Red Chief joined hands with D’Art Design to elevate retail identity and, through it, its in-store experience.

How we arrived at solutions.

Before we developed a strategy, we wanted to understand where the brand was to understand what had worked for them in the past, and more importantly, what needed to be changed in the future.

We conducted an extensive audit of their physical retail presence by visiting their stores across India and recorded everything we saw.

We uncovered the following things in that audit

1. Minimal curb appeal and subpar store upkeep hampered first impressions
2. Lack of SKU categorization made the store feel cluttered and cramped
3. There was minimal brand communication inside the store, missing out on Red Chief’s storied history
4. The store was not optimized for low-light conditions, thus making the store seem uninviting and gloomy
5. Trial rooms, though branded, were cluttered with 6 different messages, which fought with each other for attention

Elevating Experience and ROI

Our job wasn’t just to design their retail store to be striking, but to design striking retail that also converted. Thus, we incorporated a suite of experiential and functional innovations to meet the objectives

1. Skinny mirrors

Skinny mirrors were furnished all across the stores as they not only reflected a more flattering image, but were also proven to increase conversion.

2. QR-based instant purchase

During the surveys, we realized that the best part of store visits was when people were trying on new stuff in the trial room, and the worst part was when they had to stand in long billing lines

To circumvent the negative feelings, we proposed QR-enabled tags that customers could scan via the Red Chief app, buy the product, and simply walk out of the door with their apparel.

3. Cloth vending machines

Pop-up-based retail interventions have recently found a newfound appreciation all around the world.

We wanted to cash in on the same sentiment by designing experience–first vending machines and placing them in high-volume areas.

4. ZOZO app integration

As we couldn’t conveniently include a trial area right next to the vending machines, we had to figure out a way of accurately measuring each customer’s size within seconds.

This is where we integrated ZOZO within the vending machine itself, as it could dish out accurate measurements and recommend sizes with just a quick scan.

5. Kid zone

Shoppers rarely entered the store unaccompanied. Most often, they were with their families, which also included children.

We noticed that children took up more mental space within the parents’ minds (obviously), which was hampering their in-store experience. Thus, we proposed a fun zone within store premises that would keep children occupied, which could allow the parents to explore and try on clothes freely.

The Impact

Red Chief’s redesigned store identity was a breath of fresh air. Higher curb appeal enabled higher footfall in-store, while the modern industrial aesthetic improved the in-store experience. The tech interventions, on the other hand, helped us in raising the average in-store time spent, which increased the overall conversion rate.

The hype around Red Chief’s new retail identity wasn’t just felt locally. Our efforts in the project earned us the prestigious A’Design Award for creating an innovative, sustainable, and experience-first retail identity.