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Inside: Uniqlo
5th Avenue in Manhattan
a customer experience brief

2.
This isn’t simply the largest Uniqlo store in the world (89,000 square feet) and a record-setting real
estate deal ($300 million over 15 years). It’s a phenomenal customer experience that shows how to
do retail experiences, brand engagement, and brand partnerships right. More store info:
https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/stores-details/?StoreID=10200002&source=stores . 2

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There are three floors joined at various points throughout the store
footprint by escalators and stairways.
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A greeter welcomes shoppers with shopping bags and a smile. 4

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Scrolling signage promotes the store as the brand’s “global flagship.” 5

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Every floor presents an eye-popping world to discover. 6

7.
Uniqlo’s partnership with New York’s Museum of Modern Art is
manifested in a store experience that is part-retail; part-museum.
More info: http://sprzny.uniqlo.com/about/ .
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The partnership also includes sponsorship of free admission to the
museum.
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Even the stairs are branded with the brand’s theme SPRZ, which stands for Surprise New
York and involves combining art and fashion to celebrate pop culture.
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The store is filled with products that bring the museum’s
artists to life.
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Products are displayed with museum-like labels that explain
product features and give customers an extra reason to buy.
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The brand’s campaign featuring art legend Takashi Murakami is
highlighted in a special colorful and fun display area.
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Huge digital screens are found throughout the store.
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Winning entries from a t-shirt design contest are for sale -- a
rewarding way to engage customers in co-creation. 14

15.
The store has its own full-service Starbucks location. 15

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Product features are prominently explained.
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Signage clearly explains and promotes Uniqlo U, a line of essentials. 17

18.
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Promotional messages rotate on digital signage, including this one for its program with the
Human Rights Council through which it collects used clothing for refugees.

19.
Uniqlo has developed fabrics with unique features, including
AIRism which is billed as “comfort conditioning technology.”
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AIRism is featured in a wide range of products throughout the store. 20

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An entire corridor dedicated to products made with AIRism is
accented by mirrors and scrolling LED signage.
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Partnerships with designers are well-explained, elevating the designer and
positioning Uniqlo as a design curator.
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Uniqlo offers in-store pickup for items ordered online.
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Customers can hop into a photo booth to capture themselves in Uniqlo
clothing and commemorate their visit to the store.
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25.
While the store is huge and full of product and there were hundreds
of people shopping on a weekday morning, the space doesn’t seem
overly crowded or busy.
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Uniqlo produces a magalog that’s available for free in the store. 26

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The magalog features products and fun content. 27

28.
I only spotted one flaw in the experience: The store has 50 registers in two banks – at
one, only two attendants were working and a long line backed up…
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...while the other was much less crowded. A sign or an employee
could have directed people to both areas.
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Access more Customer Experience
Briefs and
other brand leadership content
by Denise Lee Yohn at
http://deniseleeyohn.com.
DENISE LEE YOHNbrand leadership expert | speaker | author