The Vitamin Shoppe an omni-channel specialty retailer of nutritional products, announced today the opening of a new innovation store in Edgewater, N.J. The store brings a new vision to wellness retail, incorporating technology-driven innovations in product, service, and education into The Vitamin Shoppe experience, while elevating the customer journey through a simplified modern design and personalized elements.
Building off the footprint of the existing Edgewater store, the completely reimagined 3,185 square-foot space features cutting-edge interactive elements, such as on-demand digital product guides, enhanced mobile POS checkout, a designated area to take the brand’s new Only Me™ personalized health assessment, a complimentary body composition analysis station, and a supplement sampling machine. Signature merchandise assortments, including the store’s CBD Central and Keto HQ sections, as well as service programs like free nutritionist consultations via the Healthy Awards® loyalty program, are seamlessly integrated into the innovation concept.
Sharon Leite, Chief Executive Officer of The Vitamin Shoppe, commented: “Our newly remodeled Edgewater location represents the next generation of stores for The Vitamin Shoppe, and will inform the future direction of our total retail experience. We have taken the elevated aesthetic of a modern apothecary and imbued it with leading-edge technology and services that will simplify and demystify the experience of shopping for health and wellness supplements.”
The Vitamin Shoppe currently plans to open five new stores in a similar format through January 2020.
Designed by Dayton, Ohio-based ChangeUp Inc., the Edgewater store features a warm color palette, wood flooring, and updated fixtures that enhance the merchandise layouts. Design accents include Edison bulb lighting, brass signage and leather trim details. A new wayfinding system streamlines the shopping experience and strategically placed educational guides help lead customers to the ideal products for their individual wellness journeys. The cash wrap has been upgraded with a 100-inch LED video screen that displays inspiring and educational brand content.
A new digital product education tool will bring a wealth of information currently available on www.vitaminshoppe.com directly into the hands of in-store shoppers. Piloting technology from Addison, Texas-based Spacee Inc., the product recognition device brings up a detailed product guide on an LCD flat screen for any product in the store. Shoppers can quickly view usage guides, nutrition facts, customer reviews, current promotions and additional recommended products on screen. Enlarged labels are also shown, making small labeling text easier to read.
Also for the first time, The Vitamin Shoppe will launch the Aptos ONE Store Commerce mobile selling application, which enables mobile checkout on iPads – empowering The Vitamin Shoppe’s Health Enthusiast associates to engage with shoppers, ring transactions and answer questions throughout the store floor without leaving the customer’s side.
Mobile POS, along with The Vitamin Shoppe’s Vbook mobile selling app, will give Health Enthusiasts easy access to customer and product information, enabling them to provide a personalized experience to every customer.
The Vitamin Shoppe is deploying both traffic counting and advanced heat mapping technology from RetailNext to fully understand how in-store Health Enthusiast behavior, marketing campaigns, and promotions guide the shopper path to purchase. These analytics will be leveraged to improve the customer experience across all channels.
“At The Vitamin Shoppe, we are continually searching for innovative ways to evolve and enhance the customer wellness journey,” said Ms. Leite. “The new digitally-powered elements of our store encourage customers to deeply engage with our product offerings, as well as our highly knowledgeable in-store Health Enthusiasts, for a fully integrated omni-channel experience. The Edgewater store is a great example of our ongoing transformation into an agile, customer-centric company – as well as our continued commitment to helping our customers become their best selves, however they define it.”
Delivering curated wellness solutions for customers, the Edgewater location includes the first-ever Only Me health bar. This new service offers a personalized online assessment that delivers a custom assortment of vitamins and supplements to participating subscribers each month. Designed by medical experts, the daily packs provide a unique wellness regimen tailored to each customer’s individual health and lifestyle needs, while offering trusted, high-quality products from The Vitamin Shoppe. At the in-store health bar, shoppers can easily take the online assessment and set up convenient auto-delivery to their homes.
As part of the Healthy Awards loyalty program, customers can access The Vitamin Shoppe’s expert nutritionists during virtual consultations via video, phone, or in-store visit (in select locations). The service offers personalized, 45-minute consultations for Silver and Gold members and 30-minute consultations for Bronze members with a nutrition coach, in addition to other customized wellness benefits. Shoppers can sign up online for a free Healthy Awards membership.
The Vitamin Shoppe’s Edgewater, N.J. location is now open seven days a week at 12 The Promenade, Edgewater, NJ. To view store hours or for more information, please visit www.vitaminshoppe.com.
