JOSH WOOD COLOUR: RETAIL DESIGN / RETAIL PRODUCTION

From temporary POS to permanent display

We integrated design, technology, education and inspiration to create an installation for Josh Wood Colour that focused on wellness and sustainability. A tactile, informative and beautiful space befitting of the only hair brand to be given a premier position in Boots’ store of the future in Covent Garden.

Josh Wood is a world-leading colour expert, bringing a high-end salon experience into the home by using a combination of excellent product and brand communications to educate and inspire consumers.

“Hair colour is fundamental to how we feel about ourselves—it’s part of our wellbeing. I believe everybody deserves expert-created hair colour – wherever they are.”

Josh Wood, Colourist, Josh Wood Colour

In 2017 Josh Wood Colour were preparing to launch exclusively in Boots and wanted to find a retail agency that were on the Boots approved supplier list. We were chosen as a supplier as we had worked with many clients in Boots but also because we were able to deliver a broad spectrum of products and services – from cardboard right through to permanent display, offering more choice than many other suppliers.

This suited Josh Wood Colour because they didn’t want to work with a retail agency that could only do point of sale (POS).

FROM POS TO PERMANENT

When we started working together Josh Wood Colour were only in a handful of Boots stores and initially we were producing vacuum formed trays, using heat, vacuum and pressure to create the custom shapes required to fulfil their POS requirements. As leaders in the hair colour market, Josh Wood Colour were allowed to push the boundaries of what could be produced for Boots. We were able to design and produce some very bespoke vac form trays that were quite different to anything used in Boots before as well as numerous cardboard FSDUs and 11 metal FSUs.

Doing things a new way with POS in Boots was just the start, change was a-foot on the shop floor and some exciting new opportunities emerged for both Josh Wood Colour and Impact Retail. The retailer was to launch a new store concept in June 2019 - the Boots store of the future - with a focus on health, wellness, sustainability and technology. Having proven our retail design and production skills in POS, Josh Wood Colour turned to us to discuss working on their new permanent unit that was going to be installed in Boots very first store of the future in Covent Garden.

BOOTS STORE OF THE FUTURE

The Boots store of the future was designed to be an innovative retail space that embraced technology to create innovative customer experiences – something we were keen to be part of!

"Our new Covent Garden store starts a journey of reinventing Boots for the future. The store is full of exciting beauty brands, ideas for living well and services to help you get better, all with the great care that Boots colleagues give. We will learn what people love and want from this shop and this will help us shape a blueprint for our whole 2,500 store estate.”

Sebastian James, Managing Director, Boots UK

We were given a design visual from Josh Wood Colour that gave an outline of what they hoped to achieve with their unit. We had material samples to review, a strong, beautiful, contemporary design and all the details that they hoped to achieve. Our technical design team then took their vision and created a unit that we could produce and build in store.

The interpretation of the client’s vision was crucial. The brand hinges on the founder’s vision and technical ability to understand colour. Any Josh Wood Colour packaging, display or unit has to provide an enormous amount of information – educating the consumer, passing on the knowledge and expertise of the founder, so that they are able to create the look they want with confidence in their own home.

With so much important information about the product ranges and their benefits for the consumer to navigate we decided to combine technology with more tactile elements to draw the consumer in.

We put screens in with constantly rolling education and created an area where you could take your own hair and compare it with overlaying hair colours. This allowed the consumer to visualise the colour they wanted to achieve and the product to best achieve it with. This gave the consumer a good indication of what they could expect when they used the product themselves at home. The space also directed people to the website for further advice and acts as a base in store for Josh Wood Colour consultants.

It’s typical for high-end beauty brands such as Clinique, Dior or Chanel to have permanent retail units in store with high levels of educational information and consultants, it is unheard of for a hair colourist brand. The retail unit for Josh Wood Colour, is sector-leading both in terms of concept and design.

“The finished unit is a bespoke item of retail furniture with a wood construction, Corian® shelves and a brass effect metal framework, it’s got integrated screens, it’s got information panels, it’s got mirrors, it’s even got topiary!”

Anna, Account Director

Following the success of the Covent Garden display, we created a second permanent unit in Meadowhall (Sheffield) and 11 smaller units that have a similar look and feel.