When Korean cosmetics retailer Innisfree launched its second New York City store right next door to a major competitor in late 2018, the brand knew it needed a store design that would grab the attention of people passing by and convince new customers to step inside. Working with Creative Realities, an end-to-end digital integrator based in Louisville, KY, Innisfree decided to capitalize on the store’s curved floor-to-ceiling street-front windows and install a huge, super-bright NanoLumens ENGAGE Series LED display that measures 16.73 feet tall by 8.66 feet wide and is easily seen from the street, 24 hours a day.
“The new Innisfree store at Lexington and 59th Street has a variety of technologies to make the shopping experience better, and it starts with the massive NanoLumens LED display that is simply impossible to miss as people pass by the storefront,” said Beth Warren, senior vice president of marketing and retail practice at Creative Realities.
“The store opened right next to a major established cosmetics retailer, so capturing the attention of cosmetics users and having a unique store design and appearance was a top concern. With this stunning display showing peaceful scenes from the Jeju Island in Korea where Innisfree sources many ingredients, any potential customer who walks by is encouraged to step inside and see what the new store is all about.”
The digital signage professionals at Creative Realities took all the variables and store needs into account, and determined that an existing interior wall would be an ideal location to mount a large LED display. After comparing the capabilities, quality, and pricing of products from leading LED manufacturers, they decided that a NanoLumens ENGAGE Series display would provide the best picture quality, the most reliable and worry-free operation, and enable the store owners to present beautiful, colorful imagery without creating a tech-heavy appearance.
“NanoLumens displays are the ultimate combination of advanced technology, superior design, simple operation, and show-stopping performance,” said NanoLumens regional sales manager Geoffrey Berkeley. “These attributes allow our displays to blend into any environment and showcase any content, making them the top choice for stores that want to make a big impression without focusing customers’ attention on the technology itself.”
According to Warren, a major part of any digital marketing effort is sending the right message at the right time, in the right part of the customer journey. By conceiving a digital strategy in this way, Creative Realities can use NanoLumens displays to solve specific pain points such as improving foot traffic, extending browsing times, or increasing the value of purchases.
The NanoLumens LED display is mounted straight ahead of the entrance and windows, above a counter of iPads where customers can sign up to be Innisfree members to track their purchase history and receive special offers from the brand. Because the iPad counter puts customers within six feet of the huge LED display, Creative Realities figured out that they needed to use a pixel pitch of 2.5mm to ensure that all content looks brilliant from any distance. NanoLumens delivered the custom-built display to CRI’s exact specifications.
“NanoLumens was far and away the best solution for this space to achieve the store’s goals,” Warren added. “In order to fit with the brand’s biomimicry plant-based design language, this display needed to be the absolute best quality and present a seamless, undivided image that only LED displays can deliver, but also blend into the space without seeming like a boxy piece of technology. Because people would be close to it, it needed small pixel size and excellent color reproduction, along with superior brightness and a slim profile. The ENGAGE Series hit all those marks, and Innisfree recognized it as best choice.”
Once customers are inside, additional technologies help guide their purchasing journey. The store’s skin tone detector assigns a value to each customer’s skin tone, and then suggests the best cosmetics to match their complexion. In another area, a line of LCD displays hang above a colorful product section, with each display relating to the products directly underneath it.
While the store has been quiet about specifics, employees noted that they saw a significant uptick in foot traffic after the NanoLumens display was installed, and noticed an increase in overall engagement and excitement thanks to the digital technologies. The content shown on the NanoLumens LED display keeps with the store’s design influences, presenting images of flowing landscapes and nature scenes.
“The store has an open design with a lot of space for customers to engage with more than 900 products, and our technology design aids in driving them to specific sections while creating an ambiance that separates Innisfree from its neighboring competition,” Warren said. “However, the store doesn’t look like a tech-heavy environment. The installation is subtle, with content taking center stage and helping bolster the store’s vision rather than showing off technology for technology’s sake. The seamless, borderless NanoLumens display fit perfectly without distracting from the core business.”
Warren also noted that millennials and younger customers are often looking for a do-it-yourself shopping experience, where they can shop with the aid of modern technologies instead of relying on store employees for guidance.
Besides the technology, the store design features another unique element, particularly for Manhattan: several wall sections and a large center display are covered with a variety of vibrant green plants that represent the natural ingredients used in Innisfree’s products.
“NanoLumens’ display technology is simply one of the best marketing mediums available today,” Warren said. “Innisfree is in rollout mode as it storms the North American market, and we plan to continue wowing customers with NanoLumens displays at future stores in New York City and Santa Monica, CA.”
Content for all the in-store displays at the 59th Street location is managed by a Brightsign player that can be updated by the store as needed.
