For some festivals are as much about the fashion as they are the music. Nowhere is that more true than the glamorous (note: you can choose to insert your own adjective here) world of Essex which is why young fashion brand Very decided to set-up shop at V Festival in Chelmsford over the weekend.
But this was no normal store, it was there as a collection point for revellers who could order their festival essentials, from wellies to maxi dresses, via mobile phones and pick up them up at the Very tent within the hour.
“We had considered launching a pop-up store but this actually shows what we do. We’re not about bricks and mortar. We have a great mobile site and offer free next day delivery. This shows people who are unfamiliar about Very exactly what we’re about,” says Very head of marketing Dan Rubel.
Which is why I found myself in a field in Essex over the weekend (albeit catching a pretty mind-blowing set from The Stone Roses) checking out how the operation worked.
The bright pink branded tent with DJ music blaring out was hard to miss. So called ‘glam pods’, offering people the chance to wash away the grime of a weekend of revelry with the help of hair straighteners and mirrors, seemed to attract the girls at V whilst the scantily-clad models on podiums unsurprisingly had the same effect on the male population of Essex.
Meanwhile, the 15 strong Very squad headed out into the crowds armed with iPads to show the festival-goers how the store worked, directing them to the specially created mobile site.
It was pretty simple - visit the site on your mobile, browse the etailer’s specially developed 50 piece capsule collection, which includes anything from sun cream to sandals, and buy it in seconds through either PayPal or using your debit card. Then voila, just 60 minutes later, there it is waiting for you in the Very tent which, rather simply, had a massive lorry parked behind it full to the brim of the collection.
When I visited the store there was a 20 strong line – albeit many were waiting to tame their unruly locks. However, others were browsing Very’s site and some ordering.
The tent even came equipped with some bright pink telephone boxes which functioned as changing rooms for would-be buyers.
Although ventures like this have PR stunt written all over it – and Rubel admits it was part of the retailer’s decision to launch the service – it highlights the fact that now more than ever the customer wants the shop to come to them.
Today’s customer wants speed and convenience when picking up online orders with 90 minute delivery services and collection lockers, such as Amazon’s which are situated in a selection of train stations and shopping centres nationwide, becoming more commonplace.
The Very team said they were surprised by the number of people actually ordering from the service, some of which were first time shoppers with the brand.
“We’re still a relatively new brand so new customers are our lifeblood,” says Rubel, who says more stores of this nature are a distinct possibility if all the numbers stack up.
So with fashion available to buy on-site, the next time you’re travelling to a festival your bag may be considerably lighter.
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