A world premiere! On 23rd April 2022, Okaïdi opened a new store in Zurich railway station in Switzerland. A quick-fire interview with Country Manager Sébastien Sartori.
Why open a store in a railway station?
Railway stations have extremely high footfall. The main advantage of a store in a railway station is that is creates a fabulous shop window for the brand. And our digital services (order in store, ship from store, click and collect, e-reservation) are available alongside store purchasing. For customers commuting by train, it’s a great way to make quick purchases and pick up web orders when they want, how they want. We chose a station in a large agglomeration with the added bonus of tourist clientele who will visit the store on Sundays whilst waiting for their train or connection.
Is developing stores in stations part of our business strategy?
Stations are increasingly becoming host to retail premises and social hubs. This store is a first for us, so we’ll need to analyse the results. The results may lead to further development! If it’s a success, the potential within Europe is enormous.
In what way has this new store opening been a particular challenge?
Our historical business model is 150m2 in a shopping centre. So this is a real challenge in terms of procurement, logistics, merchandising, staffing (open 7 days a week), as well as being an IT challenge due to digitalisation. I would like to thank our partner François Rueff for pioneering this project, as well as his teams and ours at Okaïdi Switzerland. Not forgetting central services in Roubaix!
How have the initial results and customer feedback been?
The results are good and our customers like the store. We have improved our proximity by positioning ourselves on their daily route. We are on track for record sales per square metre, in addition to the sales generated by the order in store scheme launched on 10th May in Switzerland!
