Secret Shopper: Molton Brown's revamped Regent Street flagship
As part of TheIndustry.beauty's Secret Shopper series, we visited Molton Brown's newly refurbished flagship store on London's Regent Street.
The store, which opened last month, is inspired by the brand's original 1970s hair salon on South Molton Street. The space hopes to offer a calming, botanical and sophisticated atmosphere with a contemporary twist.
In this latest piece, we look at Molton Brown's revamped store to see if it fulfils the brand's mission of creating an interactive space that celebrates the brand's roots and champions sustainability.
Location
You can't get much better than London's Regent Street. This area offers a great selection of retail destinations, with lots to keep shoppers busy. Situated in a corner unit, Molton Brown's flagship store is surrounded by brands including Cos, Arket, Tory Burch and Longchamp. It is also a short distance from the Apple store and Liberty.
Windows & Entrance
The store's window displays coordinate well with Molton Brown's interior decor and brand messaging.
Upon entering the store, I was immediately drawn to what Molton Brown calls 'the fragrance playground'. This fragrance counter was located directly opposite the entrance and was populated with a variety of the brand's scents to try-out.
During my visit, I was informed by a sales assistant that fragrance is the starting point for Molton Brown and its other products are developed from this. Whether intentional or not, I thought that having fragrance as the first thing you see when entering the store was symbolic and a clever design aspect. The store experience, for me at least, started with fragrance and then branched out to the brand's other products - similar to Molton Brown's approach to product development.
The Store-fit & Displays
As expected from a new store, the space is well designed, well stocked and tidy. It features neutral, wooden furnishings, complimented by pops of colour from vibrant plants, decorative pieces and Molton Brown's colourful collection of products.
Product categories such as haircare, home fragrance and gifting were labelled well. In addition, the brand's general bodycare collections were separated by scent, with each range clearly identifiable from the next.
Molton Brown wanted to create a space that champions sustainability and innovation, something I felt the store does reasonably well. Even before entering the store, Molton Brown's refill range was promoted in the window display. Inside the store, the window looking out onto Regent Street features a large infographic display, outlining the brand's commitments to sustainability. As part of this, customers can scan a QR code to access more information via Molton Brown's website.
An additional QR code is displayed near the fragrance counter, offering a 'fragrance finder' experience for shoppers to match their personality to a Molton Brown scent. This experience worked fairly well and added a bit of interactive fun to the shopping experience, something the brand wanted to achieve.
The Service & Try-on experience
Whilst I was not approached immediately, it wasn't too long before a sales assistant offered their help. After briefly speaking about Molton Brown's fragrances, I was recommended a few to try and given more detailed descriptions of the different scents. I was then left alone to look around the other areas in the store.
I later sparked up another conversation with the same sales assistant, this time about bodycare. Once again, she was helpful and informative. I even noted that the brand's beautiful festive shower gels contained glitter - a notoriously non-eco friendly material - but was well informed that the glitter was biodegradable and that sustainability is very important to Molton Brown.
By the tills, I noticed a nicely decorated personal gifting service, where customers can have their purchases gift wrapped and even engrave fragrance bottles or stamp initials into a Molton Brown twill pouch. This offers something quite fun and helpful – perfect for anyone shopping for gifts ahead of Christmas too!
The Product Range
As expected from a flagship store, the space offers a wide variety of products across fragrance, bath, bodycare, haircare and home. Along with Molton Brown's Christmas range and 2022 advent calendar making nice additions during the festive period.
The store offers a great selection of the brand's collections and scents for customers to try. With the amount available, it would be hard not to find something you like. Some of the Molton Brown's key collections in-store include Orange & Bergamot, Delicious Rhubarb & Rose, Fiery Pink Pepper and Milk Musk.
In Conclusion
Molton Brown's Regent Street store offers new and existing customers a more modern retail experience, with a nod to its heritage and long-standing values. The store's design is warm and inviting, with a superb selection of Molton Brown products for shoppers to explore. The flagship also benefits from its location on London's iconic Regent Street – attracting locals, workers and tourists alike.
