Phygital, or physical-digital, is a first-of-its-kind retail concept conceived by local real estate giant CapitaLand. The new retail space is called NomadX, held on floors 1 and 3 in Plaza Singapura mall.
Occupying 11,000 square feet over the two storeys, NomadX is a store that “enriches the (traditional) physical (retail) space with a ‘techtile’ sensory shopping experience via tribe marketing and customised brand and product discovery experiences,” says Chris Chong, the Deputy Managing Director of Capitaland Retail in Singapore.
Playing on the words “technology” and “tactile”, the digital elements present themselves in several ways. The first concept, is the tribes. To help you shop savvy, the brains behind NomadX have devised four different ‘tribes’ that suit different types of shoppers.
The four tribes are based on natural elements and “universally-recognised shopping inclinations to build affinity through interest connections, experiences and content curation that will resonate more emotively with its shoppers,” explains Chris. Your tribe is important as it recommends products at the different labels that are found in NomadX.
You will encounter are the tablets mounted on the wall when you enter either through the first or third floor entrance. The tablets allow you to participate in a gamification process through a short quiz to classify you, the shopper, into four defined NomadX tribes – Sea, Mountain, Forest and Wind.
The second element is the smart mirror found at fashion labels Karl Lagerfeld and Style Theory. The products in these two shops are RFID (radio-frequency identification) tagged which gets picked up by the smart mirror. Flashing the item in front of the mirror will pull up the product description on the mirror screen:
The third digital savvy element is the interactive screen and projection at local fragrance mixology service Oo La Lab and Korean beauty label Mamonde. After choosing the products that tickled your fancy, place them on the sensored placements and its information will be pulled up on the screen. Placing multiple products will allow you to get a comparison between them.
Finally, the last technological element pertains to the retailers. Chris explains, “with the introduction of flexible-term leases, modular plug & play phygital retail units integrated with smart systems infrastructure, NomadX empowers retailers to direct customer’s brand encounter through scent, audio and visual content, and interactive projection walls.” This phygital concept is a win-win for both retailers and consumers, and it allows brands to test and feedback new concepts and products. Chris hopes that this retail concept will eventually spread across Southeast Asia.
Besides fashion and beauty labels like evenodd, SkinCeuticals and Jowae, the retail space also houses the first physical outlets for many e-tailers we know and love, such as Taobao, Style Theory, Oo La Lab, teapasar and By Peapods. In addition, there are food and beverage options, in the form of Waa Cow Express, Wagyu Steakhouse by Aston Soon and Coco & Frank.
Furthermore, you can leave your wallet at home when you shop at NomadX. Adopting a cashless system, you can pay via credit card and via the CapitaStar app at each store itself. However there’s a caveat regarding the CapitaStar app, not only will any rebates be credited to the app, the e-wallet function only allows the use of American Express and NetsPay.
If you’re in for a unique shopping experience, head down to NomadX at Plaza Singapura, find your tribe and shop to your heart’s content.
ALSO READ: QUIRKY ONLINE STORES TO CHECK OUT FOR UNIQUE HOLIDAY SHOPPING
