By Claire Reilly
Western Australian retailer Kambo’s has taken the sale of coffee machines to new heights in its Canning Vale and Malaga showrooms, offering a unique experiential in-store concept for consumers.
To engage customers while they’re in the store and create a clear path to purchase, the retailer has established a standalone section of floorspace known as “Kambo’s Cafe”. Set up amongst the displays of home entertainment products and cooking appliances, the Cafe showcases a range of coffee machines with demonstration models that allow consumers to see coffee making in action.
Fitted out with cafe-style tables and snack machines, the area also features traditional retail shelving filled with displays from major brands including Nespresso, De’Longhi and Lavazza by Electrolux. Kambo’s Malaga store features a staff member on hand to make coffees for customers — replicating a real cafe experience — while in Canning Vale, there are machines that can be used to demo live in front of the customer.
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Speaking about the Canning Vale Kambo’s Cafe, small appliances floor manager Donna Behsman said it was a great way to engage customers in the coffee experience.
“When a customer is interested in looking at a machine, one of the staff members will go down there and go through the specifics with the machine,” she said. “In our store we have three live machines that we can demo with, so you’ve got your pods, your milk and your hot chocolate to demonstrate.”
The Canning Vale cafe has a Nespresso Citiz and Milk, a Lavazza by Electrolux capsule machine and the Primadonna Exclusive from De’Longhi. Behsman said each machine showcased different feature sets, helping consumers decide what features they’re looking so retailers can offer the right product.
“I guess what they look at which is more convenient and easier for them and what suits their lifestyle. By showing them the different machines, they can get a feel on what’s going to suit them —whether it’s going to be easier with the pods, or maybe they want a hot chocolate feature and a self-grinding machine. It really depends on their lifestyle.
“And that’s where your sales point is. If they’re not looking at fully automatic, then you know they’re looking for something that is pod related, and you’ve got a variety of pod machines to show them.”
For Behsman, the cafe offers a unique point of difference to the traditional retail display.
“It’s that one-on-one contact which is great,” she said. “They have the experience — we go through and show them how to use it, pull it all apart, put it back together and show them how easy the machines are to use.
“Everybody loves coffee and they all want something a bit luxurious. And it’s a bit of a ‘look at me’ feature in the store.”