Montreal-based Bentley Group is stepping into 21st century retail with a new transformation strategy.
The company, which was founded in St. John’s, Nfld. in 1987, is redesigning its stores to better showcase its products and make the in-store environment easier to navigate. So far, 11 stores have been redesigned and the remainder of the brand’s 300 locations across Canada will be overhauled within the next five years.
Bentley’s website also got an update with fully responsive design and an improved ecommerce platform.
To reflect the changes, Bentley has a new tagline, “Bentley. On the move with you. Everyday.”
Montreal-based private equity firm Novacap, which bought Bentley in 2012, was the driving force behind the transformation.
“Bentley was a successful company, but the issue was the retail industry was changing and there were so many untapped opportunities,” said Marie-Elyse Ahad, marketing director at Bentley Group.
“If you look even just in terms of the technology, we had dinosaur technology… And at store level, it was treated like a mom-and-pop shop in the sense that [staff] would treat it like it was their own store. It wasn’t necessarily guided by a vision or a purpose.”
Last year, Bentley conducted market research and found there was strong brand equity in the Bentley name. But in some cases, “people knew the brand but, never actually shopped at the store because the store was a turn off,” said Ahad. “It was like a storage space more than a store environment and an experience for the customer to really fall in love with the pieces.”
Now, Bentley is highlighting different product categories such as luggage, hand bags, travel accessories and backpacks, and is putting a bigger focus on seasonal events such as back to school. The retailer is also aiming to differentiate itself from its department store competitors by having trained, knowledgeable staff.
On the technology front, Bentley now has a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and is using data to better understand what’s happening in stores.
“This is where data is key: getting a good reading of what is getting bought in each store,” said Ahad. “If you look out west and east, maybe customers aren’t buying the same product. One collection might work really well and the other might not. So we’re looking at different store clustering to make sure we send [the right product] to those stores and what is relevant to that demographic.”
Overall, Ahad said Bentley is moving from being commodity-driven to being customer-driven. “I think that’s more and more important for the retail industry in general because [customers] can find anything online,” she said. “You need to be able to give that extra value, make [the shopping experience] as enjoyable as possible, and it doesn’t end when the transaction is done.”
Earlier this year, Bentley hired its first PR firm, Narrative PR. But Bentley is holding off on launching any big marketing campaigns for now.
“We’re trying to focus on our store redesign and all the aspects of branding, so our focus is there for this year,” said Ahad. “Next year we’re going to look into ‘do we do billboards, do we need radio.’ First, we want to make sure that we have everything in place.”
