Orange opens its first Smart Store in France

Paris, Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Orange CEO Stéphane Richard officially opened the new Orange store on the Champs Elysées. The Smart Store unveils themed worlds that are highly stylised and user-friendly, directly in line with the Essentials 2020 action drivers, the Group's strategic plan announced last March.

Meeting our customers' changing expectations

Almost 60% of customers in France own a smartphone and 85% will have one in three years time. The way people use digital technology is constantly advancing and the line between digital and physical purchases is becoming increasingly blurred. The new Smart Stores provide solutions for these advancements with their special try-out spaces. Worlds with names like Travel, Home, Fun, Wellness and Work set up scenes for the solutions and services that Orange sells. This gives all customers a chance to see how useful they are in a familiar environment and adjust them for their own needs. This new store model is clear evidence of Orange's desire to create a customer experience tailored to fit each person's needs.

Providing a welcoming digital concept

Orange aims to think of everything to make the new store a unique space. In alignment with our environmental commitment, Orange notably opted for furnishings made of wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Choosing to use rough materials like light wood and brick as well as a selection of basic shapes, colours and designer furniture creates a welcoming atmosphere. Interactivity is encouraged. Everything is designed as a game to explore Orange's different worlds. Customers can pick up and use the products on the shelves and all the devices are connected and available for self-service. There are lots of screens and tactile surfaces arranged around the new Orange store, which is packed with practical and entertaining innovations.

Enhanced guidance

The Smart Store is a concept all about interacting with the customer as soon as they walk into the shop. Orange store employees are some of the front-line influencers of the company's quality of service. So the advisers at the Champs Elysées store received special training to guide every customer according to their needs as they move through the different worlds inside the space.