Milan, part 1. – Coop, Via Arona: colours, lights, live music

According to Domenico Protti, regional director of the largest Italian food retailer, Coop Italia, colours are very important inside stores. They have studied the effect different colours have on turnover and utilised the findings in designing their stores.
In addition to1,300 stores and revenues of EUR 11,7 billion, Coop Italia also represents a high level of professional culture. With two other chains, they form a purchasing partnership under the name Centrale Italiana. Regarding food sales, they hold a market share of 17 per cent. Coop Arona is among their 12 modernised stores, but it is their first experimental supermarket. All innovative ideas are tested here before being introduced throughout the chain. As participants of the ECR Europe conference agree, Arona Coop offers an extreme concentration of retail culture in a neighbourhood where purchasing power is far above the Italian average. This is the via Arona, in the Sempione district of Milan, the business centre of Italy. The concept followed in store design is to get rid of all physical and psychological barriers between customers, merchandise and store staff. Another key point of focus is to develop personal contact with customers. Besides, they try to improve efficiency and keep costs low. Mauro Crozzoletti, manager of the supermarket tells us that their success depends on the quality of fresh products, which account for 55-60 per cent of total sales, while non-food items only account for 9 per cent. Placement is attractive, reminding us of the best specialised stores. Fish and cheese are placed where they can be seen easily, while simple, popular products are located higher up. We see a jazz band playing in the store, which is certainly an original way to get people to buy more. We also discover a children’s corner , equipped like a playground. There are 18 cash registers open during peak hours. Self-service cash registers also operate on an experimental basis, though this option is only available for regular customer club members. Average basket value is EUR 35 among this group.