What SSENSE Can Teach Other Brands About In-Store Shopping
The Montreal-based e-commerce platform has successfully reimagined the in-store shopping experience for today’s world.
SSENSE Flagship Store/Photo by NYCXCLOTHES
When I first moved to New York more than a decade ago, Soho was one of my favorite places to hang out. This was during the heyday of cultural hubs like Opening Ceremony, and you could just feel the creative energy from walking on the streets. Although I had little money to spend as a high school student in the early 2010s, I enjoyed browsing around, discovering unique labels and fantasizing about all the looks I couldn’t buy. In-store shopping (or in my case, window shopping) has a way of creating this immediate physical connection with garments; you feel the textures, notice all the finishes and styling possibilities on the spot. This is how my love of fashion grew.
Fast forward to 2023 and New York’s retail scene has practically lost its magic. Opening Ceremony and Barney’s closed their doors—as did newcomer t.a., and there is an inescapable sameness across stores these days. Thanks in no small part to social media, online shopping and quick-response manufacturing, we live in a trend-driven world that seems to prioritize profit over creativity and quality. With the exception of Dover Street Market in Murray Hill and a handful of small indie boutiques like Sincerely, Tommy in Bedstuy, you’d be hard pressed to find a physical store boasting a balanced mix of crowd-pleasing brands with massive advertising budgets and original or boundary-pushing designers. Beyond the discovery aspect, recurring challenges such as long checkout lines, crowded fitting rooms and understaffed stores have made any shopping trip a time suck, rather than the pleasurable activity it was originally intended to be. “‘Going shopping’ is dead,” Vox declared in a recent article, and I strongly believed this until a recent trip to Montreal.
The SSENSE flagship store in the Old Port neighborhood of Montreal is single handedly reimagining retail for today’s frantic world. Located near the famous Notre-Dame Basilica, the five-story building betrays the warmth and thoughtfulness that lie within its dark gray sandblasted concrete walls. Although it follows the physical structure of a big-box department store, the approach to visual merchandising and customer service couldn’t be more different. It’s not often that I walk into a store and feel completely at ease to explore it at my leisure. Tall ceilings, ample square footage and nicely organized racks made the experience enjoyable. I moved slowly between sections, taking in the colors, textures and trendy silhouettes at my own pace. Alongside high-fashion heavy hitters such as The Row, Bottega Veneta and Prada, there was a cool mix of trendy brands like Jacquemus and fashion-forward labels such as Rick Owens, Simone Rocha, Y/Project and Diesel.
Diesel at SSENSE/Photo by NYCXCLOTHES
Bottega Veneta at SSENSE/Photo by NYCXCLOTHES
Although the full inventory wasn’t on display (an impossible feat considering the 70,000+ products available on ssense.com), the carefully considered product selection offered a great taste. And because technology is an inevitable part of our modern lives, if you’d like to try something from the website—say for example, Nicklas Skovgaard who just joined the platform—you can make an appointment and the pieces will be available at the store within 24 hours. As co-founder and CEO Rami Atallah told Retail Insider, “E-commerce enables scale but is suboptimal in important ways, especially fostering human connection. A seamless integration with physical spaces fills the gaps in the customer experience.”
Atallah was right to bring up human connection because I left his store feeling doubly energized by conversations with store employees. Not once was I pestered by a well-meaning person with a sales agenda; instead, I lost track of time chatting with two passionate store assistants who had no qualms about my window shopping. We talked about our favorite shows from the spring 2024 season, discussed the top-selling brands at the store (The people love Rick Owens!), and geeked out about our love of clothes. Retail stores aren’t typically where I find inspiration. “This is how in-store shopping should be,” I thought to myself.
Left to Right: Acne Studios, Simone Rocha, Jacquemus and Y/Prohect at SSENSE/Photo by NYCXCLOTHES
“Yet for all its success, the e-commerce brand could do a better job of championing Black designers.”
Since its inception in 2003, SSENSE has championed a range of emerging voices—from Japanese designers (Jun Takahasi) and streetwear sensations (Off-White and Fear of God) to accessible luxury purveyors (Marine Serre) and of course, fashion with a capital F. The retail platform continues to live up to its mission, curating a pleasantly dizzying universe of options fit for any young niche fashion person with, admittedly, large pockets.
And it seems to be working. The privately held company makes a reported $750 million in annual revenue, and was valued at $4.1 billion in 2021 after receiving a significant investment from Sequoia Capital. Yet for all its success, the e-commerce brand could do a better job of championing Black designers. The absence of names like Christopher John Rogers, Thebe Magugu, Nia Thomas, Marrisa Wilson, Laquan Smith, Andrea Iyamah, Atelier Ndigo, Laquan Smith and Diotima (to name a few) on the platform is startling. SSENSE could further expand its vision of inclusivity by actively pursuing these growing fashion categories.
Aesop at SSENSE/Photo by NYCXCLOTHES