Projects: New VW Concept Dealership In UK Minimizes Footprint Via Digital Signage

August 4, 2017 by Dave Haynes

Auto dealerships in larger urban centres are getting necessarily smaller – a simple function of saving on the high cost pf premium retail space.

The new Volkswagen store in The Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham, UK is not a whole bunch bigger than a clothing retailer – relying heavily on technology to tell the brand story and help potential buyers make decisions.

Designed by Dalziel & Pow, the concept store has a big video wall on the right side at the entry, a multi-faceted interactive wall along the left, and smaller screens by each feature car and on tables deeper into the store.

The digital wall has screens but also has a series of short-throw projectors pushing visuals on the surface. There’s a mish-mash of physical objects on shelves – some within reach and intended for kids – that when lifted trigger videos or animations that tell the VW brand story. There are also car configurators that start on tablets and the results get pushed to a larger screen.

If someone wants to take a car for a spin, there are available demo vehicles in the shopping centre’s parking garage. The store’s tidy, flexible design allows it to be quickly reconfigured for things like new model launches.

Clever stuff. I know sister company Audi has been big on these small footprint, high impact digital-savvy stores in big European cities.