Scandinavian Outdoor - Tackling competition with service and inspiration

Outdoor and camping equipment store Scandinavian Outdoor opened its most recent store a month ago in Pirkkala near Tampere. The store is located in a retail park with lots of different stores from groceries to furniture and everything between.

The first impression of the store is that the space is quite big.

For the customer it means easy navigation as one can see almost the entire store with just one look.

The store is divided into different departments such as camping, shoes, running, backpacks etc. As the store name says, everything is enhanced with the outdoor aspect. For example the running department focuses on outdoor and especially trail running.

One certain advantage of this store is the excellent customer service.

It took less than a minute until a very knowledgeable sales assistant greeted us. He also gave us knowledgeable tips and hints on how to choose a proper tent.

The sales assistant was clearly an outdoor enthusiast himself and later the store manager confirmed they strive on to succeed in great customer service. This is the main area where stores like this can compete with online and hypermarket channels. The service lever was so good, it clearly brings a lot of value to the business.

The helpful staff member gave some good tips about camping and told us one can also rent a tent for the weekend for a small fee. What a nice way to familiarise yourself for outdoor and camping.

The staff member also told about another nice extra service. A customer can personalise a knife bought from the store by getting it carved. It only costs five euros to give a knife a personal touch.

All over the store customers can touch and try different products. Lot of tents are opened so one can see how they fit in. This applies to almost every product.

Try and feel gives assurance when choosing camping equipment which can be expensive to buy.

At the end of the store is another factor you can’t find in online stores. A beautifully set up “camping area” with a mock up fireplace, seats, a canvas with a nice landscape and sounds recorded from the nature. Next to the area was an art piece made from real moss.

When sitting in the area one started almost to unwind like what can happen when you’re actually camping.

This area gave a lot of inspiration and is the kind of theatre bricks and mortar need more.

All in all Scandinavian outdoor made a positive first impression offering the customer robust service level and ideas and inspiration that is more difficult to find in an online store.