HEMA – In-store Services
FMCG & Retail
Corporate
Project X supports HEMA by developing a strategic framework that clarifies how services can be offered in a distinctive way within a familiar retail environment.
HEMA is exploring the introduction of new services such as travel, courses and potentially broadband. The explicit question focuses on differentiation: how can these services stand out in highly competitive and low-transparency markets? During the strategic sessions it becomes clear that the challenge runs deeper. Services differ fundamentally from products: they are difficult to evaluate upfront and are chosen based on expectations and trust rather than on what can be seen or physically inspected.
The core insight is that the competitive strength of services is not determined by objective quality, but by how well perceptions and expectations are managed. For HEMA customers, who are used to making purchasing decisions based on search attributes and clear product presentation, this creates an additional barrier. Services presented through generic brochures or abstract information do not align with what they expect from the store.
The strategic choice is therefore not to treat services as a separate, category-alien offering, but as an integral part of the retail formula. Project X helps HEMA define a framework in which services are organized according to retail principles: visible, understandable, tangible and connected to existing buying behavior. The focus shifts away from the content of the service itself towards how it is presented, sold and communicated.
Within this framework, clear design choices are made. Services suitable for in-store sales, such as travel and courses, are given a physical form and a fixed place in the assortment. They are presented and paid for like regular products, making the purchase feel like a familiar HEMA transaction. Services less suited to direct in-store sales, such as energy, insurance and broadband, are supported by distinctive and functional information carriers that bridge the store and online channels.
Project X’s role is to structure these choices and make their implications explicit for store layout, communication and distribution. By giving services a structural place in the store, rather than treating them as a side activity or purely online offering, HEMA leverages its unique in-store traffic as a source of differentiation. Services are not only sold, but also explained and legitimized within the context of the store.
The anchoring lies in the consistent application of this framework across all services. It prevents each new service from being treated as a one-off exception and ensures services gain a recognisable and coherent place within the assortment, in-store presentation and communication calendar. Across the ecosystem of stores, online and brochures, this creates a single, integrated way of thinking and operating.
Contact
When old answers don’t work anymore, you need new questions. And often, a good conversation helps open up that new perspective.
Arjan Kapteijns
arjan@projectx.nl
06 1509 0901