newmuseumstore.org

Sector

Arts

Services

  • Strategy
  • Omnichannel
  • eCommerce
  • Capital Raising
  • Analytics Consulting
  • UX Design
  • Content Creation
  • CMS Implementation
  • Technology
  • Maintenance & Hosting

Following the New Museum’s acclaimed Chris O’Fili exhibition, museum leadership recognized an opportunity to leverage exhibitions through exclusive limited edition artist collaborations and the increasingly blurred lines of commerce and culture. The result: a focus on a compelling retail experience that would foster community within the arts and, through its membership, with the museum.

The triangulation of museum attendance, membership and retail (visit – join – shop)

At the time that netamorphosis was brought on board at the New Museum, the New Museum’s store was known for cutting edge, artist-led product, the kind that you’d expect on the shelves of the only NYC museum dedicated to contemporary art. The store benefited from one of the highest revenue per square FT rates in museum retail in the United States; however, with finite physical capacity in the lobby dedicated to retail, combined with what would traditionally be considered an ‘unbalanced’ product assortment, structured around shorter exhibition product opportunities and without a permanent collection, the exhibition calendar presented an adverse affect on visitor revenue streams when the museum was closed. With this context in mind, neta created a strategy that would allow for year-round sales away from 235 Bowery. Our strategy centered around a re-platforming of the newmuseumstore.org eCommerce website, a prioritization of membership benefits throughout the user experience and maximizing the physical store’s square footage productivity through a re-fixturing within the museum’s lobby.

Technology for the future.

Systems are termed legacy systems when they no longer promote scalable growth. The New Museum’s POS and online eCommerce platform were both architected on top of obsolete software that were preventing dynamic experiences, both in-store sales and online at newmuseumstore.org. N e t a identified scalable, low-cost systems for the New Museum’s eCommerce platform, Inventory System and an in-store POS, and mapped comprehensive technical requirements to the central membership legacy system that facilitated tiered membership discounts, store associate commissions and a cross-departmental CRM that also resulted in a seamless in-store and online customer and member experience.

Designing for the height of the contemporary art world.

While Limited Edition artist collaborations were a central focus for the future assortment, the top 100 best sellers, including the FUCK Snow Globe and the Hell, Yes! Mug, were identified, along with other price point opportunities and prioritized through deep financial and merchandise analysis. This provided a stable baseline for annual revenue, catapulted by the sale of memberships through both the online and physical stores, which was made feasible with these new systems in place.

Utilizing the existing New Museum online and physical store formats, neta completed a comprehensive re-branding that involved brand CID, information architecture, wireframing, concept design, digital design, content strategy, photography, copywriting, digital production and animation for all digital assets. Within the store, fixtures were re-fabricated and lit, then stocked with a re-aligned assortment that balanced a heavier book assortment with higher margin giftable bestsellers and Limited Editions. Following the first holiday season post-fixture design, selling by square inch space analysis was conducted in tandem with in-store visual merchandising training to maximize the all-important holiday retail opportunity.

In order to successfully operate their new omnichannel platform, neta implemented strategic planning in the format of a 6-month calendar and road map covering all retail – exhibition – membership cross-institutional digital and physical marketing including SEO, email marketing and social media publicity opportunities.

Our Results

  • Combined omnichannel (online + store) 3-Year CAGR trending at +144%
  • 2.3K email addresses captured (Cost = 0)
  • Sales of membership at retail 0 to 27 within 4 months
  • Award-Winning: W3 Silver Award & Davey Silver Award for Website Art

More Work