After 45 years supporting families, Baby Bunting unveils its next evolution

Australia’s leading baby retailer, Baby Bunting, opened the doors to its groundbreaking new store format in Melbourne’s Inner-West on Saturday, 19 April.

The redesign of Baby Bunting’s 2,000 square metre Maribyrnong store ushers in a new era for the retailer and is the first in a roll-out of new Store of The Future retail sites scheduled to open across the country over the coming years.

The newly designed store format aims to deliver a more simplified and inspiring shopping experience for parents, in a category that can at times feel intimidating.

“Within our recent Future Village research, over half of parents told us that they feel pressured to make ‘perfect’ choices when purchasing baby products, and as a result can find the experience of shopping for key items overwhelming and stressful, despite it being a moment that should signal an exciting time for their growing family,” commented Baby Bunting CEO Mark Teperson.

The Store of The Future will help ease this ‘perfection pressure with a more intuitive and enjoyable shopping experience. By leaning upon residential design cues, the warm and welcoming new environment feels like stepping into a beautiful and inviting home. This new store is a place for parents to feel energised and confident, while still delivering the product value and range that they expect from this market leader.

“The design and architecture of each category provides new opportunities to curate and contextualise products in a way that is more relatable and inspiring,” commented Reid Nakou, Chief Experience Officer at The General Store.

The new store delivers a highly intuitive layout and arrangement of spaces, leading with an industry-first activity-led approach to category segmentation. This design encourages a more engaging shopping experience for customers, creating distinctive “worlds” that cluster associated products together (such as prams, carriers, car seats and accessories in the new ‘Travel’ category).

Signature design elements include a whimsical ceiling installation constructed entirely from glass baby bottles that creatively welcomes customers into a completely reimagined retail experience.

From there, an inviting new feeding zone feels like stepping into a friend’s kitchen, comfortable, familiar and designed with care. Completing the sensory journey is an illuminated mural of the sky in the ceiling above the store’s ‘Travel’ category, delivering a taste of the outdoors as shoppers test out prams, carriers and more for their next adventure.

Blending function with comfort and style, a very considered design also enhances the experience of visiting an on-site parents’ room. Leveraging hospitality design aesthetics, this zone puts customer comfort at the forefront with a tranquil space to relax, feed and change.

The customer experience represents Baby Bunting’s evolved brand strategy to deliver on its vision of being the best start for the brightest future.

Baby Bunting’s sophisticated new look will roll out across a selection of key store openings and refurbishments over the coming months, with plans to expand the concept across the brand’s full range of 70+ stores throughout Australia and New Zealand.