Hotel Chocolat is set to open 20 stores over the next 18 months as it continues to invest in bricks and mortar.
The new stores will open in out of town retail parks and feature its new concept format that better showcases the retailer’s extensive chocolate range.
Head of customer marketing Amy Harman told Retail Gazette’s Future Consumer Debate: “In store, we’re very much focused on opening up as much chocolate as we can.
“No one wants to go into a chocolate shop and just see boxes of chocolates. You want to go in there and see, smell and feel the chocolate – and that’s very much what we’re looking to do in our stores.”
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She explained the chocolatier is targeting retail parks because “that’s where we’re seeing footfall and demand”.
“There’s more intent with consumers. They’re going for a day out and going for an experience,” she added.
Hotel Chocolat is also expanding its online reach as it gears up to launch on TikTok Shop in the coming weeks, joining a throng of other retailers already using the platform to boost ecommerce sales.
Harman said: “That’s a new channel for us and [we’re] making it available for a lot of consumers to buy products in a platform that they are engaging with, which is very exciting.”
Hotel Chocolat will also launch an SMS messaging marketing service in July, a channel Harman said was increasingly prevalent for younger shoppers.
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