France has announced plans for a new shopping festival in 2020 – St GlinGlin, which is named after the fictional Saint GlinGlin.
The brainchild of retail marketing group, Altavia, the festival will take a different approach to business. Rather than focusing on reduced prices, like events such as Black Friday do, it will house various activities, including picnics, having a glass of wine with local shop owners, street parties and in-store events, in order to help build closer relationships between retailers and customers.
“It’s about renewal,” Altavia project leader, Caroline Berdugo, told Cosmetics Business. “St GlinGlin is something that’s not supposed to be in the calendar, so it’s like a free day to do something you wouldn’t normally do – like dye your hair or get a tattoo.”
The idea came about following a 2018 study by Altavia’s retail trends observatory, Altavia Shoppermind, which discovered that street markets are still one of French people’s favourite ways to shop, despite higher prices.
In fact, according to Berdugo, shoppers prefer to receive expert advice from “knowledgeable vendors with whom they have a relationship.”
The new festival will take place over several days either side of March 20, the spring equinox. It is supported by big names such as L’Oréal, but smaller retailers can still partake by ordering a kit with promotional materials.
Altavia hopes to introduce the idea to other countries following the event in France.
