Nordstrom Local is coming to New York City

This is an excerpt from a story delivered exclusively to Business Insider Intelligence E-Commerce Briefing subscribers. To receive the full story plus other insights each morning, click here.Nordstrom has announced that it will be bringing two Nordstrom Local stores — which offer services but have no on-hand inventory — to West Village and the Upper East Side in New York City this fall. The stores will enable customers to pick up online orders and get alterations and tailoring, and will be approximately 2,400 and 2,000 square feet in the West Village and Upper East Side, respectively.Nordstrom plans to work with customers in the two neighborhoods to better understand what services they would like from their Nordstrom Local locations, and the stores will feature flexible models and floor plans that can be tailored to those preferences.Here's what it means: The Nordstrom Local format, which has been successfully tested in Los Angeles, represents Nordstrom's newest move to tap the NYC market.The first Nordstrom Local locations in LA have seen strong engagement.Nordstrom's local market strategy in LA has been driving outsized market share gains in the city, and customers who visit Nordstrom Local stores spend two and a half times more on average, according to Shea Jensen, senior vice president of customer experience. Additionally, the next-day pickup services that Nordstrom Local stores offer have seen high demand: 30% of all customer next-day pickups in the market have gone through the three Local stores in the city. This data illustrates a proven track record of Local stores doing a solid job resonating with customers and keeping them engaged with the retailer.Bringing these stores to NYC will add to the other formats the retailer's been working to introduce to the city. Nordstrom introduced a store for men in Manhattan in 2018 and is also planning to open a 320,000-square-foot flagship store in October. Bringing new Local locations will help the retailer further fine-tune the Nordstrom experience for NYC residents and will offer it more touchpoints through which to reach consumers.The bigger picture: Targeting more markets with Nordstrom Local stores can grow the retailer's omnichannel footprint and boost customer acquisition.The nature of Nordstrom Local stores makes them ideal for rapidly growing influence in a market. Because Local stores are smaller than Nordstrom's other formats, they require less of an investment to open, meaning that new areas can be explored at lower cost.And because of their flexibility and the fact that their offerings are tailor-made for the consumers in their locales, they can be designed and redesigned to be more attractive and useful to potential customers. Furthermore, Local stores act as online order pickup points, and could therefore make customers who live nearby more likely to shop Nordstrom online because they won't have to leave their neighborhoods to pick up their orders.Interested in getting the full story？ Here are two ways to get access: 1. Sign up for the E-Commerce Briefing to get it delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >> Get Started2. Subscribe to a Premium pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to the E-Commerce Briefing, plus more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now